Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine

If you like Yam Paste (Orr nee), this is the place to go.  The Yam Paste here is served with Pumpkin, Ginko Nuts, with the sugar syrup on top.  If you do not like it to be too sweet, you can always remove the syrup.  The texture is good, not too oily, with a light fragrant of the yam and pumpkin.  Served in individual portion, the portion is just nice.

We also tried others dishes such as Prawn Rolls.  Deep fried, served in a plate of 6, is a good way to start your lunch or dinner.

The braised goose in a speciality in Teochew cuisine, but I find the meat a bit tougher than duck.  The sides that served with the goose, bean curds are very good though. They soaked up the essence of the braised sauce, simply yummy.

The steamed promfret is another highlight.  Steamed just right, the meat is tender and sweet, and not too fishy.  The only feedback is that the fish was too big, and 3 of us struggled to finish it.  Learnt my lesson, hence the second time when I returned with my family, we decided not to order it.

The braised conpy with eight vegetarian treasures is also a delight.  There are mushrooms, Fa Choy, Cabbage,spinach, carrots, golden needle mushrooms (and 2 more which I could not remember).  A bit light, but good to balance so as not to have meat overdose.

The hotplate oyster egg was sizzling hot and generous with its oysters.

For your daily carbo intake, you can choose either the Teochew Fried Kway Tiao with Diced Kai Lan or Fried Seafood Mee Suan.

Overall, if you like Teochew food, Chui Huay Lim is highly recommended.  We skipped many of the traditional Teochew food such as Cold Crabs, Teochew Fried Liver Rolls and Pig Trotters Jelly. It is a surprise that this restaurant is under the Jumbo Group.  If you have a jumbo member card, there will be further discount too.  This place will be my regular hunt if I have Yam Paste craving.  The location though sounds remote, is not too difficult to locate.  If you are a rich Teochew, you probably already know that it is in the Chui Huay Lim Club.


Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine
190 Keng Lee Road, #01-02 Chui Huay Lim Club, Singapore.

Swa Garden Teochew Dinner

A group of us went Swa Garden for dinner as we have decided that we wanted something light and simple.  After few round of email discussion on which Teochew restauant to go to, we were decided on Swa Garden, as most of us heard about it, but never had the chance to try.

5 of us squeezed into a nice, sexy, selfish convertible of C, and tried to navigate to 540 MacPherson Road.  When I made the reservation, the lady was told me to look out for Winsor hotel, which none of us had the slightest clue of it.  Anyway, since there were 5 of us, 10 eyes, we figured that we wouldn't have a problem locating it...and tar tar, we managed to reach the place before the time of reservation.  By the way, for those who drive, a better landmark will be the Trinty Christian Church, once you passed the church, Swa Garden is just 2 blocks away.  It is the same row as the famous and expensive MacPherson Kway Chap.

We were beckoned by this authentic looking little Teochew restaurant, and the interior decoraton also feel like you have stepped back in time.   We were given a table right at the quiet corner, they probably think there a group of ladies could be too nosiy..

E deciding on what to eat:

We skipped the set menu and went for alacarte:
1.  Braised Goose
2.  Stirred fried potato leaves with sambal chilli
3.  Steamed Pomfret
4.  Crayfish balls with black pepper
5.  Chye Poh Kway Tiao
6.  Yam Paste (Orr Nee)

Braised Goose:

Steamed Pomfret:

Chye Poh Kway Tiao:

Yam Paste:

Potato Leaves:

The steamed pomfret was a huge disappointment.  We would expect that this would be a signature dish of a Teochew restaurant.  It is always not easy to get this dish right, the timing must be perfect, the freshness of the fish, the ingredients used cannot cover the taste of the fish.  Somehow this fish had a tinge of fishy smell, and not as fresh as we thought.  So in the end we rejected this dish, and the lady was kind enough to take it off the bill.

The highlight of the meal was Yam Paste- Orr Nee.  I think Swa Garden beats Lee Kui in her Orr Nee.  It was rich, with pumpkin and gingko nuts, and they use vegetable oil instead of lard.  V and I had 2 portion!! heehee

Overall rating:  7.5/10.  A family friendly place, definitely a place to bring your parents, grand parents, and babies :-)  Reservation during weekend highly recommended.


Swa Garden Restaurant
540 Macpherson Road
Tel:  6744 5009