An Fu Restaurant

Address 333, Balestier Road

Opening Hours Lunch and dinner daily

Telephone 62543266

The first time I had seriously authentic Szechuan food in her capital Chengdu some six years ago, I had the runs. It was one of those syndromes which my mummy calls in Cantonese “wat cheong” or slippery intestines, where everything just slips through. It was something to do with too much chilli oil and spices. It would be a dieter’s dream but was quite a nightmare for me. Six meals a day meant I had to go six times, each, not long after swallowing.

Claiming to have eaten in the fancy local Szechuan eateries here will give you no inkling of what’s in store there. It did not prepare me for the razor thin fatty pork slices in mala (numbing and spicy) chilli oil at Chen Mapo Tofu restaurant in Chengdu, the capital of Szechuan, or even their mind blowing mala hotpot. I now realise just how much disdain mainland Chinese folks have for the authenticity of the mala hotpot stalls along Beach Road. Sure, they eat there, but it’s just that there is no cheaper alternative around. They’re pragmatic.

An Fu Mala Pork

Of late there is a collection of little frill-less Szechuan and northern Chinese eateries in Chinatown claiming to cater for their community. Some hit the mark, and some to me, are like the equivalent of an authentic Singapore eatery in the West (mmm excuse me, where did fried Singapore beehoon come from?)

Their latest collection is a neat corner set up in, of all places, Balestier Road. An Fu Restaurant was born six months ago there because “there are no mainland Chinese eateries around here” so, boss Ms Wang Jun Xia, simply took this spot, decorated it in true small Chinese town eatery style (read tacky, bright, loud, big Chinese words stuck on glass door, replete with that stale fermented something smell). Very true and dear.

I had passed the place by on many occasions but had not the calling to settle in there for a meal until our website forum leaders Dr ES Lim and Andrew Wong decided it was good enough to organize a members’ makan night out with fifty fellow forum posters. My curiosity could not let me pass up on his invitation. Basically, as witnessed in previous makan outings with them, it is a night of good eating, drinking (after a while, white Shiraz looked red) and falling down, not necessarily in that order.

Of course the food that evening was spruced up for us (Andrew’s instruction to them was to let us have it hometown grandma’s style), even the Chinese chefs had their chef suit buttoned way up. So, on most nights, you have to allow for a thirty percent discount in quality (perhaps the button up theory can be an indicator of what quality to expect). At this stage, I’ll also warn you that Ms Wang had no prior experience in running restaurants and her passion came about simple because, as mentioned earlier “there are no mainland Chinese eateries along Balestier Rd”.

An Fu Mala Crabs

First up, the Szechuan chefs delivered a flood of “liang chai” or cold starters. You would realize that these mass produce palate pleasers cannot be specially tweaked to up the yummy quotient. Almost everything came in mala chilli oil- cold chicken, pork tripe and some very spicy and vinegary vegetables and black fungus. Only the spiciness meter varied in each dish. I was very drawn to the cold thin fatty pork slices with mala chilli dip, presented with curled slices of cucumber at the edge. By then, a few swollen lips began desperately espouse the virtues of how Rielings and Merlots can neutralize spicy Szechaun food, at the same time avoiding pressing their lips together to minimize the numbing pain.

Then a steady stream of mains flowed. I adored the very gruff and kampong style chicken and potatoes, again, in mala sauce. It was very comfortable on bed of rice. Then after, the menu read “Tyrant Crab”. The meaning of the name was very quickly forgotten when a huge plate of mid sized red Sri Lanka crabs sat in what looked like a tsunami aftermath of some chilli plantation swimming in red oil. To say the least, it was almost shocking and I had to have a go at it. The crustacean was surprisingly sweet; especially when you knew just what the chillis would do if you licked it. You heroes out there would need to give Ms Wang a day’s advance notice of order if you feel the call to do a Rambo on this mala crab.

An Fu Fishpot Mala

Then they push a wok of fish slices which came in harmless looking yellow broth accented by salted vegetables and glass noodles. This one almost made me cry. You got to go find out the twist in this dish for yourself. I gotta run now. Quick.