JIA Wei means, literally, a taste from home. So you might think you're getting home-cooked Cantonese meals.

But that won't be the case.

The food served at this new restaurant is far from homely.

Chef Lee Tuck Seng has 40 years of experience. He has worked for many top restaurants and has a trunkful of awards, including a Gold medal at the 6th Food & Hotel Asia International Salon Culinaire.

Double-boiled Hasma with snow pear

His predigree is solid, as is most of his food.

Jia Wei offers good Cantonese food that is, frankly, hard to replicate at home.

One of his speciality dishes is the braised bean curd with luffa melon, crabmeat and roe ($22).

The bean curd is silky smooth and extremely creamy. It went well with the luffa and roe.

You must also try the sea perch ($12).

This is steamed with XO sauce and preserved vegetable.

The vegetable adds a nice tang to the dish, though it wasn't until I re-read the menu that I realized that there was XO sauce in the dish.

Another of his specialities is double-boiled soups.

I tried the pleasing double boiled shark's fin with fish maw in shark cartilage soup ($55).

The soup has punch, which is a big plus in my book.

And that was why I wasn't too impressed with the mee sua withscallop ($14).

I wished the broth had more character and was morememorable.

The restaurant's most impressive dish was the crispy roasted chicken (top picture, $18 for half a chicken).

The skin was fragrant and crispy; while the flesh was juicy.

For the price you pay, this is one of the better crispy chicken dishes I've tried.

The restaurant charges per portion which is good if you're going with an odd number or if you're dining alone.

So, the sea perch for example, is at $12 per portion. You might not get to see the entire fish, but the freshness of the fish makes up for it.

The restaurant is very new, but the service staff is experienced.

And since it is so new, you should be able to get a table without reservations.

JIA WEI CHINESE RESTAURANT
Where: 50 East Coast Road
When: 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch and from 6pm to 10pm for dinner.
Tel: Call 63405678 for reservations
Rating: 3.5/5

This article was first published in The New Paper on Feb 20, 2008.

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