Wan He Lou

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For pictures and full review, pls visit:http://madamechewy.com/2015/02/20/wan-he-lou/I’ve always wanted to visit Wan He Lou to try their famous Lobster Porridge so when Amex had its 30licious promotion last November, I made a reservation right away. On a side note, I do hope that Amex 30licious promo will continue, so we foodies will have something else to look forward to apart from Restaurant Week.Located in the heart of Jalan Besar, Wan He Lou’s surroundings is rather run down. Thankfully the restaurant itself is presentable and clean. Service was sometimes non-existent (as all the staff went to the kitchen) but their friendly demeanor made up for this.Wan He Lou was well-prepared for the promotion; our dishes arrived shortly after we finished munching on the addictive Wasabi Macadamia Nuts.Chef Style Smoked Duck did a good job of whetting our appetite with its engaging balance of sweet and savory. This could have been better of the meat was more tender.Wan He Lou Golden Seafood “Pot Sticker” was nicely pan-fried, with crisp skin encasing juicy seafood and vegetable dumpling.Honey Tangy Pork Choplets were too tough for our liking.The Green Dragon Vegetables were caught us by surprise. The greens were sweet, succulent and crunchy. We certainly didn’t expect this humble vegetable dish to so enticing!The Signature Lobster Porridge is prepared Teochew style. There’s no doubt the delectable broth was the star; the robust umami soup warmed our tummies and souls. The rice was cooked till comfortingly soft, infused with the broth’s flavors. Unfortunately, the crustacean itself was bland and boring.We ended our meal on a sweet note with Black Glutinous Rice with Yam Ice Cream.Overall, we felt the food was alright and the standard was average. Wan He Lou also offers wide variety of Asian classics and favorites at reasonable prices, making it a suitable venue for family gatherings. 繼續閱讀

Located at the heart of Jalan Besar, and conveniently right opposite Jalan Besar Plaza (Fret not, drivers! There's ample parking spaces! Per entry in the evenings too!), Wan He Lou is actually quite easily accessible on foot from both Lavender and Farrer Park MRT Stations. The restaurant management advised that Farrer Park will be a more straightforward (hence, 'safer') choice, but we actually strolled back to Lavender Station very easily in about 15 minutes' time.We were actually the first to arrive, on the dot at 11am sharp when they open, and just went on a crazy phototaking spree! A feature wall of the photographs taken when our local artistes visited the restaurant.And I love these bird-cage lanterns so much! Okay, let's get on to the food, shall we?Fresh Vegetable Juice - $3.50I know, this vibrant shade of green with almost half the glass of 'pulpy remains' aren't exactly the most appealing drink you'll find. But believe me, this is the yummiest green drink you can ever find. Oyhz loved it so much, she went for a second one! A yummy blend of pineapples, sour plums and cai xin, you'll actually taste the pineapples and sour plums in spite of the strong green colour. A really icy refreshing drink that tickled my tastebuds and boosted my appetite. Crispy Lotus with Salted Egg (S) - $11.90Each piece of the lotus is sliced till nearly paper thin, deep fried till golden brown and then generously coated in salted egg. If you're a fan of both fried lotus chips AND salted egg yolk flavour, you definitely have to order this! This dish is more of a light snack instead of a main dish and I strongly recommend that you try to finish it up as soon as it gets served, for as the dish gets cold, it loses some of its crispiness as well. Pan Fried Kurobuta Pork (S) - $14.90If you're still a stranger to kurobuta, it's actually Japanese for Black (kuro) Pork (buta). The main reason why kurobuta is much more 'raved' and popular as compared to their pink counterparts is due to the fact that the meat is actually much more tender and has very much less of the commonly hated (in individuals who doesn't enjoy eating pork) 'pork smell'. I really love this dish, even though I myself is also a pork-hater, for the meat is really tender and it has a savoury-sweet flavour, a perfect dish to go with a bowl of piping hot rice! Qing Long Cai / Green Dragon Vegetable with Dried Shrimps (S) - $9.90I know, $9.90 for such a small servings of vegetables sounds kind of pricey. But this is actually not just any vegetables you can find in the supermarket. These Qing Long Cai are specially brought in from Cameron Highlands, and grown in limited sunlight by having them covered in nylon nettings after their first cut at about 6th week's growth.They look a lot like garlic chives, but is crunchier, sweeter and more succulent in taste. It does have a mild 'typical chive smell', but I didn't taste the distintive 'chive taste' as I ate these greens. Perhaps the dried shrimps have masked the dreaded 'chive taste', or it's just how the Qing Long Cai is supposed to be. Nontheless, the addition of dried shrimps really complemented this dish really well. The strong salty flavour of the dried shrimps really brought out the crisp sweetness of the greens and the perfect combination of both sweet and savoury taste just made this vegetable a must try of the restaurant.Hokkaido Scallop with Hawthorne Sauce & Asparagus (S) - $20.90 Yup, there's 5 big fat Hokaiddo scallops you see there, drenched generously in sweet hawthorne sauce spiced up with cut chilli. I abosolutely loved the asparagus (yes, an asparagus-lover here). Unlike many other restaurants, which tend to mix young and old asparagus together, this entire plate only has young, tender asparagus that was cooked till just the right time to keep its soft crunch and natural sweetness, yet absorb enough of the hawthorne sauce's flavour. Sounds complicated, eh? Well, you just have to try them out for yourselves.And finally, how can we miss out Wan He Lou's specialty? Signature Lobster Porridge - $29.90 onwards (serves 2) According to the restaurant's management, each order, which serves 2, comes with 1 lobster (halved).And the first thing that the server did while serving us the porridge was to remove all the lobsters from the hot porridge onto separate plates so as to prevent the lobsters from getting overcooked. And as you can see, the porridge is in Teochew style with the rice still maintaining their grain forms and all the essence from the lobster locked into the thick, flavourful soup. I know the Cantonese congee is commonly more popular than the Teochew muay due to the perception that the congee is more flavourful and rich, having to cook the rice with all the ingredients for long hours. But tell you what, having been fed Teochew muay since young, I really do appreciate a good one when I find one.This is definitely not those 'short-cut' kind at the hawker centres with just hot tasty soup poured over ready cooked rice and served straight away with the rice still tasteless and hard (at least it didn't taste like so to my tastebuds), but really cooked in the flavourful soup until the grains further soften, which allows flavour to develop not just in the soup but also in the rice itself. This is the kind of Teochew muay my mother and grandma has been cooking for me since young! But of course with only ikan billis or a few pieces of dried scallops, duh.(The lobster is too big for my bowl... T.T)The soup is simply awesome! This just has to be the best comforting food you can ever find that is rich yet not overpowering, and enhanced with the fresh sweetness of the lobster roe that complements the overall savoury flavour of the porridge. The soup was so delicious, that we kept refilling our bowls with the soup and leaving lots of the grains behind. The lobster was also fresh and well done, the meat thick and chewy from the freshness. An award winning dish indeed!To end the food tasting, the restaurant management also served us some desserts, Beancurd & Lychee pudding with Ice Cream, to refresh our tastebuds. 繼續閱讀

Having read some great reviews about Wan He Lou, and psyched that there is another restaurant serving lobster porridge, *Charmaine and I decided to have lunch here on this lovely Sunday afternoon.Set in a row of shophouses along Jalan Besar, this little Chinese restaurant is not hard to locate. The decoration is so pretty, with a homely but tasteful Oriental style design, Chinese lantern lights all over this cosy restaurant boosting of really good, sincere service.The first dish being served was the Pan Fried Kurobuta Pork (SGD$14.90) - a very luscious, homely dish with succulent black pork meat, panfried in a lovely sauce - the meat was tender yet juicy. The decoration comprising of thin wedges of dragonfruit by the side was really pretty.Next, we had the Crispy Lotus with Salted Egg (SGD$11.90) - paper thin slices of lotus deep fried with salted egg and basil leaves - we loved this as well. The lightly saccharine taste of lotus gave way to salted egg's richer taste, and the basil added hints of spiciness to the dish. Usually I dislike lotus because of its hard texture , but the lotus prepared this way was crispy (true to its name) , like eating lotus chips.Finally, the Signature Lobster Porridge (SGD$39.90 for two) was being served, a large pot of broth, rice grains and large lobsters greeted us in a delightful sight. The anticipation was over as we took our first bite of the soup / porridge. We could not understand why reviews described it as being "rich in lobster flavor" and all similar phrases alike. Granted, the broth itself was flavorful and we could tell it was of superior stock, but the ginger taste obliterated other elements in the broth.For full review and more photos, please feel free to visit:http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2014/11/lunch-at-wan-he-lou-restaurant.html 繼續閱讀

Wan He Lou occupies one of the shophouses in Jalan Besar area, an air conditioned restaurant with a simple, homely and comforting setting.The popular lobster porridge was the main reason for our visit to Wan He Lou Chinese Restaurant.Overall, Wan He Lou offers good Chinese cuisine at an affordable price. The lobster porridge, crispy lotus with salted eggs, Green Dragron fried with dried shrimp or sambal, Pan Fried Kurobuta Pork and vegetable juice are not to be missed. At Wan He Lou, it's not just the food that is praiseworthy, it's also the innovation found in many of the dishes that keep us coming back.Please refer to www.ieatandeat.com for details review. 繼續閱讀

*Sponsored*I am honoured to be invited by Street directory for this food review session. and Many thanks to Vincent from Wan He Lou for recommending to us the yummy dishes from the restaurant.Wan He Lou is a well known household name for their signature lobster porridge despite they are only open for less than a year ( going to be a year soon). They have built their reputation with many fusion Chinese cuisines and aim to share the joy of enjoying food with you! A cosy set up restaurant that can sit approx 70 - 80 pax including 2 VIP rooms aim to serve you savoury dishes with sincerity. According to Vincent, they serve dishes across all dialect groups and their creative chef will experiment with new dishes from time to time. So fret not, new items are added to the menu to give you a different dining experience.They also do offer customized menu for your special occasions which is especially good for those who wants to hold corporate events or having special guest. As they are pretty crowded during weekends, reservations are preferred.so here are some of the highly recommended dishes by Vincent. they are also the most popular dishes among their customers.Signature Lobster Porridge ~ something not to be missed! 2 pax (approx 350g) from $29.90 onwardsAccording to Vincent, it is very important to tke the lobster out of the porridge when it is served. The lobster will be overcooked and the meat will be too tough. They only use spiny lobster that is approx 300g each as the lobster meat will not be too tough and the meat will be very sweet and juicy. The preparation of the lobster porridge is broken down in to many stages which the most important one will be preparing the broth for the porridge! My first taste on the porridge is that broth brings a very refreshing and rich. The porridge is cooked in teo chew style which means you can taste the richness of the broth on its own! The lobster is well cooked and not tough. with the fragrant taste of ginger, it not only remove the fishy smell of the lobster, it also enhance the taste as well. Thumbs up for this dish!Crispy Lotus with salted egg ~ A great snack for beer / TV session!!! (s) $11.90 (m) $19.90A wonderful snack that is still crispy even when it is cold. According to Vincent, the preparation time for this dish is very long especially for the lotus. The smell of this dish is so overwhelming that you can smell it from a far distance. It is cooked with salted egg ( just like salted egg prawn) , sprinkly with curry leaves. This dish is so addictive that i couldn't stop eating it! Thumbs up for this dish too!Fresh Vegetable Juice ~ Healthy Refreshing juice for a hot and sunny afternoon! $3.00i was quite sceptical on how good this drink will be especially when Vincent introduce the ingredients of it. but to my surprise, this drink taste heavenly. the after taste is very refreshing and cooling. It gives a cooling sensation every single sip lol. It is also very appetizing too!Cod fish with spicy sauce ~ Choose how you want your cod dish to be cooked! (s) $29.90 (m) $46.90Not many restaurant offers the option of how you want your cod fish to be cooked,seriously. They are either black pepper or steam or deep fried. But here, they provide you the option of how you want it to be! How nice! Personally i love this dish too! the fish is very crispy despite it is covered with sauce. it is extremely fresh and according to Vincent, they only use premium ingredients in all the cuisines! Perfect dish to go with a plain bowl of rice!Vincent also took this chance to remember two new dishes to us. Salt Pepper San Yao ( also known as huai san) and also Prawn ball with aloe vera and Osmanthus.Salt Pepper San YaoHonestly speaking, my mum always cook san yao soup but not deep fried them and this is my first time tasting this dish. This dish is very special as San yao is quite tasteless and you use the salt and pepper to bring out the flavor of this dish. It is very crispy both inside and outside. Personally i quite like this dish too!Prawn ball with aloe vera and Osmanthus.The prawns are very fresh and the texture is very good. So you can see that the chef actually control "the fire" very well to ensure that the prawns are not overcooked. However, the sauce may make the prawn loses a little crispiness on the outside (not sure if it is intentional but it is still as good). Also,the fragrant of the osmanthus brings this dish to another level! If you love osmanthus and aloe vera, you will like this dish.OverallFood : ***1/2Price : ***Customer service : ***1/2Will i come again? Yes!Wan He LouOpening HoursMonday – SundayLunch: 11am to 230pmDinner: 5pm to 1030pmClosed on the first day of CNYAddress:65 Maude Road(S) 208347Tel no.: +65 6294 8057Mobile: +65 9138 6330Email: sales@wanhelou.com 繼續閱讀