Tom Leong Ji Kitchen was one zi char stall in Punggol that we’ve wanted to check out for some time now. Mostly because of the cuttlefish kangkong dish which we found to be innovative and instagrammable on social media. But after this visit, we’re fans because the dishes at Leong Ji Kitchen not only looks good, they taste excellent as well. Here’s what we had at Leong Ji Kitchen Punggol this time…
About Leong Ji Kitchen at Punggol Waterway Sunrise
Located at Blk 658 Punggol East (#01-10 Punggol Waterway Sunrise), Leong Ji Kitchen serves up excellent zi char fare such as white bee hoon, creamy pork ribs and curry fish head – all of which are touted to be very good. But this time, we were really attracted by their Cuttlefish Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜) because it is a re-creation of an old school dish but presented in a really innovative manner, really close to the style of one of our other favourite dish – rojak. Yup, topped with ground peanut. Yum!
Originally located in Punggol Settlement, Leong Ji Seafood has since relocated to Punggol Waterway Sunrise and we think for good measure as well. Now known as Leong Ji Kitchen, prices are now more affordable – at least there’s no double plus on the taxes. Also, with its location next to Punggol Waterway Park Connector Network (PCN), there’s a nice al fresco feel about it when you’re dining there. No rush. Just a chillax lunch with your buddies and/or loved ones. A great venue!
What We Had at Leong Ji Kitchen at Punggol Waterway
For our meal at Leong Ji this time, we went with the following:
1. Cuttlefish with Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜) – $12. Because it is such an innovative and original take on an old school zi char dish!
2. Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡) – $13. Because the photos in the menu looked so good!
3. Homemade Prawn Roll (虾枣) – $12. Kate’s favourite and a gauge of a zi char’s strength.
4. Hor Fun with Egg Gravy (滑蛋河粉) – $5. Tom’s way to gauge the strength of a zi char stall.
Besides Cuttlefish with Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜) at Leong Ji Seafood that we also wanted some meats when we chanced upon the Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡) in the menu. It does look really good so that went into our order. To measure the strength of a zi char, Kate ordered the Homemade Prawn Roll (虾枣) while Tom went with the common (but not so easy) Hor Fun with Egg Gravy (滑蛋河粉). Here’s our review of what we ordered this time at Leong Ji Kitchen (formerly known as Leong Ji Seafood):
Cuttlefish with Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜)
As you can see from the photo, the Cuttlefish with Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜) at Leong Ji Kitchen is an work of art. There are loads of ingredients in creating this dish. One of our favourite is of course the fried yam that sits atop the cuttlefish and kangkong. They are sliced into thin strips, fried and formed into a small little tower. Then comes our favourite rojak slant to this dish, sweet and slightly spicy dark sauce drizzled over and sprinkled with a generous portion of grounded peanut. An work of art indeed.
As you tuck into the dish (carefully), you’ll start to notice the other ingredients unravel such as the cucumbers that adds to the crunch and of course the cuttlefish and kangkong. Really good as all these flavours and textures come together. Excellent rendition of this cuttlefish and kangkong zi char dish by Leong Ji.
Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡) – $13
Another new favourite for us at Leong Ji Kitchen is definitely the Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡). This dish is a dry-stir-fry dish where the ingredients are pre-fried before melding together in a sweet and savoury sauce – not too much, but enough to just coat the ingredients and leaving you wanting more of the sauce, only to find yourself scrapping the plates with your spoon and trying to soak it up with your rice. Ok, we’ve wrote too much useless information. But, yeah, that’s how good the enticing sauce of this dish is. The other ingredients such as the dried chili, fried garlic and fresh sweet onions give a nice twist to the overall flavour of the dish.
As for the meats itself, we love it that they’re really tender within and the lotus remains crunchy – something that we really like for fried ingredients tossed in a light gravy. Ups for
the Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡) at Leong Ji Kitchen!
Homemade Prawn Roll (虾枣)
We actually didn’t expect much of the Homemade Prawn Roll (虾枣) at Leong Ji Kitchen since we have tried what we think are some of the best out there, at Swatow, Fu Lin Men, Chui Huay Lim. But we must say that the hei zor at Leong Ji Kitchen is really not too bad. Not up there with the big boys but definitely a class above the average. You could taste that the prawn and pork are generously used in their rendition. You’ll be able to taste the bounciness of the prawn which gels well with the sweetness of the prawn and pork mixture. The outer layer that the roll is wrapped in – lightly crisp just as it should. Plus, the plum sauce that accompanied is very enticing and appetizing as well.
Overall, excellent but it just lacked a little bit in the moisture/juiciness aspect. Otherwise, at this price point, we’ll order it everytime we’re here.
Hor Fun with Egg Gravy (滑蛋河粉)
To test the skill of the chef at Leong Ji Kitchen, we ordered the Hor Fun with Egg Gravy (滑蛋河粉) or more commonly known as hua tan hor. We actually think it was just ok. Don’t get wrong, everything was going pretty well. The hor fun was pre-fried, was chewy and the gravy was pretty good as well. Ingredients were fresh with the prawns, pork slices and vegetables. The only thing that we think would put it up there? The wok hei. The rendition of hor fun at Leong Ji Kitchen lacked just this one but important ingredient to bring this dish together. Not easy but if you do it well, you’ll be among the top zi char stalls in Singapore. A good rendition nonetheless.
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Overall, we had an excellent meal at Leong Ji Kitchen. The innovative dishes of Cuttlefish with Kangkang (炸鱿鱼蕹菜) and Chicken with Lotus Root (莲藕风味鸡) delivered on all levels and then some. They also passed the 2bearbear in-house test with their rendition of Homemade Prawn Roll (虾枣) and Hor Fun with Egg Gravy (滑蛋河粉), though we think there’s still some room for improvement. The other big draw of course is the affordability. Having relocated to Punggol Waterway Sunrise, there’s no longer a double plus on the taxes which makes the dishes a little more affordable and given their excellent quality, a great venue to head over. With coffee-shop prices for beers as well as a view of the Punggol Waterway as you dine, Leong Ji Kitchen makes an overall great Zi Char venue in Singapore and it would not be long before we return to savour some of these dishes that are now firmly on our favourites list!
