Beng Hiang Restaurant — Restaurant in Jurong East

ng Hiang, a place that I know that serves authentic Hokkien cuisine. I remembered the time when I had enjoyed their food while they were still located in Amoy Street. After its relocation to Jurong East, though it was located in the west but I never had the chance to step into the restaurant till today.

The interior was nostalgic and they had kept the traditions. The floor was covered with flowered red carpets and the settings were nothing but  had given me a full memory of  Chinese restaurants back in the 80s ~ round tables with lazy Suzy in the middle. The semi-modern yet traditional furnishings had kind of bring me back to the days where our relatives would throw their Wedding Ceremony in such places.

Even its restaurant lobby had given us patrons a good Chinese culture before even entering into the dining area.

A good mix of spiced sausage and fried prawn balls dipping into the given sweet brown sauce. The fillings were plump. It will not go wrong by ordering this signature dish of theirs. The dish was uplifted to its traditional presentation with pickled slices of papaya and preserved cherry by the side of the plate.

There are 3 types of  Yam Ring in the menu, shrimps, scallops and vegetarian. The server assisted in cutting the ring into smaller portions and the ring was disintegrated. Ingredients were pretty ordinary with button mushrooms, cashew nuts, onions, capsicums, prawn and corn.

Not a common dish we had outside but I would say that the braised duck with sea cucumber was generally good. The gravy was good to go with bowls of white rice. Meat was braised into its tenderness and easily fell off from its bone.

This is one of the signature dishes to order from the restaurant. Noodles were well soaked up with its gravy in its consistent form and coupled with lean meat and prawns as ingredients. Gravy was rich and just nice, not overly salty.

Upon looking at the small pot and hoping for the dish to let its aroma out (it did none), I was totally disappointed. No doubt that the meat was not fatty and looks absolutely healthy, it lacked the aroma punch and tasted rather ordinary. Where did the old taste gone to?

Well, I had the braised meat sandwiched between the pau, the meat was tender but still this signature dish does not make justice to authentic Hokkien cuisine that I used to have.

I find that the servicing staff on the ground was experienced enough to gauge how much food we have to order and even stop us from ordering more. Service rendered was normal, however quality and taste of food should be more of focus to improve on to live up to its authentic Hokkien's...

I have eaten at Beng Hiang Restaurant from Day 1, since I was a child. Yes, from the time I was 7 years old, when they first opened their doors at Murray Terrace Food Street in Tanjong Pagar in 1978. My Dad, now 82 years old, ever the consumate connoisseur, took the family there at least twice a month. Beng Hiang was the family's 2nd favourite casual Chinese restaurant, the first being the long-defunct Teochew Ban Seng Restaurant. We continued to patronise Beng Hiang when it moved to Amoy Street and Jurong.

Before last night, it had been 2 years since I last visited, so I had eagerly looked forward to our meal there. It really pains me to say that the cooking at the restaurant is a shadow of its former self, and the food now is generally lacklustre and mediocre.

The poor cooking started from the very first dish - the fish maw soup. The taste was actually fine but it was lukewarm, so we sent it back to the kitchen. Then came the cold dish with the meat roll and prawn roll. They were dry and lacked taste. This lack of taste and dryness would go on to characterise most of the dishes we had - the kong ba pau and fried tang hoon were so tasteless and had no heat. The fried Hokkien Mee was slightly better, but just lacked oomph. The pyster omelette was a tad dry and had no wok hei.

I enquired with the waitress, and she told me the chef owner retired about 2 years ago, when he and his partners sold their restaurant. That explains it. Tragically, the new chefs never picked up the needed skills.

I was crying inside. With this kind of cooking, I won't be going back. Yet another vestige of my childhood has died. I can only feast on the memories of how great the food once was.

P.S. I am sensitive to MSG. If there is too much used, I will feel thirsty after the meal. I never ever used to feel so thirsty after a meal at Beng Hiang. But last night, I was gasping for water through the night. How bewildering- so much MSG, and yet the food...

Date of visit : Sun 19 Nov 2023 Time : 1 pm

Celebrated my mum’s 94th birthday here. 12 of us. Preordered suckling pig and the birthday buns.

Ordered 8 dishes : 7 dishes + 1 dessert. The suckling pig is excellent. Fried mian xian, yam ring and roast chicken also good. The fried watercress, 大菜 the dessert yam paste orh nee soso.

Date of visit : Sat 21 Jan 2023 Time : 6 pm

Came here again to celebrate CNY. Restaurant’s really packed to the brim, people in joyous mood.

We ordered the $738+ menu. Started with lohei as usual. The 2nd dish fish maw soup came a bit late, about 30 mins later. So everything else was being delayed.

Also a bit disorganized as tables were not grouped by type of chosen menu, so staff at times didn’t know which table to serve.

Clearly not enough manpower and staff was busy.

Roast chicken was good. Braised mushroom with spinach too and the red bean sesame ball dessert. Steamed grouper was soso.

Date of visit : Sun 30 Oct 2022 Time : 12.45 pm

Reserved a table for 12 in advance as my mum wanted to celebrate her 93th birthday here. The whole place seemed full.

Called ahead also to order a big pomfret about 1 kg+ and also the longevity buns - a pack of 18 costing about $40.

The longevity buns look beautiful. We are reminded not to consume the big bun nor the small teeny weeny apple like decoration buns.

Service is good : some dishes are divided into equal portions for us.

The Teochew style steamed pomfret lacks the same flavor as other Teochew restaurants. The deep fried oyster omelette is so thin and crispy that it’s unlike those sold at hawker centres.

A traditional restaurant with her loyal customers and above average...