Monday, June 18, 2007

Pig-out @ Quan Xiang Yuan


Quan Xiang Yuan is one of our pig-out restaurants. It is the type of Chinese restaurant you go to when eating is all that you are after, and you take only good friends who are on the same mission.

The food is consistently good in that home-cooked-goodness way. Don't expect any clever twist to the usual standard dishes of Hokkien fare whether steamed, fried, braised or boiled.

There are no soft touches to this place. The decor is strictly utilitarian - stark white tiled walls and floor, stark white florescent overhead lights, basic wooden chairs and round tables that seat 6 to 12 people. All the better to hose down the entire place when a general cleaning is called for.

The service is basic and minimal. Your entire 10-course dinner appears in 20 minutes. You do not get a change of service plate. When it eventually becomes desperate and necessary to get new service plates, the wait-staff will gladly hang back and let you self-serve.

And the noise. This is not noise from noisy eaters expected of Chinese restaurants. This is rude intrusive din from the wait-staff clearing tables. Do not hope things will quieten down when the place empties out. There will be no let-up in the clanging and slamming of utensils and crockery. Every minute that you are there. Any night of the week. No relief. No exception. No hope.

The restaurant is reputedly a favourite hang-out for taxi-drivers who come for the home-feel of the place.

We don't relate to that sentiment. We come strictly for the food. We would come a lot more often if there could be just some small improvement in comfort level.


Quan Xiang Yuan is located at:
252 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208925
Tel: 6294 6254



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

wah...i cannot tahan noise on this level. but it sounds good for a quick meal in and out within 30min.

wildgoose said...

Is this the one near Pu Tian you were telling us about? The yam dessert looks yums.

sinlady said...

imp : believe me noise in this place so bad it spoils your entire evening.

wildgoose: yes, this is the place. You wanna come next time? :)

Suzie Wong said...

slurp!!! love the pictures. if the food looks like that i'm fine with the noise. i'm used to eating my parents clan kakis at red star

sinlady said...

suziewong - get you in next time we go :)

Anonymous said...

Were you ladies at Amirah's grill sometime end of last month ?

wildgoose said...

Would love to join in when there's good food. But must retreat somewhere quiet for drinks after that to recover. haha...

sinlady said...

jm: no

wg: yes

Anonymous said...

me: maybe

Anonymous said...

finally the pics are up! yup its very interesting, reminds me of dishes i tasted in my childhood but grandma's not ard to cook them anymore.

the place looks like a mahjong den. i wouldnt dare to walk in cos it didnt look like a restaurant at all from the outside.

sinlady said...

edpj : now that you mention it, yup, even the outside looked rough.