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Food & Beverage
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I've always meant to try out Chinese Box, a Chinese restaurant owned and operated by the same folks who holds the rights to Black Angus in Singapore. So when an opportunity to try out their food came knocking, I jumped at it.
Opened in January this year, Chinese Box is hidden in the far reaches of the NUS law campus at Cluny Road. Getting there can be quite a headache as there are no clear signs as to how to reach the restaurant even within the compounds of the school itself. Housed on the first level of an old restored colonial bungalow (Black Angus takes the second level), Chinese Box boasts a classical chinese interior with a dash of colonial grandeur. Think white washed pillars, overhanging oriental lamps and and red translucent curtains.
Soft Shell Crab Roll & Vietnamese Mango and Duck Roll - The soft shell crab roll was crisp with a fleeting taste of sourish mango. I couldn't quite make out any taste of soft shell crab though, as it was overwhelmed by the leafy taste of the greens. The mango and duck roll fared slightly better. Drizzled with sweet sauce, it wasn't as leafy as the crab roll and I could still make out a faint fowl taste and texture. Not exactly the best way to start of the meal in my humble opinion.
Poet Drunken Chicken & Taro Strings - Honestly its the first time I'm having taro strings so its quite a refreshing change from the norm. Soaked in Szechuan chilli oil, the strings tasted a little like vermicelli, albeit a little firmer and thicker, making for a nice chewy and fiery sensation. The drunken chicken was well marinated in Chinese wine but came across as a little too salty.
Chinese Box Signature Beijing Duck - Apparently, this is a signature dish of Chinese Box but I honestly thought that though palatable, it was no big deal. The skin was a wee bit crisp and served with meat, all wrapped up in a thin egg crepe, with some cucumber slices thrown in for the works. I have definitely eaten much better ones before.
TeoChew TaiPan Superior Thick Shark's Fin Soup - The broth was thick and savoury without coming across as nausea inducing. The single fin was of quite a decent size but its texture reminded me somewhat of vermicelli, which was rather unnerving. I could make out a mild ginger taste in it as well. Decent but could be better.
Pan Fried Cod Fish Fillets in Superior Soy Sauce - Well fried till crisp but lacked the natural sweetness or smoothness of cod. Probably the redeeming factor would be the sweet sauce that came drizzled atop, without which, the fish would have tasted bland.
Signature Golden Roast Duck & Teochew Five Spice Meats Roll - Another signature duck dish, this time served with a roll of wu xiang. The duck's skin was rather limp and certainly didn't impress while the wu xiang had a nice crisp exterior belying an overly soft interior that was lacking in robustness of taste.
Stir-Fried Taiwan Pea-shoots - The pea shoots aka dou miao (豆苗) was quite well fried - not too soft yet retaining enough juices and mildly salty.
Signature Golden Tofu Bar with Sauteed Mushrooms -
I think the word signature is used to death already. The word raises expectations a few notches and its cruel to be brought back down to reality. I like my tofu savoury with a hint of smokiness but Chinese Box's offering, though smooth, lacked just that. I liked the topping of mushrooms and dried scallops though.
Garlic Steamed Fresh Scallop w/ Tofu - A huge steamed scallop showered with lots of deep fried garlic (a personal favourite) and fresh chopped garlic, served on a bed of steamed tofu. The garlic provided a nice crunch and aroma but covered the sweetness, if any, of the scallop. The tofu was smooth but not exactly soft while the gravy had egg white in it. All in all, I thought that the idea was there, just that the execution and proportions could have been better.
Taro Paste"Orni" w/ Pumpkin & Gingko Nuts - I love this effort intensive traditional Teochew dessert and have been fortunate enough to try out quite a number of renditions in Singapore and overseas. My take on Chinese Box's variation? Smooth but not fragrant, probably due to the exclusion of lard in it. And the taste wasn't robust enough for my liking. On the upside, it wasn't too sweet, which was a good thing.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the management of Chinese Box for inviting me for this food tasting and to wish them well in their future endeavours.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Had a craving for burgers and heard about this new burger stall, Bergs, which apparently is the brainchild of 2 Aussies who had embarked on a futile attempt to find the perfect burger. Frustrated, they decided to open an eatery that served up fresh burgers cooked/made on the spot.
Situated within the nostalgic Far East Square, Bergs offers al fresco seating along the side walks and a not so cool air conditioned interior that reminded me of a school tuck shop with its wooden tables and matching chairs and an open kitchen (where you can see your burgers being made) to boot.
Chips - The burgers do not come with any sides so we started off with an order of chips, which came served in a doggy bag. The chips looked machine cut but were thick and probably weren't of the frozen variant. Firm on the outside with a light handful of salt yet soft and moist on the inside.
Crikey - There is an option of having your burger done in 2 sizes - small or Bergs. I naturally opted for the latter. 2 huge pieces of freshly grilled beef patties and 2 pieces of bacon, all with grill lines to show for it, rather elastic edam cheese, lettuce and evenly toasted sesame buns - Seriously, what's not to like? Well perhaps the overdoneness of the beef would be one. The patty didn't conceal any reddish tinges within and the exterior was a little too charred. But at least I could taste the mild uneveness of the meat. Did I mention that the burger was huge?
Alamack - This fish burger's name is a weird pun on the Malay word, alamak, which loosely translates to "oh my god". Funny names aside, the burger came with 2 chunks of fish which were lightly battered with crumbs and came across as tasty without being too fishy. Although this wasn't a Berg's size burger, it was still quite a handful.
Bergs is probably one of the more expensive fast food places I've ever tried, but portions are generous and service is great. Food quality could improve, especially for the beef patties but throw in an almost crowd free environment on weekday/weekend evenings and its a huge draw, especially for people who value peace and quiet, like yours truly. And to borrow Carl Junior's slogan about their burgers, "It's gonna get messy".
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Another weekend, another Sunday brunch. But its the first time I'm having Chinese ala carte buffet for brunch and expectations were relatively high as Jing @ One Fullerton is under the same management as Majestic Restaurant, which has won top accolades for its Chinese food.
Ambience
Typical modern Chinese restaurant but what sets it apart is the huge glass windows that allow plenty of sunlight in as well as views of the partially constructed IR just across the river. The booth seats look comfortable for a party of 3 or 4 but unfortunately we were relegated to the center tables. There is the problem of weak air conditioning too.
Variety
You get about 20 odd different types of dim sum , a tiny self service buffet station with duck, fruits and minimal desserts and the standard 4-5 items each of seafood, meat, vegetables, rice, noodles and the likes. There are certain restrictions on certain items. Ie. you get to choose 1 serving of either Chilli Crab or Soon Hock and soups are limited to 2 servings per table. If you are keen on the more premium items like boston lobster or shark's fin soup, be prepared to top up at least $10++ to $18++ more per pax for 1 portion. Drinks are chargable and the only things that are free flow are the Chinese tea and sky juice.
Quality
The quality is merely average in my humble opinion. Nothing quite stands out but nothing really sucked terribly either. If I had to choose, the best dish would probably be the crispy duck from the carving station. All in all, the dishes were palatable but honestly, don't expect too much. Think Crystal Jade La Mian XLB standard.
Service
Average service from wait staff that didn't seem very keen on serving. When I called to make a reservation, the lady on the other end of the phone wasn't particularly friendly either. No big boo boos but could be a lot better.
Value for money
At $36++/pax ($42.40 nett), I honestly thought that it was a little over the top. Food quality was generally average, the spread not exactly the most extensive and service, forgettable. I fail to see how Jing could have made a name for itself with such standards.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I would have never imagine this; I froze at the mention of it, the sacred foie gras. And hold on a second, what were they saying, I thought I heard something like Juicy dumpling with foie gras. Wasn’t this supposed to be XLB, now where did the foie gras came into the picture?
Believe it or not, they actually contain the French delicacy within our XLB, well maybe just a morsel of it since there wasn’t any trace of the foie gras.
Fresh, is one of the word which has been over-used to describe food. How else would you use to depict the prawn within the crisp vermicelli, well maybe I would say juicy, succulent, and I ran out of vocabulary. Oh well. Deep-fried filo dough.
It was wet, a little moist inside, so I stuck my finger in, and poked it in a little further. I took a bite, beneath the crispy exterior, was duck shreds. Deep-fried yam croquette with minced duck.
I was caught by surprise when they told me this was called the Deep-fried scallops with sugar cane. I was happily biting it off the sugar cane (read: I use it), thinking it was very prawny, and there they were, telling me it was deep-fried scallop!
Naturally I was amused, how could scallop taste like prawn? Ignoring that, the slightly-sweet-slightly-sour sauce was most excellent - it was refreshing. And the sugar cane added some brownie points to the whole artistic value.
May I introduced to you, ladies and gentleman, the scarce Harm Soei Gok, or Deep-friend traditional chicken dumpling. Honestly, I did not know about its existence before this, since many places didn’t served it due to the complexity and effort needed to produce it.
The whole, Shark’s fin within the soup, it was so big! With an equally flavourful stock, all of us agreed that the Double-boiled dumpling with Shark’s fin was a delight, well maybe not for the sharks lovers.
I liked this. I’m a char siew sou man. And I was disappointed when there was no sight of it on the menu. And then the baked fluffy skin pie with chicken and mango came. Having the same (or almost) crispy, buttery pastry skin, the interior of the usual char siew was replaced by chicken and mango instead. And the marriage of chicken and mango was a good one, those two totally complimented each other well.
How can one reinvent a dish already done to death and found everywhere? Well, they either provide premium stuffing or reinvent the skin used to wrap the stuffing. For the steamed pork dumpling, they did neither but it was still a cut above the rest. The prawn was sweet and there wasn’t an overly-porky after-taste.
My, my. It was interesting to note, a mini version of claypot rice appearing in a restaurant. Call it a classic, the Mini pot rice with chicken was nothing mini in taste; the tasty Chinese sausages, the succulent mushrooms, and the tender chicken chunks. I had it a taste without any sauce initially, then I added some of the superior sauce that came along with it, and it did wonders - it literally enhanced the taste of the whole mini pot.
There was three different types of steamed rice roll served, but I just showed one photo since all rice rolls looked the same less the fillings. It was the standard-trio, scallops, char siew and prawn. And needless to say, most Chinese restaurants definitely uses fresh ingredients, so it was really down to the rice roll to determine the winner.
And I must say, Man Fu Yuan had silky smooth rice roll, and most importantly, they were not overly-thick.
I never liked beef balls, or for that matter, any type of meat balls. Just the sight of it made me full, I took a bite of the beef balls with bamboo pith, and unexpectedly, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. And there’s tripes at the bottom of the beef balls too.
It is a fine line between tradition and new, and I feel Man Fu Yuan balanced it very well. There are the traditional dim sum available for the purist who want their fix regularly, and not neglecting those who craved for innovation and excitement in their dining experience, the chefs played around with some other ingredients that are not commonly used in Chinese cuisine.
This marks the end of the dim sum marathon, and I must say I’ve enjoyed myself very much together with the rest; chatting and enjoying the good food. My appreciation to Sharon, the PR manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Was in the mood for a leisurely and luxurious Sunday brunch to whittle my time away and what better place to have it then at the opulent St Regis? Having a sizable discount definitely helped steer my decision though.
Ambience
Les Saveurs spots high ceilings with huge glass windows running to the ground, which gives a soaring and almost carefree feeling. Victorian style chandeliers add a sophisticated touch of class and so do the matching chairs and carpet. In short, a great place to relax and enjoy your food. There is a 3 man band just outside the restaurant that will belt out different tunes throughout the brunch to add to the experience.
Variety
The brunch comprises 3 components - The eye catching dessert table and the appetisers table, your choice of a main course from the menu and last but not least, daily chef's specials that are "hawked" from table to table. The daily specials make up quite a substantial portion of the brunch and can range from fried rice to cod fish to foie gras or even shooters. The appetisers table has quite a decent amount of food like foie gras, salmon & tuna sashimi, oysters, air dried wagyu beef and the likes. There is even a small counter where rows of beautifully baked buns, muffins, croissants etc tempt even the most staunch carbo abstainers. And may I add that the dessert counter was so aesthetically and exquisitely presented that I had the urge to start on desserts first before anything else.
Quality
For the most part, food quality was consistently good and no expense was spared in ensuring that. Everything is made bite sized so that you are able to try a wider variety. I particularly liked the macarons, which were almost on par with Pierre Herme's signature macarons that I had the privilege of trying sometime back. Overall, I thought that the food quality far surpassed my expectations and can put quite a few buffets in some reputable hotels to shame.
Service
Professional and seemingly eager but tended to be overwhelmed at times, especially with the restaurant running at full capacity.
Value for money
At $128 for the non champagne aka fruit juice/tea option, it is probably one of the priciest brunches in the market right now but food quality is evident. If you opt for the moet and chandon option, it will cost you $158 while premium champagne like Krug will set you back by a princely $338 /pax. Final words, if you have the cash to blow and 3 hours to spare, Les Saveurs might just be the place for you.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
The beautiful, each piece: Oh-so-dainty, Oh-so-refine. Almost like art, delicately crafted.
O’ my dear, I love you so. Never in my heart, I stopped thinking of you. Miss sushi, and Miss tapas: both seemed to be more popular than you, but I will always put you in the first place.
It was big, no, huge! This was, one of the many, different renditions of har gau we would see today. Essentially a har gau without the skin; the crab meat dumpling. It was prawny, with a nice bite - but crabby (no pun intended) it was not, well who cares?
Rather than an-overly-thick-skin, give me a dumpling without skin.
The well-admired Steamed Prawn Dumplings had an injection of carrot purée which only served to beautify the appearance of the har gau skin.
“We protested! We protested!”
The purist camp did a demonstration on the streets, crying for the restoration of the conventional har gau which they were so used to. But for the ladies; the boost in vitamin A. What was missing however, was the carrot taste.
The novelty. The inclusion of preserved vegetables was a brilliant stroke of art; the saltiness enhanced the flavour of the pork, which brought us to the question: why didn’t anybody thought of this before? Steamed pork dumpling with preserved vegetables, siew mai.
Now this was a not-so-simple bun that was bound to turn heads. Served piping hot, the bun seemed quite insignificant until you took a bite at it. Immediately, you would realize that you just had something very special. The bun itself was soft, fluffy and light as a feather while the fillings were so, so sweet and juicy. The Steamed kurobuta char siew pork fluffy bao, was the winner for the day.
The humble har gau did an open-faced sandwich; with shark’s fin on top. Luxury, it was, wealth, it symbolized, and prestige, it presented. Sorry sharky! Steamed shark’s fin dumplings with dried scallops and shrimp.
The tinge of pink, at the top of the tri-top; pretty and so pretty. Another piece of art we seen, at the gallery of Cherry Garden. However, the Scallop and spinach crystal dumpling did came across as slightly dry.
Truffled Essence Crystal Dumplings stuffed with Assorted Fresh Mushrooms. This, was a beauty; the translucent skin, the jelly texture, the array of mushrooms, almost perfect - but it was too large!
Prawn was the main lead, and mango was the second lead. There was the accompany of the green, hot wasabi! Netted rice crispy turnover. I held you, in my arms, into the late wee wee hour: without the wasabi! My dear, the netted rice crispy turnover.
And there was the famous XLB. The voluptuous folds, the goodness of the soup stock, everything, gushing out.
Like a peacock spreading his feathers, the netted rice crispy did a peacock effect: it caught everybody’s attention. Oh my, so beautiful, was this meant to be eaten?
And oh wait, there’s something hiding below the feathers; the netted rice crispy I meant. Ah, that’s the pan-fried chives and chicken dumplings!
Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of chives - I would leave the taste of the dumpling to your own imagination. This was, a piece of art! Why don’t we turn it upside down?
This was the umpteenth time we had a make-over of the har gau, they called it, Steamed Chinese spinach dumplings. The spinach, provided the lovely lines, just like how a painting adorned the wall. The egg yolk, provided the oomph, so, so good.
This, was a poisonous pear, for snow white. The wicked witch threw in some pumpkin, a pinch of jicama, stirred stirred, mixed mixed, and finally, some vegetarian ham.
Poof! With a wave of her wand, the deep-fried potato “pear” appeared. Crispy texture checked, mesmerizing appearance checked, vegetarian (snow white is on a diet) checked. Sticky innards (to stick the mouth together) checked. Everything was present, and OH, where’s the poison?
And we took a plunge, into the deep, deep blue sea. From the land to the sea, the Symphony of live pacific grouper prepared in three different ways. The first: we have a soup, grouper fish broth with ginger, onion and Silken tofu.
Steamed grouper crystal fish dumpling. Was this a dim sum, or was this a fish? It was both, with a twist. Brilliant it was, bravo we shouted. Grouper fish meat inside a dumpling of the fish skin. It was beautiful, too beautiful to eat.
It was not all smooth-sailing, nothing was. As much as I loved the creativity, there was a snag. The use of fish skin, for the translucent was great for the eyes, but not for the mouth. It was chewy, and slightly fishy: non fish lovers, would say, no no!
Prawn and pork, were absent. I give you fish, fish for dim sum. The very first, I believed. Let there be more, say fish siew mai? This, surely, would be a great day for all the fish lovers.
One price, one fish, for the value of three. Worthy, indeed. Sautéed grouper fillet with asparagus, no parts of the fish were wasted, from the meat, to the skin.
I have always wanted to go to Cherry Garden. And I’m glad I finally did. It was a feast, for the visual senses. The dim sum, so delicately craft piece by piece, was an art, for all to enjoyed. Creativity was certainly in the air, the adventurous use of different ingredients, the details to attention for the tiniest things, the emphasize of making it look as good as it tasted. I’m sold. Praises, have to be reserved for the savvy and charismatic executive Chinese chef, Mr Hiew Gun Khong.
Cherry Garden has the weekend dim sum ala carte buffet at $45 per head, which has a selections of 20 over dim sum, and other Chinese food as well. My appreciation to Kelly, the PR relations manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Fancy some place in town with all the dishes on the menu priced at $15 or less? Apparently Oriole, a newly opened cafe/restaurant in town, offers such a value proposition. The name Oriole is interesting because it is also the name of a bird.
Located at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in Somerset Road, Oriole is owned by the same owner of Aerin's, Bedrock Grill & Bar (next door to Oriole) and Whitebait & Kale and boasts Singapore's number 1 and number 3 baristas, which makes their coffee a must try! The interior of the place is rather cafeish with dim lighting and floor to ceilings windows. Currently the area surrounding Oriole is undergoing construction so there isn't much of a view to speak of.
Coffee Crust Cod Fish ($25.50++)- This was a daily special so the $15/dish cap didn't apply, which was rather regrettable really. The fish was smooth but a wee bit fishy and lacked sweetness. There was the problem of the missing coffee taste as well.
Prawn Spaghetti ($15++) - The pasta was tossed in olive oil and came across as a little too soft. I counted 5 crystal prawns to that were crunchy albeit a little small. But at least the whole dish was still palatable, though probably not something that I would order again.
Honey Crumble Affogato ($7++) - This dessert came with a shot of espresso and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which unfortunately had ice chips in it. I didn't quite take to the honeycomb crunch as bits of it got stuck onto my teeth. Overall this dessert was nothing too fancy or fantastic in my humble opinion.
Chocolate Fudge Cake ($5.50++) - Apparently one of Oriole's popular desserts, the chocolate fudge cake was quite decent in my humble opinion. Warm with pockets of molten chocolate within, it came across as rich and decadent - a sure fire recipe for nausea in the likely event of over consumption. Pity about the lack of ice cream though.
The total bill came up to $62.40 for 2 mains and 2 desserts, which would put Oriole in the Swensens, NYDC etc price range. Food quality is average but the lack of crowds in the middle of Orchard road is definitely a plus. Service was decent to boot.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
Dinner was a pleasant affair at Si Chuan Dou Hua. There are actually 3 outlets and we chose the one perched way at the top of UOB Plaza(60th floor) right in the heart of the Central Business District. You don't really need a rocket scientist to figure out why though. The view from the 60th floor is breathtaking. Need I say more?
Any hopes of an awesome aerial view slowly dissipates when you step into the restaurant. The windows are not floor to ceiling windows and offer a very limited view of the surroundings. However, any disappointment is soon placated by the sombre wood themed interior with its indulgent setting and classy finish. But do not write off those windows just yet. Peer through them and you get a magnificent view of the area, complete with shimmering lights of the city below. Its just a little more troublesome thats all.
Now Si Chuan Dou Hua is famous for its artful method of tea pouring. There will be a guy and a lady who will be dressed in traditional martial arts attire and armed with a kettle/teapot that has a very long snout. Water from this kettle/teapot will be skillfully poured into your tea cup containing the ingredients for the Eight Treasures Tea. Just a little background on this Eight Treasures Tea because I'm a huge fan of it. It consists of Red Dates, Wolf Berries, Dried Logans, Chrysanthemum, Rock Sugar, Dried Lily Buds, Jasmine Tea Leaves and Mai Dong, which is believed to reduce cholesterol, stimulate blood circulation and increase immunity. On a sidenote, we had the executive set dinner menu at $78.80 for 2 pax.
Two Delicacies Combination - The two delicacies in this dish refers to a serving of Dried Tau Kwa with Cashew Nuts and a serving of sliced pork with what tasted and looked like Belachan. This dish really whetted our appetites although it was way too spicy for us and we had to resort to downing glasses and glasses of iced water just polish it off. The meat was thinly sliced and had a slightly rubbery texture, which made chewing a pleasure. I did find the Dried Tau Kwa a little too hard though.
Eight Treasure Shark's Fin and Seafood Soup - This didn't really fit the bill of traditional shark's fin soup. It was almost greenish for starters due to the excessive amount of an unknown type of vegetable sprinkled on top (I couldn't really taste what kind of vegetable it was though) and the soup tasted more like tofu soup with seafood. But don't get me wrong, it was actually very tasty while not coming across as too heavy at the same time, probably due to the less starchy texture. There was a sprinkling of shark's fin but they weren't of superior quality. Then again, no complaints for the price.
Silver Cod Fish in Sweet Wine Sauce - I personally fancied this dish pretty much. The fish was fresh, sweet and nicely fried with an almost crispy exterior. Drizzle the sweet wine sauce on it and you get a burst of sweetness from the sauce melding with the natural sweetness of the fish. A simple but delightful dish to say the least.
Fried Rice with Crab Meat - How many times have you ordered crab meat fried rice only to find miniscule portions of crab meat hidden within? Si Chuan Dou Hua's version has large chunks of crab meat embedded within throughly fried grains of rice which have a distinctive Wok Hei aura. Eating too much of it also doesn't render one nauseous, which is a refreshing change from the usual MSG laden ones.
Stir Fried French Bean with Minced Meat - This is a rather uncommon dish in Singapore and many places that I've patronised don't serve it(maybe I'm just unlucky). Naturally I was excited to see that this dish came along with the set menu. Alas, excitement turned to disappointment when I had my first taste of it. The french bean was way too soft and soggy, probably a result of frying for too long. The minced meat topping was rather salty and tasted like dried shrimps actually, but it was the only thing that gave flavour to this dish.
With a name like Si Chuan Dou Hua, it isn't hard to guess what they are famous for - their Dou Hua. I'm not kidding, the Dou Hua is really a cut above the rest. Extremely smooth and quivery, the Dou Hua literally slitters down your throat with every spoonful. The syrup isn't too sweet, but sweet enough to carry the Dou Hua.
The bill came up to $103.50($83.50 after the usage of my $20 voucher), which does push the meaning of reasonable a little, but for the experience, it is still justifiable. Service is reasonably good as well, so it all adds up to a rather pleasant dining experience.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
60. The number could refer to almost anything; age, weight, people, money, time - Si Chuan Dou Hua restaurant on the sixty level of UOB plaza. 100 - a century figure of dishes at weekend lunch, offering dim sum, tea and Szechuan cuisine. 38.8 - the unbeatable price of under forty dollars. Numbers are magic: they tell a thousand things too.
The kidney, I have to say, was lovely: chewy and pinkish-coloured, swelled-looking, with the clever use of spices covered the porky smell which made so many people avoided the delicious pig kidney.
The question of authenticity popped up during the tasting session, and Linda the director of SCDH was quick to point out although there were some minor tweaks of the dishes to suit local palates, the Chilled chicken in spicy bean paste was done exactly like the Szechuan favourite. The spicy bean paste caused a storm; hot, fiery, and simply so Szechuan!
SCDH served us many cold dishes for starters, and the Sliced beef and tripe in chilli sauce was one of them.
At first glance, it was not difficult to mistaken the Sliced duck in Teow chew style for the more commonly seen drunken chicken. Thinly sliced, I could never resist duck meat!
This one caught me by surprise - the crispy chicken puff. I wasn’t expecting something so, small and tiny, to be so good. The crispy fried skin had chicken within: it was a reminiscent of cream puff, except the pastry was fried instead of baked, and the fillings were chicken instead of cream.
Perfect. One of the best carrot cake I’ve had; every bite was flavourful with radish. The only correct thing to make a good carrot cake is to just add more radish, it’s so simple, yet many fail to get the gist of it.
The purist would protest at the sight of the Steamed siew mai with quill egg. The additional of quill egg was an innovation, and credits had to be given to the chefs for experimenting with different ingredients.
No, it definitely wasn’t St Valentine’s the last time I checked. Nonetheless, the heart shape was pretty enough to gorge at - Pan-fried shredded yam pancake with waxed meat.
I ain’t a big fan of mince meat balls, but the Steamed beef balls with seasonal vegetables won me over with the chewy and bouncy texture.
I eyed the golden dumpling, not knowing what to do. Should I, or should I not? I took up my pair of chopsticks, and dove right in, secretly praying in my heart: Sharky, rest in peace, you’d not die in vain. Steamed shark’s fin and chicken dumpling.
Despite the scary-looking-thick-oily-layer of chilli, the Dumpling with chilli oil was surprisingly, not that spicy. I had called the fire brigade to be prepared to put out any fire, and after one tiny nibble of the dumpling, it was safe. And I ate some more, of the thick and generous filling, which almost busted out of the dumpling skin.
This one was interesting. The Pan-fried fish pancake with parsley, the crispy firm pastry-like texture was evident, but I couldn’t quite make out what actually constituted in the fish pancake.
For the best creative award, I presented to you the, Pan-fried sweet corn pancake. The inclusion of sweet corn in a dim sum was a first for me: needless to say, it worked. The sweet corn, like its name, enhanced the sweetness of the pancake.
The Steamed prawn dumpling, or Har gau, had fresh succulent prawns, but I found the skin slightly too thick from what I had in mind.
Instead of the streetfood in Szechuan, SCDH decided to upmarket the Fried pumpkin cake by scoring on presentation and refining it. The delicate-lovely-looking miniature pumpkin; it was too pretty to eat.
If there was one memorable dish I had to choose from SCDH, it had to be the Steamed lotus paste bun with egg yolk. The egg yolk within the lotus bun, oh my. It was indescribable. The combination of lotus paste and egg yolk, was akin to mooncake, with a bun skin.
Balancing my chopsticks, I took a glance at the noodles. This should be easy, I thought. I grabbed some noodles using my less-than-perfect chopstick skills, and slurped the tan tan noodle. The world seemed to froze in time; I took another mouthful of noodles, putting in as much as my mouth would fit. The noodles, how should I put it: bouncy, springy, smooth, well it seems my vocabulary would be exhausted soon. It was good!
We had the following desserts: herbal jelly, mango & pamelo cream, glutinous rice with coconut milk, almond cream with fungus, chilled strawberry jelly, chilled coconut & jackfruit cream, red bean paste with lotus seed, and yam paste with ginko nuts.
Si Chuan Dou Hua has certainly opened up my narrow view of Szechuan cuisine; the impression of only hot and spicy food is wrong, there are many more variety available. Linda, the director of SCDH, who hosted us for the tasting session. And I have to conclude that Linda was the best host among the 4 restaurants which we had went to; her passion for food, and her warm & friendly smile, made our meal more enjoyable.
The 40 items which we tried for the tasting session were part of their weekend lunch which had a mind-blowing 100 items, priced at another unbelievable figure $38.8. My appreciation to Linda for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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Had been hearing excellent things about Goodwood Park Hotel's English high tea buffet so made it a point to try it out one weekend afternoon. Apparently the buffet is highly sought after so reservations in advance are recommended.
Ambience
Not much to speak of as L'Espresso is actually a lobby lounge that's located just next to the deli where crowds form to buy its signature durian desserts. But on the upside, it offers a view of the charming pool through full length glass windows and there's the pianist too, if you are lucky. Did I mention that Goodwood Park itself exudes a certain colonial charm that is priceless?
Variety
The variety was quite an eyeful. Scones, sandwiches, tarts and other sweets formed the bulk of the food. I didn't do an exact count but you are probably looking at about 20 odd different items. Would have liked some savoury stuff but overall thought the spread was good for an English high tea. You get 2 pots of tea with your buffet as well.
Quality
I must say that I'm quite impressed with the overall quality of the buffet. Everything was daintily and intricately presented, very much like what you would find in more upscale high tea sessions which serve their items on a 3 tier stand. Make a beeline for the scones, which I personally like quite a fair bit, especially with a huge dollop of jam. You might want to skip the foie gras pate sandwiches though as I honestly thought that pate was just gross. But that's just me.
Service
Professional but a little stiff. They did seem a little short handed as well but to give the place credit, our plates were cleared promptly.
Value for money
At 33 (about $39 after tax) per pax, I am most inclined to recommend this place to anyone in search of a nice place to chill out with friends for a couple of hours on a weekend or public holiday with great finger food and desserts to boot. This is honestly one of the very few buffets that I can actually revisit. In short, I loved it.
See all my pictures here.
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