Chef Chan Restaurant

I had the opportunity to attend a biz lunch there and had the set lunch at $38 per pax. The photos, by the way, are terrible as I had to sneakily snap them with my phone.

Steamed pork dumpling and deep fried prawn in pumpkin sauce - the pork dumpling is siew mai really which was okay but the prawn was fresh and crunchy and literally drowned in the rather tasty gooey pumpkin sauce.

Braised minced fish in thick soup - nice but I couldnt taste the minced fish - a dash of vinegar made it better though.

Deep fried spare ribs in vinegar sauce - the vinegar sauce was quite unique but the ribs were too fatty for me.

Chef Chan's famous roasted chicken - I had this before years ago and I remembered not being wow-ed by it. This time, it felt the same.

Sauteed seasonal vegetables with minced garlic - disappointingly normal.

Chilled hawthorn jelly - good and a big portion too.

Service was very good but maybe because we had the semi partitioned hall and had 11pax. You also do feel the atas-ness within the traditional Chinese settings which makes the experience a bit better.

That being said, I wouldnt return as the food is really average for a supposedly reputable restaurant. Maybe because Chef himself no longer runs the kitchen?

Located in an obscure corner of the newly restored National Museum of Singapore – with no signboard or whatsoever on its exterior (signboard faces inwards as I discovered), Chef Chan’s Restaurant, honed by Master Chef Chan Chen Hei – a widely known and respected figure in the Chinese culinary circle, dwells completely at ease in the ‘new’ historical setting – as it is complete with Chef Chan’s personal precious collection of Chinese antiques amassed over the years.

The place is exquisite with only four private dining rooms up for reservations – walk-ins are not entertained.

From utensils to cutleries (besides the glass carrying warm water), everything was matched to give one an authentic Cantonese dining experience to that of a Chinese noble.

With much anticipation, first up was the Melon Strips Enlivened with Orange Juice. While some claimed the melon to be crunchy, I find it rather hard to chew on. However, what turns me off from this dish was the sweet orange aftertaste one gets, and we all felt "Melon Strip Dip in Fanta Orange" would be more apt description.

One thing that irks me in Chinese fine dining is that you are unable to have a 2nd helping unlike those traditional Chinese banquet. This is illustrated when the Prawn Balls Stuffed with Pate and Wine was stacked temptingly on the serving plate but only one was distributed to each of us.

The exterior crust was crispy yet gentle for the throat but the interior was a major letdown – it was just overwhelmed with prawn taste that one cannot discern a hint of the pate or wine in it.

Stir Fried Shark's Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts and Spring Onion Served in Lettuce Leaves was probably one of the better dishes that night.

A good harmony among the ingredients – chewy shark’s fin and crunchy bean sprouts and lettuce leaves was a pleasure to chomp on. However, reality check beseech me to realise that one doesn’t need extraordinary culinary skill to execute this – this is one reason why my dad doesn’t order bean sprouts whenever we dine out.

The Sautéed Lobster with Garlic was another highly anticipated dish since it was one of the more “luxurious” items on the menu that night. The intense aroma of the garlic wowed us when it was first brought into our room, but we soon live to regret it as the profuse amount of garlic threatens to engulf the whole dish. It was such a shame since the lobster was very fresh and sweet but the tingling feeling from the garlic seeks to mar it.

The meat of the Steamed Sliced Red Garoupa in Village Style was very fresh with a good bite, but the gravy that accompanied it was outrageously starchy.

This is another example of excessive inclusion of element (starch if you are wondering) that threatens to blemish the already pathetic serving of fish that each of us got that night.

The Sautéed Vegetables with Shredded Mushrooms was greeted with disappointment that night. Drenched in gravy, it was just ordinary – any decent cook should be able to pull this off their kitchen – enough said.

The only showpiece for the night rightfully belongs to this seemingly humble chicken. Probably his best known dish, Chef Chan’s Famous Crispy Roast Chicken was the only dish that kept everyone quiet throughout its partake. Everyone was busy devouring the crispy skin that snap with every bite, coupled with the moist and tender chicken meat that was nothing short of flavour. This dish even though tended towards the saltier side near the end, was the only one that blew me away. A simple dish yet delicately and magnificently executed.

Dessert of the night was a choice between Papaya with White Fungus and Herbal Jelly with Glutinous Rice & Mango. And I opted for the latter, which I swiftly regretted. The dessert didn’t quite gel as one and I ended up eating it three ways, first the mango that was unripe therefore sour, then the glutinous rice which was nothing extraordinary, and lastly follow by the Herbal Jelly which some concluded should come with more honey, but I am used to having it bitter.

We chalked a total of $860.15 for 9 people (after 10% credit card discount), which roughly makes out to $96 per pax. For such a price and Straits Time claiming that it deserved at least one Michelin Star, expectations were high and I expected more. However, only the roast chicken make it for me that night that one is definitely better off having the rest of the dishes at some Tze Char stall elsewhere.

You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.