Jing Hua Restaurant

My family and I were in Chinatown to run some errands and were unfortunately stuck in the massive human jam in that area. I hate going to Chinatown during the Chinese New Year period because it's just so horribly crowded, and with everybody towering over me, I can hardly see anything at all. Which is basically such a waste of time for me to head there in the first place. Furthermore, I hate crowds, so I was just trying my best to keep calm and get my act together while grabbing the stuff we need.

After that much squeezing and shoving, we were finally done and it was time for dinner! We decided to drop by Jing Hua Restaurant for some Zha Jiang Mian and dumplings. To get to Jing Hua Restaurant, simply cross the road from Maxwell Food Centre and walk along the row of shop houses. Jing Hua Restaurant is situated in one of those shop houses facing Kreta Ayer.

They recently renovated and expanded the place and the queue was much more decent. When we were here previously, the queue was atrocious, and we were left standing outside the shop house for about 20 minutes, while a grumpy old man came out every now and then to demand a proper queue. It wasn't the most pleasant experience but we came back because the food was good.

The menu is limited, but almost everything tastes awesome. 

We ordered Zha Jiang Mian (which is noodles with minced meat in bean paste sauce), pan-fried mixed seafood and pork dumplings, xiao long bao, and Chinese Pizza (which is basically mixed seafood and pork inside a large pancake).

The zha jiang mian is really unique and tastes very different from the usual Crystal Jade or Imperial Treasure ones. I'm not particularly fond of the noodles as they probably have been cooked for a tad too long and taste kind of soggy. But I love the minced pork and bean paste. The bean paste is really thick and goes very well with the minced pork. They are also very generous with the vegetables and slices of crunchy cucumber.

The pan-fried mixed seafood and pork dumplings came next. I love the pan fried dumplings here! The skin is always crispy and nicely fried while the pork within is just so fragrant and juicy. If there's one thing you should not miss here, it has to be this.

The contents of the Chinese Pizza is basically the same as that within the dumplings. The only difference lies in the skin of the pancake. I prefer the thin pan-fried skin of the dumplings as compared to the thick oven-baked skin of the pancake. They are always generous with the filling though and both the dumplings and Chinese pizza are filled with lots of mixed seafood and pork.

The xiao long bao came last. I would say that the xiao long bao here isn't the best I've tasted and was kind of disappointing. The skin is way too thick and there is too little soup within the small xiao long bao.

The prices are generally reasonable and if you come at the right time, you might not even need to queue! My family and I have been coming back regularly and it has always been worth the trip.

21/23 Neil Road