Why We Chose This Restaurant: Amazing Chongqing Grilled Fish With Nine Flavours To Try!
Sichuan cuisine consists of much more than just peppercorns and chillies. It is a multifaceted and diverse culinary culture that exhibits remarkable depth and breadth and encompasses a variety of taste profiles, from numbingly fiery or “ma la” to sweet and sour flavour.
This “ma la” flavour has swept Singapore recently, with hordes of food stalls and eateries opening up and serving spicily flavorful dishes across the island.
It gives me tremendous joy to write this review because I'm a devoted ma la fan. It's simple to understand why Chongqing grilled fish has become more well-known over time.
Chong Qing grilled fish is a delightful Chinese speciality for those who enjoy spiciness. It usually consists of a whole butterflied fish spread across a metal serving platter with a flavorful broth, aromatics, and vegetables.
Chong Qing Grilled Fish, a well-known Sichuan restaurant, is renowned for its flavourful grilled fish. They are the first to introduce authentic Sichuan charcoal-grilled fish in Singapore. Their distinctive grilled fish, which combines perfectly grilled fish and the perennially famous Sichuan hotpot, is marinated in more than 20 herbs and spices and charcoal-grilled to perfection.
Chongqing Grilled Fish – How Was Our Dining Experience Here?
Chong Qing Grilled Fish, which takes its name from the southwest Chinese province of Chongqing, specialises in Sichuan cuisine. Their hallmark dish is charcoal-grilled fish served with different types of broth options.
The Chong Qing Grilled Fish Chinatown Outlet has a clean, well-lit atmosphere with solid dark wood furniture. The ventilation is average, and the only smell you can detect is that of cooking that might cling to your clothes. The interior is sparsely decorated and more practical than aesthetically pleasing.
Service is okay at Chong Qing Grilled Fish. Even though the staff mostly speaks Chinese Mandarin, they are friendly, helpful, and quick. On the menu, dishes are listed in English and Chinese. The staff showed us how to use our phones to place an order.
There are nine base flavours: Spicy Numbing, Spicy Fragrant, Pickled Cabbage, Hot & Sour, Mushroom Herbs, Fermented Black Bean, Fresh Chillies, Golden Pumpkin and Assam.
Their signature broth is spicy numbing, which we got. We subsequently ordered other flavours, including spicy fragrant, mushroom herbs, pickled cabbage, and fresh chilli. You can also change how spiciness level. For us, we got the mild spiciness level for all our broths.
Don't worry if you can't handle spices. Some broths aren't spicy at Chong Qing Grilled Fish, like Mushroom Herbs, Pickled Cabbage, Fermented Black Bean and Golden Pumpkin.
As for fish, you can pick from Sea Bass, Parrot Fish, or Cobia Fish, but since we're there for the buffet, Sea Bass is our only option.
You can also choose a variety of assortments to go with your broth. I suggest ordering some ingredients that soak up the hotpot, like fried potato, black fungus, and thick vermicelli, and some that can stay crispy in the hotpot, like lotus root, to give a variety of textures.
Chongqing Grilled Fish Menu: 4 Different Kinds of Tasty Broths We Tried!
1) The Spicy Numbing Broth
The Spicy Numbing has the recognisable mala flavour without the numbing effect. This broth has been refined to appeal to Singaporeans' palates, making it extremely tasty! The natural sweetness of the sea bass matches nicely with the precisely balanced saltiness and spice of the soup base! The fish is also incredibly soft, with each bite revealing a tinge of smokiness!
2) The Spicy Fragrant Broth (A Must-Try!)
The Spicy Fragrant was delicate, teasing our palate. The broth takes on a more aromatic complexity rather than being overly fiery. The fish is expertly cooked with a slight crisp on the outside and moist inside. Given that the grilled fish had been soaking in the soup for a while as you dined, you could have anticipated that it would fall apart. You'll be astonished to learn that the meat doesn't crumble too much.
3) The Pickled Cabbage Broth (A Tinge of Savoury and Sour and Sweet)
The pickled cabbage broth, which is flavourful and had just the right amount of salt, savoury, and sweetness, was gobbled up by all of us. There was nothing to fault about the fish because we were so pleased with it.
4) The Mushroom Herbs Broth – Earthy & Wholesome
The Mushroom Herbs is a flavourful broth that combines several powdered mushroom mixtures to create a flavourful and nutritious soup base. Every mouthful is a rush of umami from the incredible mushroom combination, with just enough spice to elevate the dish. The fish skin absorbs the soup brilliantly, creating a flavour explosion!
Chongqing Grilled Fish: Side Dishes on the Menu We Tried
Side Dish 1) Chinese spinach with century egg and salted egg yolk sauce
I heartily suggest the Chinese spinach with century egg and salted egg yolk sauce if you like a dish without any heat. It differs from the traditional tri-egg spinach in stock served at Chinese restaurants. This one has salty egg broth added to it.
Side Dish 2) Sichuan Mouth Watering Chicken
The well-known Sichuan appetiser, Sichuan Mouth Watering Chicken, consists of cooled poached chicken in hot, sour gravy. The chicken's fresh, sweet, and luscious meat is soft. Once more, it's not as spicy as it seems. Since the chicken has yellow skin, which is one of my favourites, it is incredibly soft and has less fatty skin.
Side Dish 3) String Beans With Minced Pork and Dried Chili
The String Beans With Minced Pork and Dried Chili is incredibly tasty due to their savoury, salty flavours of fragrant minced pork, garlic, and chilli. The beans are blanched in hot oil and then swiftly stir-fried to give them a taste that is garlicky, savoury, and smokey. These beans have a light texture and are lovely to eat.
Chongqing Grilled Fish
- Affordable
- Wide selection of broths, and side dishes
- Multiple outlets islandwide
Friday to Saturday: 11am – 2am
Email: info@8ightbar.com
Website: https://www.cqgf.com.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cqgf.sg/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cqgf.sg/
What our food editor liked about this grilled fish restaurant: Chongqing Grilled Fish is a Delicious Choice!
For an enticing and delectable experience, Chong Qing Grilled Fish uses a traditional cooking technique to grill their fish while incorporating over twenty herbs and spices.
There are nine flavours of grilled fish to choose from Spicy Numbing, Spicy Fragrant, Pickled Cabbage, Hot & Sour, Mushroom Herbs, Fermented Black Bean, Fresh Chillies, Golden Pumpkin and Assam. Additionally, you can choose your preferred level of spiciness. We highly recommend their Spicy Fragrant broth.
Every mouthful of the fish is totally irresistible. It arrives amazingly excellent and fresh.
In addition to this excellent fish, they do provide a variety of other foods. Additionally, you can order your own sides, appetisers, main dishes, meats, seafood, and other items from their menu.
Our food editor's final verdict and summary on Chongqing Grilled Fish Restaurant
Chongqing Grilled Fish is a great place for grilled fish, not just because I got a bang for my buck with the Chope deal.
We could sample practically every flavour thanks to their range of flavours. Chongqing Grilled Fish is one of the few restaurants that can provide such a multi-dimensional flavour profile at reasonable prices.
I highly recommend its “Spicy Fragrant” or “Spicy Numbing” broths which are bound to get all the senses awakened.
Overall rating: 7/10
Soup and fish were pretty good. If you want to try out Sichuan cuisine or grilled fish, Chongqing Grilled Fish is a great option. You won't be leaving the restaurant hungry with the variety of mouthwatering soup bases, three different fish options and a variety of side dishes they provide!
Chongqing Grilled Fish Price and How to get discounts there
I thought the buffet is value for the money (weekday lunch $24.39 /pax from Chope deals). At the time of writing, the Chope deal is sold out. There are other Chongqing Grilled Fish discount deals available. Do check out Chope for more information.
Chongqing Grilled Fish Outlets – Our Guide to all of their outlets in Singapore
The brand is part of”8 Bar” and has 4 outlets and is located across Singapore (as of November 2022):
- Bugis Outlet – 1 Liang Seah Street #01-05/06 Singapore 189022
- Chinatown Outlet – 18 Mosque Street Singapore 059498
- Serangoon Garden Outlet – 2 Maju Avenue Singapore 556680
- Thomson Outlet – 205 Upper Thomson Road, S574345
