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Hai Siang Joo Seafood Restaurant – Good Cze Char in Tuas
Maureen
May 17, 2012
May 17, 2012
Saturday evening.
Up on a cab at Jurong Point, “Uncle, to Tuas please.”
Uncle: “Tuas? What are you guy going there for?”
Us:”WE ARE GOING TUAS FOR DINNER.“
That’s right, you never hear me wrong. We went Tuas for dinner.
Are we mad? I think we are!
Friend Lisa’s dad has a cze char restaurant in Tuas. I have been saying for ages that I will arrange for a makan session there but I procrastinated again and again (sorry!). So about one year later, I decided to put this to plan and 11 of us went for dinner at Hai Siang Joo Seafood Restaurant（海湘裕益食家）.
Set in a large coffee shop in a factory area, Hai Siang Joo has been around for 18 years and counting. It serves down to earth style of seafood with a slight twist in the dishes.
Not shark’s fin soup. It is Fish Maw Soup ($4/bowl). Each bowl of soup has a generous serving of prawns, mushrooms, fish maw and many other ingredients. Cooked in a superior broth, this soup is packed with flavours.
If there is one must try dish here, it is definitely the Crystal Hor Fun ($8, $12, $16). These transparent kway teow are actually fen pi（粉皮）. These thin round sheets resemble rice paper, but they’re made with mung bean starch and used as noodles. Full of prawns and squid, the dish is rounded off with fried eggs and bean sprouts, and evenly coated with a fragrant XO sauce. There is much wok hei in the hor fun and it is slightly spicy. Tastes good!
Hai Siang Joo has built up a repertoire of dishes that are unconventional. Take for example, the sweet & sour pork that we usually have in cze char stall. At Hai Siang Joo, we have Sweet & Sour Shell-less Prawns ($24, $30, $40) instead. The crisp yprawns are coated with sweet and sour sauce. Since the prawns are deshelled, I am sure kids will love this!
All meat tastes better when cooked on the bone and pork is no exception. Another must try dish here is the Special Braised Pork Ribs with Flat Buns ($12, $24). Painstakingly braised for 4 hours, every bite of the meat is tender and succulent. The savoury sauce with pineapple slices was a refreshing take on the dish. Definitely worth the calories!
Instead of having kung pao chicken, they serve Kung Pao Shell-less Prawns ($24, $30, $40) too!
My favourite dish for the night is Steamed Pomfret with Nonya Sauce ($6/100g). Cooking nonya dishes is labour intensive because it involves alot of spices to give a combination of flavours. But it’s all worth the effort because we finished the dishes. But I actually prefered seabass with nonya sauce, because the pomfret has a stronger fish smell (it is still fresh, just that I don’t like pomfret’s fish smell). Each fish meat is smothered in the bath of sourish, spicy and tangy spices which gives a wow factor.
Stir fried Dou Miao ($12, $18, $24) is from Taiwan and definitely a rare find here, hence the price if more pricey. There is no need to additional sauce or ingredients, just eat it as it is and you will be able to taste its simplicity.
Last but not least, the Black Pepper Crab ($4.50/100g). The flesh were firm, chunky, juicy and sweet. The black pepper sauce was finger-licking good and savoury. The sauce was nicely done with a good balance of sweetness and spiciness.
Here’s a shot of us!
If you’re early, you can try catching the brilliant sunsets at Tuas before dinner to make it worth your while. There are ample number of tables indoors and outdoors. Reservations not needed.
By the way, Lisa makes lovely cupcakes here!
Hai Siang Joo Seafood Restaurant
Address: 29 Tuas West Avenue, Pioneer Food Village
Tel: +65 6863 3651
Opening Hours: 11.00am – 2.30pm, 5.00pm – 10.00pm
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