Food review: Diamond Kitchen

Singapore — Perhaps it is due to its humble location in a private housing estate in East Coast, but when it first opened in 2013, no one would have expected the kind of popularity Chinese restaurant Diamond Kitchen enjoys today. On any given day, this overtly sparkly eatery sees a healthy crowd at mealtimes, such that you’re advised to make a reservation.

So it is probably a good thing that its owners recently opened a larger sophomore outlet. This time, it is in Science Park I. Like its first restaurant, this 260-seater serves up an extensive menu of live seafood and Cantonese dishes.

One of its specialities is the giant grouper (sold at market price), prized for its gelatinous and collagen-rich skin. Butchering the fish alone is a challenge and knowing what to do with the different parts of it is another art altogether, since they vary in texture and flavour. The tender belly, for instance, is steamed Hong Kong-style, with top-grade soya-sauce and flecked with ginger. The kitchen braises the firmer, sweeter meat of the fish’s back in a silky, peppery broth that is balanced by plenty of spring onions and garlic.

A shower of minced garlic also flavours the steamed bamboo clams (S$12 to S$14 each), which come with a delicate tangle of tung hoon (glass vermicelli) and are hit with a slightly sweet soy-based “Hong Kong steamed sauce”. The pleasing, gentle flavours are elevated by the deft cooking of the clams (they are tender with just a bit of bite), while bits of water chestnut lend enough crunch.

Local lobsters are used in the deeply warming and comforting lobster porridge (seasonal price), which is simmered in a light and sweet chicken stock flavoured with Chinese wine and ginger. Even though it was a sweltering 32°C outside, we could not stop slurping it up until there was none left.

Suffice it to say, there is much to love about the food here. The flavours are always bold yet balanced and the house stock that many of the dishes are built upon is always complex and flavourful. Since the restaurant’s inception, the kitchen has consistently turned out excellent dishes such as its now signature superior stock clam bee hoon (S$14), champagne pork ribs (S$14) and salted egg sotong (S$14). This sort of consistency and affordable pricing have allowed Diamond Kitchen to shine. ANNETTE TAN

Diamond Kitchen

Where: #01-01 Oasis, 87 Science Park Drive. Telephone: 6464 0410. http://www.diamondkitchen.com.sg.

Opening hours: Daily 11am to 2.30pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm