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Telephone
6337 1928
Introduction
Dian Xiao Er originates from the traditional way of calling waiter “Xiao Er” in a teahouse, who is the brainchild of combining herbs with roast duck meat. It symbolizes a pit-stop for travellers (customers) to rest and replenish their energy fully before setting off to continue their hectic journeys again. The ambience at Dian Xiao Er is thus intentionally planned to be rustic and raw, providing a unique inn-dining experience with the careful selection of materials. This complements the freshness of our Signature Herbal Roast Ducks, prepared and roasted in the display kitchen daily.
Customers can expect to experience a choice of dining ambience varying from dining inside a traditional Chinese courtyard to dining inside a rustic timber shed at the foot of a stone cliff. Dian Xiao Er not only provides to the travellers a place of warmth, satisfaction and happiness as they indulge in the delectable dishes, it is also a place for them to interact and build relationships with one another. Dian Xiao Er also symbolizes an element of blessing and fellowship as everyone is brought together in Dian Xiao Er over a hearty meal.
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Good For
Brunch
Kids-Friendly
Opening Hours
Today
11:00 - 21:30
Mon - Thu
11:00 - 21:30
Fri - Sun
11:00 - 22:00
Above information is for reference only. Please check details with the restaurant.
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Signature Dishes
Since its founding in 2005, Dian Xiao Er has stayed true to its niche; providing rustic, tastefully prepared Chinese comfort food in a homely setting, at slightly above Zi Char pricing. And while it does feature Chinese style Zi Char dishes, the star highlights at Dian Xiao Er are its lovingly roasted ducks, served in a variety of flavourful herbal broths.Ambience at Dian Xiao Er is styled after a traditional Imperial Chinese rest house / inn, complete with dark wooden furniture and flooring, normally packed quite closely together. Depending on which Dian Xiao Er outlet you visit, decor can range from farm house to stone cliff. Atmosphere is lively and bustling, yet not noisy as to disrupt conversation. I also like that Dian Xiao Er has a display of its roast duck hanging near the entrance.Service at Dian Xiao Er seems to have actually improved over the last 5 years that I've visited. Order are taken and fulfilled quickly, and staff are polite, offering greetings upon entry / exit. Empty plates are cleared quickly, and staff are also efficient are topping up tea without being asked. Only drawback I note is that not all staff can converse in English, thus, Mandarin / Chinese is the preferred method of communication here.Food at Dian Xiao Er is mainly focused on their signature roast duck in herbal broths, as well as double boiled soups Cantonese style, alongside a small selection of Chinese style Zi Char dishes. Potions are usually sufficient for 2 people to share, and pricing is slightly more expensive than a coffee shop Zi Char, but cheaper than a Chinese fine dining restaurant, averaging about SGD $25 - $40 per person.Quality of food at Dian Xiao Er is very good, ingredients are fresh due to their high turnover, and dishes are well prepared. Plating and presentation is decent. Overall, a good place for a homely, comfort Chinese meal!The signature Roast Duck With 10 Wonder Herbs (SGD $14.60 Small, SGD $27.30 Medium, SGD $46.60 Whole) features duck roasted to perfection, in a dark herbal gravy of 10 Chinese herbs which include condonopsis root, foxglove root, and licorice root. It supposedly has a calming effect, while relieving mental stress and revitalizing energy.The duck meat is tender, moist, and yields easily, not an easy feat to achieve with duck! The duck skin retains a slightly crisp crunch, and a tinge of salty, savoury flavour. The gravy is yummy and drinkable, and while strong with the flavour of Chinese herbs, isn't overpowering or medicinal in taste. Excellent! Ask for it to be deboned for a more satisfiying meal!The Stewed Crocodile Soup With Almonds (SGD $7.60 Small) is prepared in the traditional Chinese double boiled style, and features crocodile meat, almonds, red dates, and other Chinese herbs. The crocodile meat is tender, but on its own, is quite bland. The soup has a lovely mellow flavour, with a tinge of sweet and nutty, warm and very drinkable. Said to relieve breathing difficulties and cough, while enhancing eyesight and skin complexion.I like that you can request for the Claypot Eggplant With Mushroom & Meat (SGD $11.90 Small) to be prepared with less oil, as it's a typically very oily dish. I love the freshness of the eggplant / aubergines, stewed till soft and tender, and the gravy of minced pork, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, and chili, is savoury, slightly spicy, and goes well over rice.The Old-Style Steamed Fish Slices (SGD $12.60 Small) is a traditional savoury dish, featuring large slices of fresh fish, steamed in a light soy sauce, along with sliced pork loin, red dates, pickled mustard greens, and spring onions. Love the lightness of this dish, but it's best eaten with rice to cut through the salty, savoury taste.Loved the Fish Maw Thick Soup With Seafood (SGD $16.90 Small), with its eggy, slightly sweet broth that tastes of fresh seafood. The portion of fish maw is decent, and the spongy texture absorbs the soup well. Only 2 types of seafood feature in this thick yet light soup, fresh crab meat, and sliced abalone.Full Dian Xiao Er review here: http://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.sg/2014/09/dian-xiao-er.html
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Not really a good idea to come Dian Xiao Er on a Friday night without a reservation. It's packed with families waiting to get a hearty meal and the wait (we were there at 7.50pm) took about 20 minutes. The horror!Not too bad considering that it's probably worse elsewhere, but I suppose for a restaurant of its size it's quite a long wait.We order three dishes: a signature pork rib dish (around $13), a stir-fried lemon kailan (below $10 or thereabout) and a hotplate tofu (slightly over $11 I think?) with two bowls of rice. The bill came up to about $46 in total.The service, although brisk, I would say lacked attentiveness. The staff were more preoccupied with the bigger tables of 8-10 persons rather than the corner tables that seated say 2-4 patrons. Nevertheless, it was a busy period and I won't complain. At least they weren't rude or pushy.The kailan arrived first. It had a really appetising aroma, which really sets your gastric juices going for the meal haha. It has a tinge of lemon which may seem odd (trust me, we were skeptical at first), but it complemented the kailan well. The vegetables weren't overcooked and the saltiness was just right. Even when cold, it tasted great!The hot plate tofu was amazing -it's an impressive, sizzling plate of tofu, egg and my goodness, that sauce that comes with it. Chock full of minced meat, flavour and topped with fresh spring onions this was flawless. I'd say that I'll order this hot plate tofu and the kailan again if I were to eat here the next time. The sauce was slightly starchy but not to the point where it became a gluey texture when it cools. Fluffy tofu, drenched in hot, savoury and slightly smokey sauce. This dish is best eaten piping hot.The pork ribs, while supposedly signature, ceased to impress me. The thick black pepper sauce was indeed flavoursome but I just didn't feel that it was awe-worthy. In my opinion it was way too salty, and the thick sauce only made it worse -I had to gulp down water in order to finish one rib! The meat wasn't particularly tender, nor did it slide off the bone like I'd expected. Kind of a letdown, the pork ribs were't up to my expectations. My dining companion thought it was fine though, wolfing down the ribs like it were the best thing on earth! I guess he preferred stronger flavours?Dian Xiao Er is also great for their soups! You may want to try their 'bo tong's if you're here. My recommendations are the hotplate tofu and the lemon kailan. I suppose you could get these dishes at cheaper prices in a Zi Char stall but for a family restaurant in a shopping mall, these are my top picks for dinner.
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Dinner with friends after a trip to Art Science Museum. We ordered the set dinner for 5 which includes the following:1. Soup of the day2. Roasted Duck w/Angelica Herb3. HK Styled Steam Fish Slice4. Kai Lan w/Salted Fish & Lime5. 3 Mushroom w/Broccoli 6. Dong Po Pork 7. Barley or Water Chestnut drinkfor more pictures of the food we had, please visit;http://milkfrost.blogspot.sg/2013/01/blog-post_7.html
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Dian Xiao Er is one of my favourite stalls to visit for its homely Chinese food. One of my favourite dishes is the three colour egg with spinach. The three eggs, salted egg, duck’s egg and normal chicken egg cooked together results in a very rich tasting broth which is saltish and sweet. The spinach is also not too overcooked, just right such that it is not too limp. Even my son who doesn’t like vegetables is all praise for this. A dinner for the five of us usually comes up to around $110, which is really affordable considering the high standards of food here.
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This herbal duck here is one of the best sellers. The whole duck is quite big and the duck meat is quite tender and juicy. It should has been cooked for quite many hours which resolved the duck to be so tender and the full flavour is absorb in the meat. The gravy in this dish is also full of herb flavour which is best to eat with the fragrant plain rice. Thought the price is reasonable as this whole duck is good for around four to six adults to share together.
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