Among the four coffee shops in the area, Fu Chan Food Paradise at blk 134 Jurong Gateway Road has got to be the one with the lowest footfall. Or at least that is how it appears to be when I visited at around 10am on a weekday.
There are plenty of indoor and outdoor seats available but patrons are few and seated far from one another.
I intentionally walk past the other three coffee shops to make a comparison and I observed that the environment here is better with no boisterous activities nor noise levels to drain my energy. #introvertwoes
This coffee shop is calm and relaxing with ample personal space yet air-conditioned! I can sit here to recharge myself all day!
I have come for the potstickers (10pc/$5) from a stall named Shandong Dong Ji La Mian Xiao Long Bao but when I saw from the menu that chili oil dumpling noodle ($5) is available, I ordered that too.
I have not tried chili oil dumplings before hence I am really curious to know how it tastes like.
The bowl of noodle came first. My jaw nearly drop when I saw the hefty bowl with its massive noodle portion! This can easily be shared among two persons.
On the mound of noodle sits five chili oil dumplings. Other ingredients included cucumber shreds and wood ear.
The noodles, or la mian are probably hand-pulled at the stall. It is springy with a chewy texture.
I am not sure what goes in the tossing sauce but my guess is simply chili oil since that is the name of the dish ordered. I felt it could do with a bit more flavor?
There is not enough sauce to go round therefore it tastes somewhat bland to me. The chili is not that spicy. A little savoriness might give it some lift?
A word of caution here: order the noodle only if you have a ravenous appetite or if you have someone to share with. Try as I might, I could only manage half of the portion.
I cannot deny that it is pretty good value.
The potstickers took a little longer to come. I do not have potstickers often and when I do, it is usually eaten as a communal dish shared with others so each person could probably have two or three.
Being able to polish off an entire plate of 10 potstickers all by myself is shiok beyond words.
I wonder if I have ordered the correct dish though as I was expecting the kind that is pan fried with a thin layer of oil on the flat end of the dumpling then simmered in a slurry of thickened starch water such that the end product would have a crispy, net-like skirting on the bottom.
However, the ones I ordered seems entirely deep fried?
Nevertheless, their dumplings are wrapped daily at the stall therefore, freshness is guaranteed.
The potsticker did not deflate or lose its crispiness even after turning cold. Biting through the crispy skin, it revealed a generous morsel of meat mixture on the inside which is best eaten with julienned ginger and black vinegar.
In hindsight, I should not have ordered the chili oil dumpling noodle. At that moment, I have failed to realize I am faced with fifteen meaty dumplings and a whole lot of noodles!
SHANDONG DONG JI LA MIAN XIAO LONG BAO 山东東記拉面小笼包
Fu Chan Food Paradise
Blk 134 Jurong Gateway Road
Blk 134 Jurong Gateway Road
Singapore 600134
Business Hours
Mon - Sun: 10am - 9.30pm
Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/ViEWVHTYqdT4U2pEA
Follow/Like
twitter: dead_cockroach
instagram: thedeadcockroach
fb page: the dead cockroach