TO MOST people, the term 'value for money' is an euphemism for cheap.
But actually, whether something offers good value for its price is quite subjective. It depends, for example, on how much one craves the item and if one can afford it.
What got me thinking about that was a dinner last week at Spring JuChunYuan, a one-month-old restaurant in Far East Square.
This is a place you go to only if value - not money - is what you care about.
It's a branch of a 142-year-old restaurant in the Fuzhou municipal in China. The restaurant, called JuChunYuan Fuzhou, claims to have created the well-known dish Buddha Jumps Over The Wall, a brew of delicacies such as shark's fin, abalone and sea cucumber that is symbolic of all that's expensive and treasured in the Chinese culinary world.
The Singapore outlet's version is very good indeed. The stock is made from a combination of pork, duck and chicken that has been boiled for hours. This is then used to simmer the delicacies, which include fish maw, dried mushroom and dried scallop.
The result is the most potent version of the dish I've tasted. Each spoonful brings with it a flood of complex flavours, and leaves behind a slight gumminess on the lips from the gelatin in the fish maw and sea cucumber.
It's serious stuff, and so is the price. An individual bowl costs $98 while a 10-person pot is $1,288.
There are other goodies too. If you are really in the mood to splurge, I'd also recommend the stir-fried live lobster with egg white and tomiko (market price, which is currently $18.50 per 100g).
It's a simple dish that works because the natural sweetness of the seafood is allowed to shine through the light cooking.
The lobster is just borderline cooked and has a nice crunchiness. The tomiko or prawn roe adds little bursts of saltiness that complements it well.
But if you go to Spring JuChunYuan on a tight budget, the experience can be rather lacklustre. There are plenty of cheaper dishes but these fail to impress.
For example, the wok-fried live Ming prawn marinated with Fuzhou Chinese tea ($38 for a small serving) is cooked with a sweetish sauce which, I feel, is too strong for the delicate flavours of both the shellfish and the tea.
The deep-fried spare ribs marinated in house recipes spices ($16) is another overly sweet dish.
Overall, the salty and sweet flavours here are strong, which is perhaps how the Chinese like it, unlike most Singaporeans who prefer them to be lighter.
I have no objection to slightly stronger flavours. They do make food tastier.
But a good meal needs to be made up of varied flavours. Many of the dishes at Spring JuChunYuan, however, tend to taste like one another.
The braised Fuzhou noodle ($14), for example, tastes strangely like the pork ribs mentioned earlier.
Thankfully, there is one very affordable item here that is very good.
The yam paste with sesame seeds ($3 per portion) is, for me, the best version of the or nee dessert.
The paste, made from Fuzhou yams, is smooth as velvet. And it makes everything go down more smoothly too, even the bill at the end of the meal.
SPRING JUCHUNYUAN 130 Amoy Street 01-01
Far East Square
Tel: 6536-2655
Open: 11.30am to 3pm, 6 to 11pm. Closed on Sundays and public holidays Food: *** 1/2 Service: *** Ambience: *** 1/2 Price: Budget from $50 to $150 per person, depending on whether you order the Buddha Jumps Over The Wall
