MIN JIANG at one north

min jiang @ 5 rochester park
Originally uploaded by varf.

table @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

This entry is a little bit overdue, as I seem to have been putting it off for one reason or another. Better late than never?

We had dinner at Min Jiang at One North about two weeks ago. The original Min Jiang firmly established itself at the Goodwood Park Hotel; this new branch occupies one of the repurposed black-and-white bungalows of Rochester Park (which seems poised to be the next happening dining/entertainment row, with One Rochester Park already partying in full swing).

The parking area on the grounds was limited, so instead of surrendering my car key to the valet (I have had bad experiences with valets and my manual-shift car), I opted to park at the nearby multi-storey carpark and walked back to the restaurant. Although some diners conveniently parked along the road just opposite ACJC, flagrantly ignoring the road markings.

Seating is a mix of outdoor and indoor tables on the first floor, with intimate lighting and sufficient elbow-room. There's a bar counter on one side of the indoor setup, with stairs presumably leading to more rooms on the higher floors.

Min Jiang's proffered cuisine is Szechuan (Sichuan to some), one that I'm neither particular familiar with nor fond of because of its leanings towards spiciness. I wanted little to do with the dishes that appeared overly spicy, so there were some dishes we ordered that I didn't sample that night.

We started out with the drunken chicken, guo tie (锅贴) and xiao long bao (小龍包), all of which were pretty ordinary. Nice, but definitely ordinary.

I had the old cucumber (老黄瓜) soup, which was rich and tasty, if a wee bit pepper-ish. Though I guess I shouldn't have expected it to come with anything more than a single piece of old cucumber.

deep fried soon hock @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

The deep fried soon hock was well executed and tasted good, its skin crispy and meat still tender. Loved the presentation - not many places bother when it comes to deep fried soon hock.

camphor-wood and tea smoked duck @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

The camphor-wood and tea smoked duck was served Peking Duck style, placed with cucumber in a thin wrapper skin and brushed over with the familiar thick, heavy sauce. However, the sauce was overpowering and mangled the aroma of the duck, which stood extremely well on its own merit.

lobster pieces in salted egg yolk @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

Diced lobster "wong kum" style - though I'm sure that's not the actual name of the dish - went down quite well, despite the slight spiciness of chilli. Rich and chunky lobster pieces coated in salted egg yolk and fried; I can still recall its fragrant aroma and taste. J didn't like it.

dong po pork @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

Dong po rou is supposed to be mouth-wateringly tender, as a result of cooking the fatty layered pork over a slow fire. In this case, the fat did indeed melt in the mouth, but the meat wasn't quite as tender as I'd expected it to be. The sauce was thick and fairly spicy, so I didn't have much of it. Unfortunately, what I did experience was a fairly sharp nausea reaction after tasting this dish. My stomach has this strange sensitivity to certain foods, not exactly sure what triggers it. :(

hot and sour soup over crispy rice @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

I'm a fan of slightly-burnt rice (the cantonese call it fan jiew) and the next dish was something like a seafood hot-and-sour soup over slightly-burnt rice. But it was too spicy for me, plus my stomach was still reeling from the earlier nausea reaction, so I gave it a miss. The kai lan was pretty nicely done though, and helped calm my stomach's writhings.

honey glazed pork rib @ min jiang
Originally uploaded by varf.

Our final dish was the pork rib, glazed with some concoction of what seemed like honey and mango. This was supposed to have been served rather early in the meal, but there was a mix-up in the kitchen and we ended up having to chase for it after the other dishes had been served. The meat was succulent and juicy - my kind of pork rib.


Apart from the food which wasn't exactly outstanding and drew mixed reactions, service was fair but somewhat rough around the edges. Presentation and ambience were good. As for price.. definitely upmarket.

And given my personal disposition regarding spicy food.. I'd think twice about going again. What's the point if I don't really appreciate spiciness?

keeping ethan busy
Originally uploaded by varf.

MIN JIANG at one north
5 Rochester Park
Singapore 139216
Tel: 6774-0122