Boon Lay Raja Restaurant 文礼楼 (Jurong East)

http://thechosenglutton.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/boon-lay-raja-chinese-restaurant/

Yes, don’t be misled by its Malay-sounding restaurant name, it is as Chinese as Tunglok Restaurant, or like, Crystal Jade, lol. I don’t know, I think it’s just me, but I was pretty impressed when I heard that they serve both dim sum and main courses at the same time of the day. I’m under the impression that one usually serves dim sum in the morning and main courses thereafter. Anyhow, the restaurant was recommended to us and we decided to give it a try, as a birthday lunch. Just in case you too want to give this isolated restaurant a go, it’s located right above the NTUC beside the under-renovation Jurong Entertainment (head up the stairs beside the lift, not any other stairs).

We made a reservation for Sunday lunch but it wasn’t really necessary. There were plenty of seats then. Although so, reservation’s always a safe plan.

As the few of us have different appetites, we ordered half dim sum, half main courses – the best of both worlds.

Century Egg Porridge :: Once again, if you’ve read some previous entries, I usually don’t eat Chinese food. But this – is amazing. Ate this as my first course, and as my last. At the end of everything, we ordered another bowl of it and swallowed it down. It’s too irresistible and worthy.

Freshly Oven-baked Egg Tarts :: Nothing memorable about the tarts, and one can easily buy a tastier one outside. Skip it and save your stomach for some other awesomeness.

Fried Prawn Roll with Mango :: One of my favorite dishes of the day. Mango in a dim sum dish just westernized itself a little, in my opinion – very fresh. As is the following dish, Golden Fried Banana Roll with Yam, another one with fruits.

Roasted Crispy Duck with Mango Sauce :: Hands down, the winning dish of the day, or, winning dish of the restaurant? Although I haven’t tried all of their dishes, but still! The crispy skin of the duck, the special mango sauce, and the unique decorations & additions of kiwi, cherry, and generally fruits (once again) to the duck. It was a challenge restraining myself from ordering another plate of this gold. A must try.

Special Homemade Tofu with Nori Crust :: Many raving reviews on this piece of art. I thought it was only okay, although I love the part where it is topped with my favorite mushroom of all – enoki mushroom. You can give it a shot, maybe we just have different tastes.

I’d rate this a full 3 stars for its sheer good food, but somehow, I just don’t see myself coming back another time. I’d rate this a 2.5 stars if there is one. Alas, it doesn’t. So, 2 stars it is.

i visit this restaurant as often as i can, and one of the best things i love about this restaurant is the quality of their food--honestly, it would be very hard to find another restaurant with food that's comparable to Boon Lay Raja's. i ordered stir-fried vermicelli with Seafood, Special home-made tofu (the one with nori crust), Fried fish slices with mango, Sweet Melon with sago, and double boiled Hashima on my last visit. and as usual, it was a satisfying and exciting meal. we enjoyed that the vermicelli was fragrant and served with a generous amount of seafood (fresh and bursty prawns, tangy squid, delicious fish slices, etc..), and we just could not stop complimenting how tasty their special home-made tofu cubes were. these are not your average industrial-made tofu--they're specially prepared by the chefs to be a perfect combination of eggs and soy. the magic to this dish is their nori-crust--it adds an element of freshness while still making the tofu the main highlight of the dish. the bed of green vegetables (pardon my lack of vegetable knowledge) and enoki mushrooms on the bottom is another winner! delicately- and perfectly-stir fried vegetables and a well-seasoned sauce makes the entire dish successful. 

The fish slices with mango remind me of thai-style fish from another restaurant i previously visited. except, better. i really liked the combination of fish sauce, with sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and spices on those delicately-fried fish slices. 

service was reasonably friendly and efficient-i didnt have to wait that long for my food to be served. Tea was also refilled promptly whenever it goes below the half mark. I was greeted upon entering and leaving. as basic as it could get, but also possibly the best that it could get considering there're many other restaurants who are not even performing the basics of customer service. 

best part yet, they do not impose a 10% service charge. 

Generally, the food are not bad. Its like going to a high class "zi char" stall. The older generation would like this.

However, be warned the service is also like what you could expect from a "zi char" stall.

Dropped by this place for lunch wif colleagues cos 1 of them was treating, so I cant comment on the price.

Hv been here for wedding dinner and CNY dinner b4, was quite ok with their ala carte menu. But this was my 1st time trying their dim sum menu.

The food was fantastic, especially the following:

1. Siew mai: u can actually taste the prawns inside, unlike some places that had plenty of pork in it and miserable prawn paste only.

2. Some beancurd skin rollup thingy: one word: NICE.

3. Fried carrot cake: you can taste and see the loads of radish shreds in it. One pce is gd enough to make u full liaoz.

Heard the char siew pau's and egg tarts were pretty tasty too. I didn't try them cos i'm not a lover of pau and didn't want to have a too heavy lunch, lest we zzzzzz aft lunch :P

Colleague ordered the fried rice and fried mee sua. I personally tot we can go w/o these 2 items. Nothing fantastic. Fried rice tasted a bit bland. Quite disappointing cos I had a very gd imperession on their main course last time.

However, I tink I would like to go back for their dim sum again. Even if I have to travel quite a bit :)

went there for dinner with my family. we decided on this location, despite numerous protests from me, purely due to logistical concerns.

restaurant was newly renovated but still have that tacky look. cheap veneers cover the wall. karaoke room at the side. pray hard that the soundproof doors are closed. else brace yourself.

i looked through the pathetic ala-carte menu. 3 pages. total 33 items. only 1 worth ordering - roasted chicken. need i say more? my siblings came to the same conclusion. we ended up ordering set menu.

8 dishes in the set

- cold dish

all deep fried stuff. totally not edible

- sharks fin soup

watery with minimal fins

- roasted chicken

the best dish that night

- steam pating fish with asam sauce

fishy fish masked by the sour sauce

- prawns with oat meal

2nd best dish for the night

- meat with beancurd skin

didn't bother to try. why waste calories?

- fried noodles

tasteless

- almond jelly with logan

it tasted like it came straight from a can

totally not worth the money and calories. avoid at all cost.