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Mainland Chinese cuisine is having a golden moment in Singapore, but there's more to feast on beyond flavour-packed Hunan dishes and malatang. Wenzhou cuisine, a culinary style from the southeastern Zhejiang province known for its mild flavours and fresh seafood, is one of them. This cooking style falls under Zhejiang cuisine, one of China's eight main cuisines, along with others like Sichuan, Yue (Guangdong), Fujian and so on.
In Singapore, there's currently only one spot serving authentic Wenzhou food, and that's Wenzhou Mansion in Tanjong Pagar, a fine dining establishment which opened in August last year. Chef Li Chuhua, a Wenzhou native himself, helms two concepts in China with over 10 outlets across Wenzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai – Wenzhou Mansion, and Shuang Jing Tou, which is listed in China's Michelin Guide. The 88-seater in Singapore occupies two floors of a shophouse, with classy dark-wood furnishings and seven private dining rooms to host groups of different sizes.
The menu, a spread of over 120 dishes, stays true to the hallmarks of Wenzhou cooking, with a focus on pristine seafood and elegant flavours with minimal seasoning to let the natural ingredients shine. Meanwhile, the wine list, which leans heavily Old World with mostly French and Italian labels, feels like a missed opportunity to show off China's exploding wine scene – especially for a restaurant championing one of its lesser-known regional cuisines.
A typical dinner here can get pricey, with sharing plates averaging in the $40 range and more for soups and seafood. But there is good news: the restaurant just launched a curated lunch menu with 60 items, presented in smaller portions for more intimate gatherings, and with adjusted prices.
Another big draw is the individual lunch sets, which all come with an appetiser, vegetables, soup and fruits alongside your chosen main of stir-fried rice noodles, scallion oil noodles, braised pork rib noodles or glutinous rice. Starting from $35 per person, it makes for a fuss-free business lunch option or a gentle introduction to Wenzhou cuisine that won't burn a hole in your pocket.
Or, you can pick and choose from seven categories in the à la carte selection, ranging from cold starters and dim sum, to seafood, soups, meat, vegetables and desserts. We like the simple but appetising sliced Wenzhou kailan ($15), served raw and marinated for just 15 minutes so it retains a juicy crunch. Another standout: shredded chicken with jellyfish ($38). This cold toss-up glistens with a yellowish sheen, and each bite is addictive and full of texture, thanks to a fragrant scallion oil dressing and crunchy jellyfish trimmings.
Still, it is the seafood that you should set your eyes on. As much as possible, the restaurant gets its produce straight off the coast of the East China Sea, so while the quality is impeccable, prices definitely sit on the higher side. Raw marinated Wenzhou swimmer crab ($68 per serving) is our dish of the day – the brine used has a tangy profile, similar to Guangdong-style seafood marinades, with a slight pungent twang. The mantis prawns ($58) are served in a sour and spicy broth with pickled mustard greens, but still nowhere near as fiery as numbing mala pots. It is also notoriously hard to peel – perhaps not the best option for a formal working lunch.
If you are a fan of hearty Cantonese soups with deep flavours, temper your expectations. If we had to pick one, we'd go for the duck taro claypot ($58) with a thicker broth and tender chunks of duck. The Three Delicacy Soup ($58), on the other hand, is packed with ingredients like sea cucumber, fish maw, pig stomach, fish balls and squid balls, but it comes in a clear, peppery broth that tastes muted and slightly underdeveloped.
Desserts follow suit – both the water chestnut rice balls ($10) and the double-boiled soft fish bone dessert ($15) dial it back on the sugar, with the former having crunchy bits of water chestnut in every bite, while the latter is a sticky, collagen-rich dessert that sees fish bones broken down into a peach gum-like texture.
Time Out's rating: 3/5
It is no secret that Singapore diners tend to favour bold, punchy flavours. So naturally, the restrained style of Wenzhou cuisine might not be a hit with everyone. Wenzhou Mansion gets it right in a handful of plates that balance light, refreshing flavours with just the right amount of seasoning. Elsewhere, however, that subtlety can be mistaken for a lack of depth. Still, if you've never had the chance to try Wenzhou cuisine before, this might be a worthwhile place to start.
Wenzhou Mansion is open daily from 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 10pm at 62-64 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088481.
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