S’pore Fish Farm Opens Orchard Rd Food Court Stall With $9.80 Collagen Fish Soup

The 54-seater opens on Jan 13 in Wisma Atria’s Food Republic food court, and is designed to look like an “industrial fish processing headquarter”.

There will also be wait staff dressed like fish farm hands in “blue jumpsuits with suspenders” to provide a kelong experience.

There are no fish tanks with live fish at the restaurant, which gets its catches transported directly from the farm every day. The farm is located a boat’s ride away from the Lorong Halus Jetty in Pasir Ris, and produces 60 to 80 tonnes of fish a year. After its Wisma Atria outlet’s opening, it plans to eventually set up eight to 10 outlets with more food court and takeaway kiosk concepts.

Yu Zhong Bu Tong serves only sea bass cooked in a variety of ways, like boiled, steamed or wok-fried, with an extensive selection of fish soups that are mostly priced at $9.80 each with rice. Dishes are mainly served Sichuan-style in individual portions, which means you can look forward to spicy options along with sweet and sour and tomato-based picks.

The broth is boiled with fish bones till cloudy here, and the sea bass is fresh (though a tad unnecessarily heavy on the cornstarch), cooked with tofu cubes and shimeji mushrooms. Pretty comforting with rice.

Pickled mustard greens, instead of the typical cabbage, is used for the sauerkraut here (a German favourite that’s said to have originated in China). It’s added to this fish soup, which is also cooked with pumpkin paste, dried peppercorn and star anise. Its piquant flavour makes this a moreish dish. It comes with your choice of two complimentary toppings, which include tofu skin, black fungus and thin tapioca noodles.

This mala option has a zhong la (medium spicy) spiciness level to us. Mala fiends may like this, but we prefer to savour fresh fish in cleaner-tasting broth Teochew-style.

The kelong-reared mussels are sent live to the shop daily, and simply steamed for this side dish which comes with a spicy dipping sauce. Order this if you like shellfish — the mussels are exceptionally plump and fresh, and delicious on their own or with a drizzle of sauce.

While the dish name suggests you’d be crunching on fish bones, the deep-fried bones have some flesh on ’em, dressed in an appetite-whetting green and red chilli sauce. Addictive.

#04-02 Wisma Atria, 435 Orchard Rd, S238877. Open daily 10am-10pm (last order at 9.30pm). www.facebook.com/yuzhongbutong.fish

Photos: Kelvin Chia