Hidden on the 3rd level and in one corner of Midview Building in Bukit Batok Crescent, Dong Bei Cai Guan (东北菜馆) — meaning “Northeast Restaurant” and used to be called “BBQ City” — is one great restaurant to go for Chinese specialty dishes from Northeastern China, including barbecue meat, and also popular dishes from Sichuan and other regions.
We have been to Dong Bei Cai Guan many times over the last 5 years and have tried many of their dishes. Some dishes are so good that we ordered them again on several visits. Check out some of the dishes below.
My first taste of grilled lamb with herbs and spices was in Yunnan, China, in 2012, and had missed that great taste since then. When I came across Dong Bei Cai Guan serving grilled lamb legs as one of their signature BBQ items, I did not hesitate to gather people to go for those tasty legs — thrice.
The Grilled Lamb Leg (烤羊腿) is served in whole, fully-cooked and over charcoal-fire on a specially-made rotating grilling structure in the centre of the table. The aroma of the mutton with herbs and spices is very enticing. The gaminess of the succulent lamb meat is intact and with additional flavours of the herbs and spices. The meat is very tender too.
At least an hour in advance is required to order a Grilled Lamb Leg and minimum 5 pax is recommended as each leg is at least 2Kg — we gotten a 2.6Kg leg on one occasion and 5 pax is not enough.
Meat Skewers (烤肉串) of mutton, beef, chicken, pork, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms and many others are hot-sellers of Dong Bei Cai Guan, especially when eating with bottles of cold beer. They are tasty and flavourful with Northeastern flavours — and very addictive.
The Grilled Lamb Chop (烤羊排), about 1Kg per serving, may be a good alternative to the Grilled Lamb Leg when there are fewer people in a group. However, the Grilled Lamb Chop and Grilled Lamb Leg are two different dishes, the texture of the meat, from different part of a lamb, and the spices used differ.
Braised Sauce Beef (酱牛肉) is a cold dish where thin slices of braised beef shank meat are served with chilli, garlic and coriander. Savour the taste of the beefy slices with the tasty condiments.
Sweet & Sour Pork (锅包肉) surprised us when we first ordered it. It is unlike the “sweet & sour pork (咕咾肉)” that we used to eat at other restaurants and mixed rice stalls. The crispy fried pork cutlets are topped with a sweet honey-made sauce. This dish is so good that it became one of our frequent-order dishes — and reduced my chances to try more untried dishes.
Chinese Sauerkraut Fish (酸菜鱼) is a sour-spicy soup dish with fresh fish meat. It used to be a very spicy dish but the spiciness level has been toned down quite a bit. It is a nice dish suitable for big groups. Other than the fish version, there are Sauerkraut Beef (酸菜肥牛) and Sauerkraut Bull Frogs (酸菜牛蛙) too, which are very unique. We also tried Sauerkraut Bull Frogs subsequently, which has similar flavours except that the meat of bull frogs has firmer, chewier texture.
Spicy Chicken (辣子鸡) as the name implies is really spicy. The deep-fried chicken dices are stir-fried with dried chilli, peppercorns, spring onions, sesame seeds and peanuts. Despite the spiciness, this crispy chicken dish is such a tasty treat that it became another “repeating” favourite.
The less-spicy Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡丁) is a great option to go with rice. It has more chicken dices, but lesser dried chillies, and include other veggies, such as cucumbers, cashew nuts, tomato, etc.
Cucumber Slices with Chilli (麻辣瓜条) is a common cold dish in Chinese restaurants. It is always a better and tasty dish when we want something more special than just vegetables. It is spicy without doubts but cooling, refreshing and crunchy.
Shredded Pork in Sweet Bean Sauce (京酱肉丝) is also one of our favourite dishes as it is both a meat and vegetable dish. Cold fresh spring onions, carrots, corianders, etc, are wrapped in tofu skin and eaten with the hot shredded pork.
Century Egg Tofu (皮蛋豆腐) is another cold dish. It is a simple dish with century eggs on large pieces of soft beancurd topped with chilli oil but not too spicy. This is our favourite dish to order whenever there are foreigners in our group. 😂
These photos are not all, just some of those times when I remembered to take photos. Despite so many visits to Dong Ben Cai Guan / BBQ City, there are still so many more dishes to try and they add new dishes too.
Social Media:
Facebook | Website
Address:
Midview Building, #03-20
50 Bukit Batok Street 23, Singapore 659578
(Access via lift lobby on west side of Midview Building)
Opening Hours:
11am to 11pm | Daily
Nearby:
More @ Bukit Batok:
Leave a Reply