HomeTown

Had dinner at a new (2-month old) SzeChuan restaurant in Chinatown tonight. Decorated in a simple, rustic traditional eating-house style, the outlet was small and cosy with a sitting capacity of only about 8 tables. The boss, Jonathan Ren was very friendly, polite, professional and humble. He is himself a professional chef, hailing from Sze Chuan province in China.

The food was good – with all the intense flavors of traditional Sze Chuan cuisine: spiciness or mala (literally translated as “numbness and chilli heat”), sweetness, sourness and saltiness. Certain flavors were a little too intense for our Singaporean palate, but it does show the authenticity of the dishes. The food certainly left our taste buds alive and tingling!

We ordered a lot of dishes! (Most of the dishes did not have English names, so the below are translations or interpretations of the Chinese names).

The first dish to arrive was the famous “zhang cha ya” or tea-smoked duck (S$16 for half duck) (US$9.50). We had been slightly wary of ordering this dish as usually ducks served in restaurants are very fatty. However, Jonathan promised that his ducks, all imported especially from China, have only the thinnest layer of fat under the skin. And true to his word, the duck was very well done, with barely any fat, and yet the meat was tender and moist. And unlike the normal red-colored zhang cha ya usually served in other restaurants, this was a natural color. Very yummy duck, albeit a touch too salty for our palates.

The “yu xiang ji ding” or fish-flavored diced chicken (S$10) (US$6) was also a flavor intense dish. Diced chicken sautéed with vegetables, wood-ear fungus, chillies and mala chilli oil.

The SzeChuan Sweet Sour Fish (S$30 @ S$5 per 100g) (US$18) was another sensory stimulating dish! The Soon Hock fish was not fried but braised with a mala, sweet and sour sauce.

Of course we couldn’t miss out on the signature Sze Chuan vegetable dish of “gan bian si ji dou” or dry-fried four seasons beans (S$8) (US$5). This is a dish of deep fried long beans deep fried sautéed with dried red chillies and garlic. Very spicy but absolutely delicious! This was one of the better versions we have tasted in Singapore. The chef’s skill was evident in the way the beans were cooked. Very often, this dish is served with beans that have been fried so long they have turned limp and blackish. Here, the beans were still a beautiful bright green, with nice texture and bite, and not too oily.

Whilst not a Sze Chuan dish, the “shang tang dou miao” or bean shoots sautéed in broth (S$8) was also beautifully done. The broth was key here and it was nice and flavorful. The dou miao was tender and sweet. Very nice!

We also ordered a bowl of the Sze Chuan beef noodles (S$6) (US$3.50) to share, just to have a taste. It comes in three versions: mala (numbing spiciness), suan-la (sour spiciness) or non-spicy. After all the other spicy and flavor-intense dishes, we opted for the non-spicy version to help cleanse our palate a little. This version was still very flavorful. Fresh Northern-China style handmade noodles were served in a tasty beef broth flavored with five-spice. The beef was also flavorful and tender, with a nice sprinkling of some tendon.

The wonderful meal was rounded off with some deep fried pumpkin pastry, with the compliments of Jonathan. This tasted sort of like a sweet, chewy version of ham chim peng (literally translated as “salty fried dough”). A sweet ending to an enjoyable meal.

Update: sorry, made a mistake... Hometown also has sitting upstairs... for around 60+ as they also do functions, catering etc...

Hometown Restaurant
9 Smith Street
Singapore 058923
Tel: 6372 1602

Food: 4 / 5
Service: 4 / 5
Ambience: 3 / 5
Price: $$

(no GST nor service charge)

S$15 & below : $
S$16-30 : $$
S$31-50 : $$$
S$51-75 : $$$$
> S$75 : $$$$$

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