Pu Tien Restaurant
15 Sep
It’s been a long time since I last ate something I enjoyed tremendously – I was even beginning to fear my tastebuds had become so immune to good food, they were no longer able to register taste. If you’re in a similar position, fear no longer: there is a cure. This unassuming little restaurant along Kitchener Road, in the vicinity of Mustafa Centre, serves up Hingwa food at modest prices – and you’ll never look at bee hoon the same way. Having heard my foodie friends speak of Pu Tien in such raving terms, I finally managed to taste it for myself. And I have nothing but raving praise!
Fried “Hing Wa” Bee Hoon is one of their signature dishes, and their version, a medley of clams, prawns, mushroom, vegetables and beehoon, was a clear winner. It managed to be fried without being oily, rich yet subtle, and best of all, can be had for only S$4. The Kai Lan with Fried Bean Curd Skin (S$8), subtle and flavourful, worked well too.
The dish which left the most impression was the one the waitress recommended as a special of the day – a dish of razor clams which had just been flown in from China. At Pu Tien, the ingredients in all its dishes are fresh, and that’s because they bring in their clams, beehoon, seaweed, and more, from China. Razor clams look like elongated clams, bigger than what we call lala, and there is nothing like it. Called cheng zi in Mandarin, and taang in Hing Wa, the dish of suan rong cheng zi – razor clams steamed in a sauce, with garlic toppings ($12) – was spectacular. I’m not a fan of shellfish at all, usually too terrified of the “fishy” taste in most shellfish, and yet I enjoyed this one to the last morsel; so much so that I had to tell 3 waitresses in a row not to remove my plate as I wasn’t done with them!
In the flurry of such culinary delight, it could not be helped that one dish became much maligned through no fault of its own. The Deep Fried Duck with Yam (S$10), married my two favourite foods (duck and yam), but it didn’t leave as much of an impression as the other dishes. It’s not to say that it wasn’t good – it was – but there were just other dishes which were better.
Service at this restaurant was excellent, and it is damning that a restaurant of this scale should have better service than at certain other high end restaurants serving out faux high end nosh. From what I could make out, many of the waitresses were from mainland China – perhaps even from the coastal city of Pu Tien, in Fujian – but they were so good with their recommendations, and so efficient in their service, that we could not help but leave them a tip (unheard of most Chinese restaurants) since there was no service charge.
I know I will be back. The next time it will be to try the steamed prawn in bamboo shoot, home-made bean curd, and stir fried yam.
Prices are very moderate, S$4/8/12 for the noodles, beehoon and mee sua, $8/12/16 for the vegetables, and from $12 onwards for most seafood. There are sets for 2 at $28, sets for 4 at $58, and there is no service charge. Nearest MRT station is Farrer Park – walk out of exit H, walk along Kitchener Road away from Little India. Or if you are at Mustafa Centre heading out of Verdun Road, past the New Park and Tai Hoe Hotels, will lead you there.
Pu Tien Restaurant
127-129 Kitchener Road
T: 62956358
The Sunday Times Review
