TanYu [探鱼] - Shenzhen's artisan grilled fish, Singapore

TanYu [探鱼] is one of the popular grilled fish restaurants in Shenzhen. Launched in 2013, it was known as "Shenzhen's most artistic grilled fish restaurant" and became popular overnight. It has foothold in over 70 major cities in China with more than 180 outlets. TanYu opened its first overseas flagship store in Singapore in 2017 and has now 3 outlets - Bugis Junction, Westgate and 313@Somerset. 

Because of COVID-19, we did not have our favourite grilled fish place at Shanghai. We found this place alternative to sate our craving. 

TanYu's bestseller and signature dish is the Chongqing Grilled Fish with Beancurd [重庆豆花烤鱼]. It has raw ingredients from Guizhou mountainous area including the local wrinkled skin peppers, fruit of spicebush, mint, herbs, houttuynia root, etc., making this dish special and delicious. Surrounded with fried soy beans, soya beancurd (tofu), parsley and heaps of dried chilli, the broth did not look as spicy as it looked. It has a nice fragrance and I liked it very much. (Food rating: 4/5)

TanYu serves three type of fishes. One can choose either Limbo (凌波) fish, Qingjiang (清江) fish, or Seabass (金目鲈). Qingjiang fish is always sold out. We chose Limbo fish which was tender and juicy. Both Limbo and Qingjiang fishes are species of catfish. Though the cooking method is grill, the fishes lacked the good old charcoal fragrance that we had at 重庆鸡公煲山城烤鱼. Despite all that, the fishes at TanYu were fresh and did not have the fishy or murky aftertaste. 

We had the Grilled Fish with Green Peppers with Limbo Fish [鲜青椒烤鱼]. The fish was covered with heaps of green peppers, and peppercorns, which gave a different fragrance from the Chongqing broth. I like this as well. I cannot seem to decide which one I love best. I like both, can I? (Food rating: 4/5)

For add-ons, we had golden mushrooms, beancurd skin, beancurd roll, and sweet potato noodles. 

On the side, we ordered a set of grilled lamb skewers. The seasoning was so-so and the meat was a little tough. (Food rating: 2.5/5)

Chongqing Cold Noodles with Shredded Chicken [重庆鸡丝凉面] is highly recommended. This simple cold noodle dish was amazing. You have many experiences in one mouthful of this noodle - tangy, spicy and sweet all at once. [Food rating: 4/5]

Double Taste Rice Cake [鸳鸯糍粑] was very similar to the traditional glutinous rice cakes (传统红糖小年糕) drizzled in raw sugar syrup from Nanjing Impressions [南京大排档]. The one from Nanjing Impressions was more fragrant. The Double Taste Rice Cake was nice but it could be better. (Food rating: 3/5)

The Dumplings with Chilli Oil [红油钟水饺] was so-so. The sauce is incomparable to the one from Ding Tai Fung. (Food Rating: 2.5/5)




Address: #B3-30/31/32, 313@Somerset, 313 Somerset, Singapore 238895
Price: $$
Food rating: 4/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Recommended Dishes: Chongqing Grilled Fish & Grilled Fish with Green Peppers


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