Private Dining at Liu Fu Si Fang Cai 劉府私房菜 

Securing a dinner reservation at Liu Fu Si Fang Cai 劉府私房菜 private dining is said to be a precious achievement. We were therefore very excited to be invited to a dinner to celebrate a special occasion at this place in Joo Chiat, Singapore.

Liu Fu Si Fang Cai Private Dining – What to Expect

The private dining is held in an ordinary looking house along Tembeling Road in the Joo Chiat neighbourhood of
Singapore. It is near Hjh Maimunah Restaurant  the famous nasi padang restaurant that we wrote about some time back.

There are some parts of the house that seemed messy (like real life homes) but the dining room where the dinner takes place is neat and has a formal setup. The large table seats ten diners comfortably. I think it may be possible to squeeze in 12 at one seating.

Chicken Soup, Tofu and Fish

The restaurant is run single-handedly by the chef who is a jolly and entertaining fellow. He gave a short intro about himself and how Liu Fu Si Fang Cai private dining got started. There was no written menu but a rough insight of the dishes to be served was given. I think there are signature dishes that stay constant such as the chicken soup with black garlic, pepper crab and fried Hokkien mee. Other dishes may vary depending on market conditions.

First dish to be served at dinner was the chicken soup. Cooked for hours, the ratio of water to chicken was very low. The result was a precious low volume of very concentrated chicken soup. This was a single serving of soup. A few lucky diners had a second serving.

Next to arrive was a tofu dish that was said to be inspired by the chef’s family. The tofu cubes were encrusted with various ingredients before being lightly fried. A simple yet tasty dish.

Based on online accounts by other diners at Liu Fu Si Fang Cai private dining, a fish dish is a staple on the menu but the type and style may vary. At our dinner, the fish of the day was a soon hock that was fried and then braised. The fish was fresh and expertly cooked. A very enjoyable dish.

Liu Fu Si Fang Cai Hokkien Mee, Black Pepper Crab and Vegetables

Next to arrive was a claypot dish of mustard green pork. This was the most ‘regular’ restaurant dish at the dinner.

Other than the chicken soup, it seems that the Hokkien mee (picture above) gets the most positive comments online. I can see why. Of course the Hokkien mee was good, a lot of squid and prawn flavours were infused into the noodles. But the winning move was serving it on traditional opeh leaf. This got the Merdeka generation guests reminiscing about the good old days when hawker food was packed this way. The first impression was already a winner.

In contrast, the crab had nice flavours but perhaps the crabs were on the small side. It was hard to get to the meat. This got less attention than the noodles.

Dessert, DIY and BYO at Private Dining

The meal ended on a soft note. The milky dessert (I think it was almond cream with dates) felt quite ordinary compared to the excitement of the preceding items. Apart from the good food, private dining at Liu Fu Si Fang Cai had another benefit – no corkage fee. This is a full BYO place. We thought white wine and / or Japanese sake were the best companions for the food at this dinner. And because the chef had to handle the dinner singlehandedly, a certain degree of self-service on the part of the diners was inevitable. But with a hospitable host and cooperative guests, the dinner service proceeded very smoothly.

Liu Fu Si Fang Cai Private Dining
20 Tembeling Road
Singapore 423556