In a city where Chinese fine dining has long been defined by Cantonese polish and Sichuan assertiveness, Wenzhou Mansion expands Singapore’s appreciation of China’s culinary map with the delicate, seafood-led precision of Zhejiang’s coastal kitchens.
Where Chinese fine dining in Singapore has largely come to mean Cantonese banquet formality and, increasingly, the fiery conviviality of Sichuan feasting, some of the latest additions in the Lion City’s food scene are bringing something less familiar — the rarer regional flavours of China.
Take Wenzhou Mansion, for example. First opened in the middle of last year, Wenzhou Mansion — housed within a black and white colonial shophouse located on the bustling dining stretch that is Tanjong Pagar Road — is Singapore’s first fine dining restaurant wholly dedicated to the flavours from the Chinese provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, with a particular focus on Zhenjiang’s industrial port city of Wenzhou.
Zhejiang cuisine — within which Wenzhou sits — is one of the eight great culinary traditions of China, and is said to be among its most delicate, even more subtle than the most refined of Cantonese flavours.
For those not too familiar with the vast geography of China, Wenzhou is located along the Chinese coast hemmed in between the East China Sea to its east and the Zhejiang-Fujian Hills to the west. Which of course means it has optimal access to fresh seafood and mountain produce alike.
Wenzhou Mansion is guided by Li Chuhua, an officially recognised Intangible Cultural Heritage “inheritor” of Wenzhou cuisine. Such titles can feel ornamental, but here they are wholly operational. Li’s influence is evident in the restaurant’s technical confidence, from the handling of live seafood to the calibrated use of fermentation.
Wenzhou Mansion’s expansive menu of over 120 dishes aims to showcase as much of the largesse of sea and land as possible, evident in even its appetisers such as Shredded Chicken with Jellyfish, and Duck Tongue & Fish Cake Platter.
You also have, for example, Raw Marinated Wenzhou Swimming Crab highlighting the freshness of live crab, marinated in a house blend of herbs and spices for a tangy flavour designed to awaken your tastebuds. Likewise, Coriander with Sakura Shrimp combines the herbaceous notes of the herb with crispy little shrimp to whet the appetite. For a lighter start, pickled Sliced Wenzhou Kailan is a textural delight with ethereal sweet sour notes.
For mains, Wenzhou Fish Ball & Pork Wonton Soup is a specialty of the cuisine, hand-pounded to retain a bouncy consistency, while Large East China Sea Yellow Croaker with Scallion Oil is a hallmark luxury ingredient, prized for its delicate and tender white flesh. Steamed Roe Crab with Minced Pork and Pumpkin (with Claypot Rice) is designed to be another showstopper, with an entire platter of crab pieces, each with a generous amount of orange roe. What really steals the show though, is the minced pork seasoned with premium soy sauce and enhanced with the sweetness of the crab and pumpkin, matching perfectly with fragrant Thai rice cooked in a claypot.
Crispy Baby Roasted Duck with Peppercorn, we are told, is originally a dish that features pigeon, but the game bird is difficult to come by so young duck is used in its place. These baby birds are fairly small but have a lovely crisp skin that more than makes up for the lack of meat. Nestled on top of a bed of aromatic Da Hong Pao Sichuan peppercorns, it’s rather addictive and would pair well with a beer or two.
Among the indulgent seafood and meat dishes, it might come as a surprise that Wenzhou Stir-Fried Rice Noodles turned out to be our favourite course. This humble rice vermicelli is simply fried with cabbage, bean sprouts, mushrooms and egg, but with a great technical skill to keep the noodle strands al dente yet full of wok hei for a satisfying close to the meal.
With seven classy private dining rooms and a dark wood dominated decor, Wenzhou Mansion suits a variety of diners, from business lunches to celebratory occasions.
More than yet another Chinese fine dining option, Wenzhou Mansion’s arrival signals something subtle yet important. Over the past decade, Jiangsu–Zhejiang cuisine has seen renewed prestige within China’s high-end dining sector. Its expansion here to Singapore was a foregone conclusion. For Singapore’s ever-evolving dining scene, this is a welcome widening of the culinary map of China.
[Photo credits: Wenzhou Mansion]
Wenzhou Mansion
Address 60, 62-64 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Singapore 088481 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10pm everyday
Tel (65) 6592 1668
Instagram @wenzhoumansion
Reservations book here
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