The Spicy Sichuan Shu Jiang Grilled Fish @ IMM Building

I met up with three friends in IMM to have dinner in Shu Jiang Grilled Fish Restaurant | 蜀江烤魚. It had a classy interior and an aquarium as part of the decoration. Shu Jiang’s concept was to dine in an underwater environment and hence the birth of such a restaurant in Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) where the diners can enjoy the mesmerising view of marine creatures while savouring the dishes.

In IMM Building, it is not possible to have the same kind of underwater environment. They could assimilate a similar concept of Resort World Sentosa and introduce a smaller aquarium in the restaurant of the IMM Building. Diners have a more relaxed environment with the presence of water.

Shu Jiang Grilled Fish Restaurant originates from Sichuan. The folks in Sichuan are fond of hot and spicy food. Most of their dishes are spicy. The restaurant signature dish, Shu Jiang Grilled Fish 蜀江烤魚, is cooked in specially made ovens to the right doneness and then overlaid in the sauce which the customer has chosen.

There were four types of fish to choose from at IMM and six types of fish at RWS. We selected a Regular Sea Bass 金目鲈 @ S$42.80 which the promotional price was $38.00 at that time. The Large Sea Bass cost $48.80. The Regular Sea Bass in RWS cost $42.00 which was $0.80 cheaper.

The price of the fish cost lesser in RWS when making a quick comparison online. It was rather unexpected as RWS being a high-end location, had a fish menu that was priced lower than IMM Building.

There were six choices of sauces to pick for the grilled fish. Out of the six, four sauces were spicy. We selected Special Chef Spicy Sauce Served with Dried Chilli, Soya Bean & Peanut.

We had to make two more selections of vegetables out of nine vegetables on the menu that were part of the dish. We chose a unique one, Mung Bean Vermicelli 绿豆粉条 and Cabbage Long 大白菜.

The sauce of the fish was spicy and hot but flavoursome. The grilled fish certainly lived up to its reputation. I am an average eater of chilli. Towards the end of the dish, my tongue was burning hot from slurping the delicious chilli fish sauce as I could not help myself.

Despite the spiciness, I could still taste the sweetness of the fresh fish. I loved to eat the Mung Bean Vermicelli as they were thick, smooth and soft. They always slipped out of my spoon. I had a hard time scooping them.

Dining in a Sichuan food restaurant, one must remember to try their Hot and Sour Seafood Soup 海鲜酸辣羹 @ S$8.80. The soup was yum-yum and piquant.

My friends also ordered Pan-Fried Iberico Pork 香煎西班牙黑豚肉 @ S$24.80 which I had never eaten before. The Iberian pig is either red or dark in colour. Iberian pork is more expensive than the usual pork due to the higher grade of meat. The Iberian pork was so heavenly and tender that it might make any pork haters change their minds. Even if you do not like to eat pork generally, this dish must not be missed.

I could not recall whether Braised Bee Hoon with Crab Meat 珍珠螃蟹焖米粉 @ S$18.80 was tasty or not as the spiciness of the fish sauce numbed my burning taste buds which drowned the taste of any food that was milder in taste.

The customer service levels of the servers and manager were excellent. They asked for feedback on their food frequently and put on a lot of smiles. The manager even gave out name cards to all their patrons asking them to come back again. It was an enjoyable dinner surrounded by good food and friendly staff who took pride in their job.

The array of choices for their fish and sauces is a selling point for fish lovers to return and experiment with more cooking varieties of the fish. On the downside, the cost of the food is a bit expensive considering the small serving.