Sin Hong Yun Review - Value-for-Money Mini Buffet Catering for Small Gatherings

Cooking for a small gathering (albeit small) is no easy feat and not to mention the cleaning up after that. Save the hassle and cater for your guests instead! Sin Hong Yun has kindly sent over their mini buffet for us to try.

For those of us who are unfamiliar with these catering terms, "Mini Buffet Catering" menus typically do not come with the full buffet catering setup like tables, skirting, food warmers etc and are usually served in microwavable disposable wares. Mini Buffets are great for small gatherings of around 15 pax to 20 pax.

The following was the menu specially curated for us by the Sin Hong Yun team:

• Braised Fish Maw Crab Meat Soup
• Golden Sand Fried Rice (Prawn)
• Ee Fu Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms
• Nonya Chap Chye
• Creamy Butter Chicken
• Signature Nanyang Style Curry Chicken
• Typhoon Sheltered Prawns
• Buttery Golden Pumpkin Fish
• Yong Tau Foo in Laksa Gravy
• Sea Urchin Ball
• Kimchi Dumpling with Kimchi Mayo
• Chilled Iced Jelly with Fruit Cocktail

Sin Hong Yun is a new establishment helmed by a team with years of experience in this industry. Respecting age-old traditional recipes and the essence of home-cooked food, you can be sure that your event is in safe hands with them. Here are our thoughts on these dishes.

Braised Fish Maw Crab Meat Soup

The Braised Fish Maw Crab Meat Soup was the first dish we dived into since it was still warm when we received it from the delivery man. This dish was done in the way similar to the typical Shark's Fin Soup sans the Shark's Fin. Sin Hong Yun really wasn't stingy with the ingredients used for this one. The soup was loaded with real crab meat (instead of the usual imitation crab sticks), fish maw and mushrooms. It was a pretty flavourful soup that was not too thick and is easy on the palate. Many of us went for our second servings!

Taste Rating: 4/5

Golden Sand Fried Rice (Prawn)

Quite a substantial amount of real crab meat and deshelled prawns were used in this dish. Not only did that give a slight sweetness to the entire dish but also added texture to this dish. However, though the rice grains were all defined and rather tasty, we felt this dish lacked the "wok hei" that you can usually find in fried rice dishes. This was a slight disappointment for us. Nevertheless, this dish as a whole was satisfactory and was a good staple to have alongside the other dishes we had that day.

Taste Rating: 3.5/5

Ee Fu Noodles with Shiitake Mushrooms

This dish requires no further introduction from us. The Ee Fu Noodles should be a familiar noodle dish to most of us, being present in almost all banquet menus and the like. There were no complaints about this dish at all. A generous amount of Shiitake mushrooms were used and the done-ness of the noodles was just right. This dish didn't feel oily at all and was a pleasant dish to have.

Taste Rating: 4.5/5

Nonya Chap Chye

I've always liked the idea of "Chap Chye" (which literally meant mixed vegetables in dialect) as you get to taste a variety of vegetables in a single dish. Sin Hong Yun's rendition of the Nonya Chap Chye came with cabbage, black fungus, carrots and baby corns. This was a relatively simple dish where the vegetables were lightly stir-fried with garlic and dried shrimps. This dish was alright but a few of us felt the vegetables were a tad too "undercooked" for our liking. We felt the vegetables could have been cooked for slightly longer.

Taste Rating: 3/5

Creamy Butter Chicken

Yum! This was one dish that got polished off very quickly by the team. Even though I've done quite a fair share of food reviews for many of our caterers, this was actually my first time trying such a dish. The chicken pieces were all coated with the right amount of batter and didn't taste too cloying despite the dish being a predominantly sweet one. The use of butter cuts into the sweetness of the dish, giving it a touch of saltiness. The result? A perfect combination of both savoury and sweet flavours.

Taste Rating: 5/5

Signature Nanyang Style Curry Chicken

Boy was the Curry Chicken "lemak"! The Curry Chicken was so creamy and rich from the generous use of coconut milk. It was almost like a cross between the usual Curry Chicken dish and a Rendang dish. It was very tasty (albeit sinful) and went well with the fried rice we had. The chicken pieces were tender to the bite and the potatoes were cooked just right. This was a really hearty dish!

Taste Rating: 4/5

Typhoon Sheltered Prawns

The Typhoon Sheltered Prawns was the specialty dish of Sin Hong Yun and we could see why! Unlike the usual prawn dishes from others, the prawns were actually de-shelled which my colleagues and I really appreciate. We were happy to dive into this dish as it was so hassle-free to eat these de-shelled prawns. The cereal bits were crispy and enhanced the texture of this dish. However, some of us felt that more seasoning could be used for the cereal bits to improve the overall flavours of this dish.

Taste Rating: 4/5

Buttery Golden Pumpkin Fish

This was one dish that we felt could have been done better. As the fish pieces were sitting in a pool of sauce, they ended up absorbing too much of sauce and were a tad too soggy for our liking. The batter used was also too much, which could have contributed to this dish turning into a rather soggy mess. However, the choice of fish used was great. There was no fishy aftertaste at all. You could also taste the natural sweetness of pumpkin in the sauce. Overall, perhaps, the sauce used for this dish could be reduced and a slightly thinner batter be used to coat the fish pieces so as to maintain the crispiness of the fish pieces.

Taste Rating: 2.5/5

Yong Tau Foo in Laksa Gravy

The Singaporean blood in me love me some Laksa anytime so I was really excited when Sin Hong Yun sent us the Yong Tau Foo in Laksa Gravy! You can find assorted Yong Tau Foo pieces in this dish like the beancurd skin with fish paste, fish balls and more. The laksa gravy was filled with flavours and smelled really aromatic too. This was overall a satisfactory dish.

Taste Rating: 4/5

Sea Urchin Ball

Don't be intimidated by the name of these balls. They actually tasted a little like fish balls but are relatively more robust in taste. There were fish roes in the fillings of these balls which added a good texture to them. These were a delight to have.

Taste Rating: 4/5

Kimchi Dumpling with Kimchi Mayo

Filled with lots of kimchi goodness, these are perfect for the kimchi lover in you. Aged kimchi was used so these were towards the sourish side but at the same time, these dumplings really packed quite a punch.

Taste Rating: 4/5, Spicy Level: 3.5/5

Chilled Iced Jelly with Fruit Cocktail

I love it when there is something sweet and refreshing to end off a hearty feast! Sin Hong Yun has included the Chilled Iced Jelly with Fruit Cocktail in the menu that was sent to us and we couldn't be happier. Filled with lots of nata-de-coco and assorted jellies, this was such a refreshing treat to have, especially on that hot afternoon we reviewed these dishes!

Taste Rating: 4/5

As a whole, we really enjoyed the menu put together by Sin Hong Yun for us and would order again for our personal events.

Overall Taste Rating: 4/5

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