Chao Shan Cuisine (潮山林), Traditional Teochew Restaurant at Raffles Place

Chao Shan Cuisine (潮山林) is a traditional Teochew restaurant at Philip Street, a stone’s throw from the OCBC Centre. They had moved from Beach Road to this location in the heart of Raffles Place in 2016. We stopped by with Teochew braised goose on our minds.

It may be easier to locate Chao Shan Cuisine using the Yueh Hai Ching Temple as a reference. The Teochew restaurant is on the other side of the narrow Philip Street. The restaurant is bright and spacious, especially now that there are social distancing requirements. It is a big improvement over the dark and cramped conditions of the former Chao Shan location at Beach Road.

Chao Shan Cuisine Menu

Here are some sample pictures of the Chao Shan Teochew restaurant menu. It is quite a comprehensive menu, containing many of the Teochew classic restaurant dishes. One highlight of this restaurant is the braised goose. Goose is a rare item on restaurant menus in Singapore.

Sio Bee

We ordered some sio bee (usually referred to as siew mai in Cantonese) as this is one of the most traditional Teochew dim sum. They cost $1.50 each with a minimum order of four. They were meant as starters, but it was the last dish to arrive. I think they had to make them from scratch. The taste was plain, it was probably the weakest dish that day.

Chao Shan Braised Goose

The Teochew braised goose ($22 for small portion) was the dish that we looked forward to at Chao Shan Cuisine. It did not disappoint. The goose was less gamey than duck and the texture was tender. The thin slices of meat absorbed the thick gracy flavours. Under the meat were pieces of soft tofu that were very good as well.

Leather Jacket Fish

Stir-fried leather jacket fish was on the menu. It is dish we associate with home cooked Teochew food. I had expected it to be prepared with black beans. But it turned out to be done with fermented bean paste. Which was fine as well. The rich sauce and generous amount of chives really enhanced the taste of the fish. We normally avoid small fish in restaurants as navigating the bones is tricky. But leather fish has an obvious skeleton structure that makes separating the bones from the meat quite easy.

Chestnut Chicken

The chestnut stuffed chicken ($32) was wonderful. The chicken must have been cooked for a long time. Both the chestnuts and meat were all soft and tender. This makes it a great dish to order if dining with senior members of the family as it is easy to eat. The gravy is perfect with steamed rice. In fact, this can be a dish to order if dining as a couple. Just order a chicken and some steamed rice and it will be a Happy Meal, Teochew style.