Qian Xi (Civil Service Club)

Recently, i had the honor of being invited to a friend's Wedding that was held at Qian Xi. Having never heard of the place, i was quite surprised at its location. Civil service club in far off Bukit Batok.

On the wedding invitation card, you can see the address written as Hilltop and i was quite surprised when it really meant hilltop since you had to traverse a rather steep slope just to get to the location.

The surroundings were rather picturesque with plenty of greenery and a pool along with lots of Woody buildings. Check out the pictures to see what i mean.

The ballroom itself is the biggest ballroom in the club. The crystal ballroom with a seating capacity of 57 tables. And the amazing thing is, it was filled to the brim that day with her friends, family and church friends. Quite a sight actually.

For the wedding, we had 9 dishes and free flow of wine and beer.

Lobster Cold Dish - The usual chinese cold dish with squid, fried beancurd wrapped fish cake, lobster with fruits and mayo dressing and meat balls. The lobster was pretty stale but was saved by the dressing. Not really appetising actually.

Braised Shark's Fin With Crab meat - Average, the shark's fin was practically non existent and the soup was simply too starchy to be liked. Nothing vinegar and pepper can't fix but if i needed to resort to that, its already too late.

Roasted Crispy Chicken - Another average dish with the chicken being overly dry and lacking taste. In fact, it tasted like beancurd at some points which was astonishing... The crispy skin was quite fragrant though.

Fried Prawn with Cereal - The cereal was very well done i should say. Sweet, fragrant and very tasty, i could eat the cereal and be happy with it. The prawn was quite big but felt grossly overcooked. Dry and without much taste.

Steamed Red Grouper - The grouper was huge, nicely steamed in the cooking sauce i've always liked. It wasn't overly salty but the freshness of the fish is open to question. The meat had a powdery taste near the middle but otherwise was firm and sweet.

Fresh Scallop with Broccoli - The scallops were mini scale and miserly portioned. In fact, i barely had 2 pieces before everything was swept up by the family next to us. For what its worth, the scallops were fresh and springy to the taste.

Yam Ring with Meat - The yam lacked taste and so did the assorted stuffings present in it. Very obviously pork. It was still too bland for my liking despite the multitude of ingredients served.

Fried rice in lotus leaf - As it turned out, the rice was the best. Fragrant and filling. It had alot of ingredients and even had a little wok hei in it. I have no idea how thats possible though.

Yam Paste with Gingko nut - The yam paste was extremely sweet and while the coconut milk was too little. Thus rendering the dish difficult to swallow. After all the above, i wasn't expecting much in the end anyway.

Wine - the wine served was a cornerstone 2006 cabernet sauvignon. I've been seeing this brand alot and finally got to taste it. Its extremely dry and reeked of spices yet not strong enough to be memorable. Aftertaste is spicy.

Overall, the meal went without hitches but was definitely not in the high end in terms of food quality. Honestly, i think paying $563 for this meal might not be worth it at all.