Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant 手拉手京华小官 @ 141-143 Jalan Besar

First experience was at the newer Boat Quay outlet and we decided to check out its original outlet located at Jalan Besar, which is the usual one that our lovely couple goes to.

As with any Chinese restaurant, there's cover charge in the form of peanuts and wet tissue. 

peanuts (unsalted) @$1++

We ordered similar things as per the Boat Quay outlet, except we didn't order Peking duck here. To start, we have the Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jelly fish. Pricing wise, the Jalan Besar outlet may have dishes at a better rate, but by large, mostly similarly priced.

Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jelly fish 白菜丝半海蜇 @$12.80++ (M)

I liked the cabbage salad. Doused generously with vinegar, it's an enjoyable cold dish with crunchy soft jelly fish texture.

Scallion Oil Chicken 葱油鸡 @$8.80++

Tried a new dish; Scallion Oil Chicken which was decent, but probably not as famous as its cousin the 口水鸡 (Steamed Chicken in Spicy Sauce).

Braised Chicken Feet @$3.80++

The chicken feet were 'fall off the bones' kind of tender. Tasty and easy to eat.

Chive eggs pancake 韭菜鸡蛋饼 @$8++ (2 pieces)

Fresh Cuttlefish dumplings and Dumplings with Chinese Cabbage @$9.80++, @$6.80++ respectively

Fish Meat Dumplings @$9.80++

Dumplings with Chinese Cabbage @$6.80++ (original serving size - 8 pieces)

From all the dumplings that I had tried here, the fish and cuttlefish dumplings were more for the novelty of it and at times, it may be a tad fishy for some. To be safe, I'd go for the dumplings with Chinese cabbage.

The must order, is the Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao, or any xiao long baos for that matter. This recommendation is consistent for both outlets.

Xiao Long Bao/Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao @$8.80++ / $13.80++ respectively

juicy

After this meal, we were in dumplings coma for the rest of the day. Hence, words from the wise... order enough xiao long bao so that one gets to try the original first, and followed by the crab roe version. Recommend minimally 2 pieces of each to satisfy. Otherwise, not quite complete.

Expect to spend between $25 to $32 per pax for a meal.

Lunch with fellow foodies; Hence, Tracy, Ivan and Kris. 

Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant 手拉手京华小官

Address: 143 Jln Besar, Singapore 208859

Website: https://handinhandfood.com/

Contact: 6297 1398

Business Hours:

Daily: 10am–3pm, 4:30–10pm

Hand In Hand Shandong Restaurant 手拉手山东菜馆 @ 69 Boat Quay

Was doing a staycation nearby, and this was one of our dinner destination. Makan kakis have patronized their Jalan Besar outlet before and this is our first time trying the Boat Quay one.

Had a reservation but the staff had mistakenly put it down as 8pm instead of the earlier timing of 630pm. Hence, there was a bit of a scramble to get us a table. Only available ones seemed to be at their third floor, which involved some steep steps climbing.

restaurant entrance

interior

ready to eat

I trust my buddies to order and we waited for the food to arrive. The food would be sent up using the food lift. And I had a good view of it, so it was always in anticipation if those were our orders.

First to land on our table, was the plate of cold appetiser of shredded cabbage with jellyfish. Hmm, first time having this and it was rather refreshing as it was vinegary and light.

Shredded Chinese Cabbage with Jellyfish @$9.80

Next, was the Peking Duck, served on a tray and looking all glistening and nice.

Peking Duck @$38.80 (half)

yummy

Next, we had a couple of baskets of dumplings but for some odd reason, the speed of serving these started to slow down. The interval between each basket of the dumplings seemed to be between 10 to 5 minutes each.

Steamed Xiao Long Bao @$6.80

Steamed Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao @$9.80

Was too hungry so the steamed xiao long baos were quickly devoured. Loved the crab roe ones. I think they are comparable to another famous brand.

Fresh Cuttlefish Dumplings @$9.50

insides of the cuttlefish dumplings

Dumplings with Chive Egg and Shrimp @$7.50

fully loaded

In total, we had waited for about close to an hour for all the dumplings and with two to three reminders to the wait staff in between.

We had chosen the duck bones to be cooked in cabbage soup and boy, that was a good choice! A huge bowl of soup was brought to our table and just the perfect dish on a cold night. It is rare for me to say but the tofu in the soup was pretty good too. The cabbage had nicely soaked up on the delicious broth and tasted sweet. The glass noodles were slurp worthy as well.

Duck Bone Stewed Cabbage with Tofu and Glass Noodles @$13.80

cabbage soup

The last to arrive was a wrong order but since it was already sent up, we ate it. It was pork shao bing (pork pancake) and, it was pretty yummy albeit a tad oily. Freshly cooked and was somewhat piping hot when served. The shao bing was crisp on its outerside yet airy when bitten into. The fillings consists of bell pepper, pork bits and green onions. Pricier but delicious nonetheless.

Old Beijing Pork Sauce Pie @$13.80

All in all, it was a good meal shared with good buddies. Cheers to our impromptu food adventures and here's to many more to come!

Hand In Hand Shandong Restaurant 手拉手山东菜馆

Address: 69 Boat Quay, Singapore 049857

Website: https://handinhandfood.com/

Contact:  6970 0226

Business Hours:

Daily 11am–3pm, 5:30–10:30pm