Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Jing - Weekend Brunch (Part 1)

I think by now many people know about Jing's weekend brunch (S$36++ per person, S$18++ per child, see full menu here). It was nearly full when we made our reservations (we got the second last table) on Sunday. It's a really generous menu (inclusive of Chinese green or jasmine tea), and made us wonder how they manage to eke out any profits. Nonetheless, the brunch is a lovely way for the whole family to sample Chef Yong Bing Ngen's culinary prowess without breaking the bank.

There are nearly 30 photos, so I will split the posts into two. Today I will focus on appetisers, dim sum and soups. Tomorrow I will feature the mains. Pardon the hastily-taken photos. The kids were extraordinarily naughty.

Crispy Marinated Duck
Interestingly, there are a couple of stations serving appetisers and desserts. A chef will carve you some crispy marinated duck at the BBQ meats station.

Deepfried Fish Skin
You can help yourself to little plates of deepfried fish skin (possibly of Chilean seabass). These are oddly placed at the dessert station but no matter. They are addictive. Nadine polished off an entire plate.

Flaky Mini Egg Tarts
We also started with some flaky mini egg tarts from the dessert station. At first I thought hubby had taken too many - six on a plate. He rarely takes so many of an item at a time. But I soon found out he was on to something. The six were not enough! I had to get my own. The flaky pastry is light as air, and the custard gorgeously tasty. Perfect level of sweetness.

At the BBQ meats station, we have some cold items too. The jellyfish is cured in a different way from the Japanese chuka kurage. Bits of Chinese celery or parsley add an unusual hint. The beef shank is intensely flavoured too.

I think there were some braised duck wings on the same plate as the beef shanks, but we didn't take those.


There is a giant claypot of "pork knuckle with ginger and egg in sweet vinaigrette", a.k.a. vinegar pork trotters, bubbling hot at the meat station. I took only a small portion. It's sweet, tart and richly savoury all at once. Good appetiser but can be very filling. I wish I tried the egg too, but there's just too much to eat at the brunch.

Drunken Chicken
The drunken chicken is like white steamed chicken with just a hint of wine. That's the last of the meat station items. And now for dim sum, which they do beautifully.

Good Char Siew Bao
The char siew bao is excellent. Soft, fluffy skin with hearty fillings that aren't dyed that garish red. Almost as good as one restaurant that does it with kurobuta pork.

Deep-fried Scallops Wrapped in Filo Pastry
These look like entire scallops but they're not. It's a sliced scallop topping for a prawn base, wrapped in shredded filo. It's all delicious, though.

Steamed Beancurd Skin Rolls with Pork and Shrimp in Abalone Jus
To complement the deepfried and steamed items, we had steamed beancurd skin rolls with pork and shrimp in abalone jus. The gravy is fragrantly savoury.

Shrimp Dumplings
Their shrimp dumplings are more than decent. Delicate, translucent skin with entire shrimps within. Fresh and good.

Ham Sui Kok or Deepfrired Dumplings with Chicken, Ham and Dried Shrimp
Fans of "ham sui kok", rejoice (hello, Julia)! It's a classic dim sum item but rarely found in Singapore. Look for Deepfried dumplings with chicken, ham and dried shrimp or 家乡咸水角 on the menu. The skin is quite thin and even, and they held their shape firmly while still being soft and chewy inside - that must be a feat to accomplish. Fillingwise though, I still prefer the ones from Man Fu Yuan.

Hot and Sour Soup
Each table is allowed two choices of soup. We went for the "tantalising hot and sour soup", which was rather thick. I didn't have enough time to evaluate the taste, because dishes were coming fast and furious.

Fish Maw Soup with Crabmeat
The other soup was "fish maw with crabmeat" soup, which was also rather thick. Plump chunks of crabmeat and shredded fish maw adorned the soup. But I think it had some medley of vegetable or pumpkin puree as well, which I thought clouded the flavour a little.

There is a wooden deck for alfresco dining overlooking the bay
After the dim sum, we took a break outside on the wooden deck, which features alfresco dining overlooking Marina Bay. Great place for kids to expend some of that restless energy!

Tomorrow, I will post the mains we had, including one whopper of a chili crab! Yes, chili crab for this price too! Amazing.

JING
One Fullerton, #01-02/03
1 Fullerton Road
Singapore 049213
Tel: 6224 0088
Opening Hours
Lunch - 11.45am to 3pm (Last order - 2.30pm)
Dinner - 6.30pm to 11pm (Last order - 10.30pm)
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12 comments

  1. I can understand the stress of taking photos of the food while the rest of the people are waiting to dig in... The weekend brunch does look pretty worth it, given the spread Jing offers...

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  2. Ermm... Though the food looks good but the price seems a bit steep. Anyway, are the egg tarts really that nice? Because I like those eggs tarts that baked long enuff to got the crispy feel.

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  3. Hi Fen! Yeah, stress! But most of the time I had to prevent Nadine and Jolie from yanking or upsetting something (or someone). The dishes also arrived very quickly (for this first round), so I had to quickly take photos, eat and clear the table for more.

    Dreamer: Prices steep? What you see here is only Part 1, the appetisers, dim sum and soups. Check out Part 2 for the main dishes we had. And yes, the egg tarts were deeeelicious! I'm not sure about the crispiness you are looking for though. These are more flaky and delicate.

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  4. wow, after last week of everyday dim sum still not enough? :p

    lol! i saw the hello julia part. hahahaha now she can go to either jing or man fu yuan for her fav dim sum!

    I wanted to go to Jing that time, but in the end my friends decided to go for pizza over dim sum. Didn't know they have this 36++ buffet on weekends, because that time i called to ask, and they told me they serve more dim sum on weekends than weekdays.

    Anyway, is it those buffet a la carte where u order and everything is served, or have to go and take the food on your own? Because i think you mentioned you all took the egg tarts from the stations?

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  5. LIC: Shhh, we are not supposed to talk about our dim sum overdose! lol

    Yah, suddenly we discover places with ham sui kok! Oh, Yan Ting also got, I think...which reminds me...I should go try their dim sum soon too.

    Well, I think Jing only started this promo recently. Yes, they do serve more dim sum varieties on weekends normally. I still think dim sum beats pizza any day though!

    It's an a la carte buffet but a few items (BBQ/cold meat and desserts) are at stations. I think this combo is a good idea, actually. You can eat while you wait for them to prepare your food.

    Wah, I want to go back for the egg tarts!!!

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  6. Yea, I cant believe this man. More dim sum? LOL! You're really THE dim sum queen. ;)

    The brunch food and price looks good. Damn. Im tempted.

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  7. LOL...eh at least let my family eat some lah. Whole week they hear about dim sum but don't get eat.

    Yes, the brunch is pretty good value, but I am afraid the standard may drop if kitchen gets overworked...hopefully not la.

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  8. AHhhh! My harm soei gok!!

    Thanks for the shout-out, now Jing is in my little black book of harm soei gok. :)

    I really take my hat off to you leh, dim sum again so soon?! But it's an awesome deal for the variety and quality of food. Suddenly, weekend dimsum buffets seem to be everywhere!

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  9. hahahahaha must keep a secret until May is it. lol! yeah agreed, dim sum is better than pizza! but my friends want otherwise so i anything :D

    yeah probably will go try soon! haha

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  10. Dim sum and chili crab = heavenly! Can't wait to try Jing. All these weekends of stuffing my face with unlimited meals cannot be good news for my waistline. Hehe :) I loooove dim sum!

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  11. Julia and LIC - brunch outing! lol

    Audrey: hehe, love dim sum? then you might like the 100 Dim Sum brunch at Si Chuan Dou Hua! 100 different dishes!!!! My next target...

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  12. Camemberu: okay okay, I will go and take a look @ part 2. After finish reading, who knows, I might go there too.

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