Da Yung Town 大洋家 @ Guangzhou

Long day meeting clients in the day, skipped dinner due to commuting, really hungry… Fret not, supper is plentiful in Guangzhou.

It was cold Guangzhou winter and we felt like having Chiuchou Da Lang 潮州打冷, which we call Teochew Porridge in Singapore. Stayed in the CBD hotel, so did not felt like going to the traditional hotspots, so we settled to something that the local food app rated to be the most popular in the district.

The place looked clean and neat. The lion-head goose was nicely braised and hanging in the display window and there’s picture of Shantou decorating the walls of the restaurant. Promising. We sat down and ordered a few items.

Immediately we were disappointed. First of all, it is not Teochew porridge – shame on you, food app starting with 大. It only had a couple of items that are traditionally served for porridge, and everything else is a mashed-up quasi-Teochew stuff. I can only classify this a Teochew eatery, only nearly.

First up, freshly deep fried Teochew kueh nek 果肉, nice and hot with the sweet and sour kumquat sauce. Difficult to get this one wrong, but I had to compliment them for a job well done.

The next one 油爆虾 fried shrimp was not exactly Teochew, but it was my partner’s favourite. Decently done, but shrimp used was not exactly the right size (too big) and therefore it was difficult to get the crispy consistency.

冻乌鱼 Cold mullet is a must for all Teochew porridge. I was so disappointed when I tucked into the fish. The mullet was still frozen stiff! I had to leave it on the table to let it soften a bit more before consuming, contamination and all. What did mom told me about defrosting in the open…

If they screw this 生腌膏蟹 raw crab in yellow wine up, than I will be properly irate. The presentation was nice, dry ice and all. Came with two shots of ginger tea to balance the yin-yang – cold crab is yin, and ginger tea is yang. While the crab selection was good and properly flavoured, I could taste ice on the crab as it was just taken out of the freezer and defrosted.

Finally the 沙茶牛肉粿条 beef kueh tiao was not something we get as Teochew food in Singapore, but we get this very commonly in Chaoshan area because of the diaspora being back the familiar satay sauce. It was the only thing I enjoyed for the supper, but the kueh tiao use like Ipoh hor fun.

I was surprised that they got the Bib Gourmand mention for the Guangzhou edition, and they came up tops for Dianping. Perhaps they were good, but it was not displayed in the courses we ordered.

Da Yung Town 大洋家
天河区天河东路59号
Tel : +86 20 8526 6206

Date visited : Jan 2021

Michelin Guide Guangzhou Edition Bib Gourmand 2020, 2021