Putien, China is located in the coastal area of Fujian province, quite close to Taiwan. It’s blessed with lots of great ingredients to make delicious meals and at Putien restaurant they pride themselves with simple, unpretentious food. 

 It’s autumn! And a good season for hairy crabs (大闸蟹) which are lined up at the entrance of the restaurant. 

 2 types of radish were served as appetizers. One was pickled, slightly sour and sweet while the other chaipo (菜埔) usually chopped and used to make omelette/ sprinkled on steamed fish was presented in small chunks. They were slightly sweet and salty. 

 
The chili with chinchalok/ pickled prawn was delicious! Slightly savory/ sour/ spicy… So delicious and great to balance out the taste of the dishes below.

 
Their autumnal menu was quite interesting, I was especially interested in the yucca root with crab roe sauce. 

    
   
We did not order any hairy crabs or anything from the autumn menu. We just went for their usual simple dishes like braised homemade beancurd $5.80 – very simple dish but quite flavorful yet not too salty. Love the sauce.

 
Mazu mee sua about $18 – there was a variety of seafood and veges. But peanut and seaweed were a little strange. The whole dish tasted slightly sweet as well. 

 
Spinach with century egg and salted egg in superior stock $12.90 – the vege was cooked al dente as there was still some crunch. The stock was delicious. 

 
Deep fried chicken with garlic $14.90 – this dish was quite ordinary though the photo in the menu looked really tantalizing. 

 
Fried eggplant with pork floss $9.90 – crispy tempura like eggplant with generous amount of pork floss! This dish was a little sweet due to the pork floss. But eggplant was very crispy and nice. 

 
Stir fried yam $12.90 – the deep fried yam pieces coated with sweet sauce could qualify as a dessert. However it was overall an enjoyable dish as the yam was powdery and the exterior crispy. It’s not cloyingly sweet. 

 
Overall the meal at Putien was quite enjoyable. Though some dishes maybe abit sweet for my liking, there’s always the chili to go with them. Their desserts look quite interesting so perhaps we’ll try on our next visit.