Our plan was to have Sunday dim sum at Kai Garden at Marina Square but as no prior reservations were made, we did not manage to get a table. We decided to walk around the mall looking for a restaurant to settle for lunch
As my mum was with me, we only zoomed in on the Chinese cuisine when this restaurant stood out amongst the group of Thai and Western restaurants and we decided to settle for lunch at Yechun
The restaurant itself is not huge with only a couple of tables. The style of the decor is like a traditional Chinese causal dining restaurant with symbolic red lanterns and odd flowers placed around the space
The menu is quite diverse with dishes from China as well as Taiwan. Some popular items include steamed buns and dumplings which are well-liked among diners
First up, we had the steamed pan-fried pork bun which is basically pork bun but cooked in a different manner. The raw buns are placed on a pan and fried with oil till the base of the bun is golden brown and crispy. At the same time, water is sprinkled or put into the pan before covering the pan to allow the steam to cook the top of the bun so it remains soft like a steamed bun but with a crispy base. The result is a juicy meat bun with a crispy crunch when bitten while keeping the moist soft fluffy top. The ones at this restaurant were decent in flavours but not as juicy as others I have tried
The next item is the giant minced meat and crab roe soup dumpling which is the size of a 4.5-inch plate. It was so huge, it was served in a bamboo steamer and 1 dumpling occupied the whole bamboo container. We were impressed by the side when the dumpling was served and there was a whole lot of soup inside the dumpling which was drunk through the straw. The soup was not piping hot so it was possible to drink it with a straw. The soup flavour was very light and tasted like homemade chicken soup. After finishing the soup, I opened up the dumpling and to my disappointment, there were hardly any fillings inside except for shreds of meats
We also ordered soup which comes in a single portion. First was the braised silky beancurd soup with ham and the chicken and pig stomach soup. The soups are quite balanced in flavour and taste very light and refreshing. The beancurd soup had a slight starchy consistency and the ham gave a light savoury taste. The chicken and pig stomach soup was flavourful and quite delicious
As our family like fish, we ordered the deep-fried sea bass with pine nuts and sweet and sour sauce. The fish was fresh and fried till very crispy and the cut meat was popping out nicely to mimic fish scales. The sauce itself is on the sweeter side and very oily. You can see the layer of reddish oil surrounding the plate which made the entire dish quite oily to the gastric. In the end, I was eating the fish meat and trying to avoid dipping the sauce
As we were missing the crispy duck from Kluang, we were very surprised to see it being offered here in Singapore so we went ahead and ordered a half portion of the Yechun crispy duck to try. The dish was served with a sweet dark sauce for dipping of the duck which tasted very much like the sauce used for Peking duck. The crispy duck was not very crispy and the meat was extremely dry. The taste was mediocre and not worth my stomach space at all
Last, but not least, we ordered some noodles as our only carbohydrates. Since most of our dishes were very meaty, we order the plain handmade noodle which came in a light soy-based soup. The noodles were similar to the dough used for ban main and were cooked more al dente for hardness. There was nothing too memorable about the noodles
Overall, the food is quite standard and nothing too out of the ordinary. Some of the dishes were a hit and miss although the dim sum and bao items were better in flavour. They do have a wide variety of Chinese dishes and their lady boss is very friendly and attentive to our needs and requirements
Address: 6 Raffles Blvd, #02-106A, Singapore 039594
Operating hours: 11 am to 9.30 pm ( Till 10 pm for Fri/Sat/Sun)
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