There have been a constant rave on my Facebook feed about this restaurant conveniently located not far from the JB Checkpoint, serving herbal roasted duck better than Singapore's very own Dian Xiao Er.
Apparently, they are the consultant for Singapore's Dian Xiao Er, so I am thinking most likely they came up with the original recipe, and sold it to Dian Xiao Er.
I absolutely love Dian Xiao Er's herbal roasted duck, and I was determined to try for myself.
Of course, a few wrong turns and misleading GPS instructions later, we found the place which is in the vicinity of other Facebook raved JB makan places and cafes. Definitely somewhere we can spend the whole afternoon, cafe-hopping and stuffing ourselves silly.
Ordered a small portion of their signature herbal roasted duck (RM17).
The smell was irresistible and the greasy sauce was just like what we have at Dian Xiao Er, maybe even more fragrant. Maybe that was what boosted my expectations further, and I was immediately disappointed when I bit into a piece of duck meat.
The skin was not crispy (which is still acceptable), and the meat wasn't to-die-for tender. The duck, if I didn't repeatedly mop it in the sauce, didn't taste anything herbal to me. I had to scoop up tablespoons of sauce to eat with the duck, just to make sure I didn't show too much disappointment. Rice (RM1.30) or noodles (RM2.20) is also available.
Verdict: 3/5
The sauce won me over, but the duck itself didn't.
We also ordered the char siew (RM10), which had a fat to meat ratio of almost 1:1. I would prefer a leaner cut, but I didn't request for it, and I am sure many others would die for this ratio I had.
The char siew was tender, and charred to perfection. The sauce was also yums.
Verdict: 4.2/5
We also had the cereal prawns (RM37), and boy, were the prawns enormous.
There were only about 5-6 pieces, and look at how they filled up the whole plate. The prawns were deep-fried into a slightly-too-thick crust before tossed in the yummy cereal mix. The vegetable dish we ordered 罗汉斋 (RM16) was a disappointment. The selection of mixed vegetables and the sauce were just a weird mushy combination of pointlessness, perhaps barely satisfactory for some dietary fibre and vitamins which i doubt still exists.
Overall verdict: 3.2/5
The prices were not high in Singapore standards, but likely to be overpriced for the locals. Was there on a Monday afternoon about 3-4pm, and the restaurant had a slow but constant stream of diners to take up about an average of 65% occupancy. About 50% were locals.
Will I come back again? Maybe if I am in the vicinity, if not Dian Xiao Er will do just fine.
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