Zai Shun Curry Fish Head: Worthy Of Its Michelin Bib Gourmand 2017 Award For Its Excellent Signature Dish & Dong Po Rou

One of the new awardees for the Michelin Bib Gourmand 2017, Zai Shun Curry Fish Head serves up affordable zi char at pretty generous portions with its signature dish being, of course, curry fish head.

Despite being a westie and having gone to Yuhua Village Market & Food Centre so many times, I’ve never noticed Zai Shun Curry Fish Head is  literally just a stone’s throw away.

Aside from curry, diners can sample the fish heads in a variety of other flavours such as Fermented Bean and Hong Kong-Style. Peering into the kitchen, we got excited for our meal just by watching the fish prepared.

The Prawn Fritters ($7) were classic and didn’t disappoint. The prawn mixture within was minced very finely, resulting in a smooth texture on the inside, which had a nice contrast against the crispy exterior.

I also liked how the plum sauce was thinner and less sweeter than most places, making it less cloying and jelak, while retaining enough ‘oomph‘ to complement the fritters.

Also, we noticed that the portion here was pretty generous as well. For $7, we had 10 pieces of the prawn fritters!

The Dong Po Rou ($16), or braised pork belly, was another winner. The thick slabs of pork belly were braised till they were soft and tender with well-rendered fats.

Even the leaner layer of the belly was relatively soft and fell apart easily. The gravy or zhup here deserves a mention as well, with its thick and fragrant aftertaste of fermented beans.

One of the better versions of dong po rou I’ve had in Singapore.

Finally, the dish we were looking forward to most arrived: the signature Curry Fish Head ($26). For its price, the portion was pretty huge.

Steeped in a spicy and tangy assam gravy, it was lighter on the palate than regular curry and went well with rice. Towards the end as it got colder and a little heavier, it actually reminded me of the fish curry from prata houses.

I’ve heard many testimonials about the freshness of the fish served here, and after trying it for myself, I have to agree. There was no fishiness at all, save for a very faint whiff of it with a small piece of fish skin. Truly commendable.

However, the texture left a little to be desired. While the flesh was definitely fresh, it was surprisingly a little denser and tougher than I would have liked. Perhaps, it was a little overcooked, which is something easily remedied.

Do not be intimidated by the fish head. There’s a lot of meat hidden among the nooks and crannies of it.

If anything, at least make sure to get the fish cheeks — it is probably the softest and most tender part of the whole fish!

The coffeeshop was, after all, fully packed the weekday afternoon we visited so they may have been working on many other orders at the same time.

Overall, I must say that that Zai Shun Curry Fish Head still does deserve its Bib Gourmand award and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for great renditions and hearty portions of classic zichar dishes.

One gripe I would have is that they close quite early at 3pm (admittedly they open very early at 7am) and so they do not serve dinner, which I believe is the time when most people prefer to have zi char.

This well-loved zi char joint is probably only going to get even more popular with its recent award so head on down early to wait for tables!

Expected damage: Approx. $15  per person

Zai Shun Curry Fish Head: 253 Jurong East Street 24 #01-205, Singapore 600253 | Opening Hours: (Daily) 7am – 3pm | Tel: 6560 8594

Newest