Yunnan Garden Restaurant

I have never known that in such an "ugly" and "ulu" building, otherwise known as the NTU Alumni House near the Rochester Park, there is such a good hidden deal. I always wonder how this chinese restaurant have managed to survive until now. During dinner time, there was like only 2 tables occupied, how on earth did they managed to keep their cashflow healthy? Nevertheless, there are quite a lot of attractive promotions going on currently (eg: $8.80 a dish and 50% off for crabs), and most of their dishes are not that bad. If you are looking for some cheap place to dine in with a quiet environment, here is one recommendation. =)

Peaking Duck The meat are cooked to just the right tenderness such that it still maintain its "springy-ness" when you are chewing it in your mouth. It is a must to dap the whole roll in the sauces provided to achieve an enriching sensation that will keep you coming back for more. The essence of the whole dish, which is the skin, is nicely smoked to just the right degree!! When you start chewing them, juices hidden in between the skin will start slowly oozing out which I guarantee that you will relish every moment of it.

Mushrooms with Vegetables The mushrooms in this simple average dish are nicely cooked such that they are all tender and soft. The sauces provided goes well with the blend vegetables which is not at all salty. In my opinion, this is an average dish which you can easily get at any other restaurant, and I considered it a bit too expensive at $8.80 a dish.

Oat Fried Prawns The prawns are either a bit overcooked or that they are not that fresh. When I started biting into the flesh of the prawn, I find them a bit too soggy for my liking. Other than that, the overall dish is still considered ok. Their shell are fried to the extent that they are brittle and easily chewed up and they have done a good job in removing the intestines of the prawn (which most of the restaurant don't even bother).

Coffee Pork Rib An interesting dish consisting of pork ribs stir-fry in coffee sauce. Giving credits to their creativeness and unique combination, however, the skills of the cook have let them down. I find that the pork ribs are too overcooked and too hard for my liking. The meat are hard to separate from the bones and I find them too dry. Definitely not worth the money to spend on this dish.

Chilli Crabs On picture, the whole presentation of the dish looks nice, however when you start eating, apart from the crabs, everything else falls below my expectation. The sauces used is a real major disappointment. Not only that they taste like satay sauce (really no kidding), but the sauces are all too watery. These 2 major faults totally kills all enthusiasm that I have for the crab. I recommend that you gives this a miss at all cost.

Beef Yee Mee At last, a more decent dish. The beef in this dish are all nicely marinated. Put them together with all the supporting ingredients, each of their individual favours are all nicely mixed around to give off a unique experience and taste. I think it is quite hard for me to fully describe it, you will have to taste it for yourself to know what I meant. A recommended dish by me.

For their service, I find that their staffs are all professionally trained. Empty and half full cups are filled up promptly without asking and the dishes are all quick to arrive (within 10 minutes) of ordering. Thumbs up for their work and effort!

Overall rating: 5/10