Bei Fang Ren Jia (Serangoon Road)

Bei Fang Ren Jia 北方人家 is located on Serangoon Road, opposite the City Square Mall – a shopping mall that is integrated with the Farrer Park MRT station. There is no shelter from the MRT station to the restaurant, and one has to cross road after exiting from one of the station’s exit points. As such, it could be troublesome to reach the restaurant on a rainy days. We visited their store on two occasions – one for dine-in and the other for a takeaway order. Luckily for us, they sky was blue on both of the visits. 

For the dine-in visit, we made a reservation via Eatigo for a 3:30pm slot on a weekend afternoon. We arrived on time and there were no other customers in the restaurant. We were greeted by the friendly female staff and were then ushered to our seats. Subsequently, we browsed through hardcopy that was placed on the table.

As we have tried several famous Chinese dishes in Singapore and in China, we decided to try the very same dishes at Bei Fang Ren Jia so that we can make comparisons. We then ordered a Chong Qing Grilled Fish 重庆烤鱼 ($26.00), a China Drunk Chicken 南北醉鸡 ($8.00),  10 sticks of Grilled Mutton Skewers 碳烤羊肉串 (10 x $1.00) and 2 bowls of rice 白饭 (2 x $1.00). The rice and China Drunk Chicken came in about 5 minutes, while the Chong Qing Grilled Fish and Grilled Mutton Skewers came in about 20 minutes.

The China Drunk Chicken is a dish from Zhejiang province and is traditionally prepared by soaking poached chicken in Chinese wine, usually Shaoxing wine. Bei Fang Ren Jia’s rendition of the Drunk Chicken was excellent. The savory and tender poached chicken meat was accompanied by the fragrant aroma of the Chinese wine. It was comparable to the the same dish we had at Crystal Jade several years ago. The Grilled Mutton Skewers were savory and spicy with a loads of cumin sprinkled on the meat. It reminded us of the mutton skewers we had at Xinjiang restaurants in China before the pandemic, though the meat served here is less tender and in smaller chunks. Nonetheless, their mutton skewers are one of the best we have had in Singapore. We highly recommend trying their Drunk Chicken and Mutton Skewers.

The Chong Qing Grilled Fish came with a huge fried fish accompanied by beansprouts and potatoes soaked in Chili oil. The chef turned on the stove for us as he delivered the item to our table. The fish was kept heated throughout till we finish our meal. Honestly, this dish is not for those whose stomachs are unable to adapt well to the effects of Sichuan Peppercorn (花椒). Other than making us sweat profusely, our lips were numb and our stomachs didn’t take it very well after we left the restaurant. While this dish may not be suited for us, it may be worthy to try for those who are in for kicks while savoring the fish.

In all, for this dine-in visit, we give their food quality a 4/5, value-for-money a 4/5 (with 50% discount from Eatigo’s reservation), friendly service a 4/5 and environment a 3.5/5 (there’s not really a theme for their decor, but the restaurant is bright and clean).