Yi Qian Private Dining

In my quest to always look for new dim sum places, my colleagues told me about this hidden restaurant which is located pretty near to my house so I decided to put in a booking to bring my mum for dim sum over the weekend

Located at Thye Hong Center, Yi Qian is a Chinese restaurant serving Cantonese and Teochew-styled dishes since Jan 2022. The location of the restaurant is not exactly obscure as it is by the side of the building facing the roads but it is also not striking enough to attract the notice of the passing traffic. Personally, I have passed the building multiple times in a car and I have not noticed the restaurant

We were the first ones to arrive the moment they opened so the restaurant was very empty but minutes after we were seated, many diners started appearing to occupy the rest of the tables. By the time we left after our meal which is close to 12.30pm, almost all the tables were taken up and some customers were waiting for a table. The restaurant is decorated in a simple yet plush manner with comfortable cushioned seating and marble tables with crystal lights and Chinese painting ornaments around the walls. There are private rooms available for booking with a minimum spending and the main hall seats approximately 60 to 70 people

Helmed by ex-Golden Palance and Lei Garden in Hong Kong, Chef Raymond Chong who has 18 years of culinary experience, Yi Qian serves a varied menu from dim sum, and homely Teochew dishes to restaurant classics like abalone and shark fins

We started the meal with some appetizers; Chilled Squid with Flour Skin in Thai Style and meat dumplings in chilli oil which were served pretty fast. I was slightly disappointed when I saw the chilled squid as it is not the fresh squid but instead processed squid. The flavours were very tangy and spicy like a Thai salad but the squid was disappointing as it was chewy and rubbery. In comparison, the dumpling in chilli oil was missing the vinegarette flavours as this dish was supposed to be chilli vinegarette sauce so it was just spicy and not sour enough

For the steamed dim sum, we ordered the siew mai, har gow and seafood beancurd skin which all came simultaneously in the usual bamboo steamers. The dim sum was well made as the skin for most of the items was not too thick and the prawn and meat used were fresh and juicy and portions were pretty generous. In terms of taste, they were quite decent with nothing too outstanding to point out

For fried items, we ordered the deep-fried meat dumpling, deep-fried yam dumpling and the deep-fried spring roll. All items were well fried and most importantly, they are not greasy. In comparison, the fried dim sum was better tasting as compared to the steamed dim sum

For our mains, we ordered the grouper fillet porridge and the braised ee-fu noodles with wild mushrooms. The porridge was cooked Teochew styled so you still get rice grains in the soup as compared to the Cantonese congee kind. The key for Teochew porridge to taste good is the broth and they really did well for this dish. The grouper soup broth was sweet and had a nice depth to the flavours as you can taste the dried seafood like the dried cuttlefish used to cook the soup. The fish slices are thick and very fresh and there were sufficient pieces of fish in one serving. The porridge was really comforting with its clean taste. The noodles on the other hand were a little bland in my opinion as I could not taste any braised flavour in the noodles and it felt like the noodles were lightly tossed with sauce and topped with mushroom. As an ee-fu noodles fanatic, this was quite disappointing

For desserts, we ordered almond cream, chilled lemon grass jelly and Teochew yam paste with ginkgo nuts which were all pretty decent. The almond cream was smooth and creamy while the jelly was very refreshing even though it would have been better with a stronger lemongrass flavour. The yam paste was creamy but with some yam lumps and was nice and not very sweet which makes it suitable for the elderly but I personally like my yam paste on the sweeter note

Overall, the service at Yi Qian was good and the atmosphere was very nice and comfortable but in terms of dishes, there were some hits and misses and I do think the Teochew styled dishes are somewhat better although the Chef came from Hong Kong

Address: 2 Leng Kee Rd, #01-04 Thye Hong Industrial Centre, Singapore 159086

Operating hours: 11.30 am to 3 pm and 6 pm to 10.30 pm