YanLaiJu — Restaurant in Jurong East

PLEASE DO NOT VISIT HERE WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY! WHEN YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY, YOU CAN SIT DOWN WAIT TILL YOU ARE HUNGRY AND TIME WILL BE JUST NICE! Before we decide to eat Yan Lai Ju, there are many people because we know that this stall open not long ago in 182 coffeeshop. 1 of the lady told us is not going to be a long wait. So my family and I continue to find a seat and I ordered 1 Golden mini bun, 1 sweet sour pork, 1 Sizzling Three Delicacius Toufu, 1 Tomato and Egg Soup, 2 bowl of rice, 1 fried rice with seafood, 1 Boil Dumpling. Waiting time is scary.. more than a hour. First dish waited 30min come 1 sweet sour pork and we ask for our rice - told me is 5min. After I finished my pork about 15min, come the soup and I asked for my rice again tell me 5min. So i am thinking they don’t have rice that why can’t cook the fried rice. And after 10min, they serve me my dessert instead which is my mini bun with milk. When I already finished my meat, soup and my rice is served without going with any dishes. Best part, after 1hr she walked to me and ask me do I still want my dumpling because only left with sour veg dumplings, do not have my bai cai dumpling. Slap my forehead! What am I waiting? We decide to just pay the bill and go. We do not want to continue keep waiting. 1 Fried rice took 1.5hr haven’t serve to us yet. You will super surprised of how the lady answer us when we said we do not want to wait anymore. HER RESPONSE IS “餐饮业是这样的， 你可以等就等 不可以等就算了！” im thinking, is it my fault? I pay money I still need to listen to her sarcastic comment? Is not customer always right, i can understand but you are in coffeeshop and you are making business in neighbouring area. Isn’t you should apologise to me of making me wait and I didn’t feel fulled at all. Honestly speaking the food is not bad, the portion is small but i can still understand the rental of this coffeeshop is not cheap. BUT THIS KIND OF ATTITUDE TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD IS UNACCEPTABLE! You open a stall at KOPITIAM NOT RESTAURANT. YOU NEED PEOPLE AROUND NEIGHBOURHOOD TO SUPPORT YOU! By the way, I am not wearing home wear even I am going...

Really wanted to like this place so much as some items were really super delicious but their service and system honestly leave much to be desired.

The good - their 干锅肥肠 fat intestines were delicious - we ordered twice over the course of our meal as one was not enough! The 娃娃菜 baby tin foil dish was also delightful - filled generously with garlic and a delicious sauce. Their 辣子鸡 and 酸辣土豆丝 were also pretty delicious - simple dishes done well.

The bad - their clams soup 上汤啦啦 was extremely mediocre. The worst (not pictured) was their Yang Zhou fried rice 扬州炒饭 which was totally and completely bland & tasteless. 4 of us shared one plate and we didn’t even want to finalise it. A waste of time, money and calories.

Three of the dishes we ordered also did not arrive despite our 2hr dining time. We were so frustrated and eventually had to cancel the dishes. They were also not apologetic, and other tables seem to have this problem as well, seeing as quite a few patrons had to cancel their dishes while billing. Their system is definitely chaotic and baseless.

Not sure if I would like to return despite enjoying most of the food. The waiting time + horrible system left...

Food: On the menu, you can find a wide selection of Chinese food, from Chong Qing Grilled Fish (重慶烤魚) to Dongbei BBQ Skewers (東北烤肉串). Besides, they also serve Chinese Beers, such as Tsingtao beer (青島啤酒) and Snow beer (雪花啤酒).

My favorite: Dongbei BBQ Skewers (東北烤肉串) - A good mix of seasoning and spices enhance the texture and taste of the beef and pork.

Laziji (辣子雞) - A crispy surface with balance spices that makes Laziji a wonderful bite with beers.

Service: The staff are friendly, helpful and attentive. However, the dishes may take up 30 minutes for serving. Overall, the service was adequate, although not particularly memorable.

Atmosphere : The restaurant is easily accessible (about 5 minutes of walk from Jurong East MRT station). Nothing particularly to complaint as the restaurant décor looks very decent (just like other Chinese restaurants in Chinatown or Bugis).

Verdict: Well, it is a decent Chinese restaurant with a wide range of Chinese food selection. The food was fairly good, but not exceptional (Note: some dishes were a bit underwhelming). May come back to try some other dishes when catching up with...