Normally, I have no reason to ever visit Ubi. It’s an industrial area, it’s far, and I don’t work there. But if you’re looking to get duck, char siew or other roast meats, you might want to take the time to head down to Yan Chuan Roaster.
They’re located along Ubi Avenue 2, which is a short walk away from MacPherson MRT, making it less of a hassle than it actually sounds. I know, spending all that time travelling down might seem to be a waste, but where else can you get a whole roasted duck for just $16 SGD?
If there’s a place that’s cheaper and more accessible, let me know so I can dabao duck more often for dinner.
Yan Chuan Roaster offers a variety of roast meats, all at very affordable prices. So instead of having duck only once or twice a year because it’s so expensive, now you can get a whole duck and invite your relatives over for a fantastic dinner.
The Whole Roasted Duck ($16) was surprisingly decent as we weren’t expecting much at this price- so cheap, confirm not that good, right? The duck was meaty, and the flesh wasn’t dry or overcooked. The skin was still crisp and it certainly smelt delicious (to a group of very hungry colleagues).
The sauce was nice, thick and sweet. It went nicely with the duck and even on the char siew, although I suspect that they forgot to provide the char siew sauce after someone else mentioned that she remembered it being fantastic.
My only quibble is that Yan Chuan Roasters only provides 2 small containers of duck sauce and chilli, even though I purchased an entire duck. How am I going to be able to dip every piece of my duck in the sauce then? Additional containers of sauce are $0.50 a pop, so that might be something that you want to look out for, if you’re a sauce person like me.
The Char Siew ($10 for 500g, $20 for 1kg) was also decent, but it didn’t have as much of a char on the edges as I like. It was still sweet however, and not too tough. It was disappointing that they forgot to include the char siew sauce, it would have made it a lot better as the meat was a bit on the dry side.
The Roasted Pork ($10 for 500g, $20 for 1kg) was another surprise. I expected this to be overly tough, and the skin to lack crisp, but it went against everything I thought.
The crackling skin still had a bit of a crunch to it, and the meat was a little hard, but not to the point where you would have difficulties chewing it. I didn’t like that the layer of fat was so thick, however, since I prefer a thinner layer (Seth begs to differ, he loves fat).
All in all, don’t expect exceptional quality at Yan Chuan Roaster, but it’s absolutely value-for-money. The adage “you get what you pay for” is generally true in most circumstances, but for $16, I think Yan Chuan Roasters’ duck is the best you can find at that price point.
Their char siew and roasted pork are average as well, but at $10 for half a kilogram, can you really complain?
Expected Damage: $10 – $16 for roast meats
