Fabulous Mother’s Day Lunch @ Majestic Restaurant on 8May2016

Posted on May 8, 2016 by chefquak

crab roe sharksfin soup (limited to one order)

bought wife & family a fab 5pax mother’s day lunch at majestic today on 8.5.2016. ^^

look at the crab roe sharksfin soup (top photo), a perennial favourite of ours at majestic. it was still so good! one of the very best soup i had, so sweet & tasty.

chilli lobster (limited to one order)

majestic does a mother’s day ala carte buffet lunch at S$68pax++ with 15% citibank discounts.

a new item on the ala carte buffet menu was chilli lobster (used to be a NOT great chilli crab). for me, still not great la…

majestic restaurant

we came early at about 12pm. restaurant was full by 1230pm.

majestic restaurant

i did not find a recent post on majestic on my blog. perhaps i did not record.

the one i had was 3 years ago, a world gourmet summit dinner in apr2013.

roast duck, roast chicken, char siew, siew yoke

for today, there was a self service station. the roasts were excellent!

roast duck, roast chicken, char siew, siew yoke

roast duck was especially good. we had a few individual helpings. char siew was good. siew yoke ok not as good as the usual cube roast pork servings in these kind of good restaurants.

lotus bun, pumpkin, braised duck wing

the lotus bun was good. we shared one among 5 of us. i took the braised duck wing. the pumpkin with 肉松was non-descript for me. wife liked it though.

century egg porridge皮蛋粥

i wanted to try the porridge. took a tiny bit. it was good!

braised belly pork卤肉

the braised belly pork was very flavourful. texture was tender though it didn’t look it in the large serving claypot.

har gau虾饺

from the ala carte menu, har gao was average. many dimsum places like crystal jade, imperial treasure better.

crab roe sharksfin soup (limited to one order)

the crab roe sharksfin soup was limited to one serving each. top draw stuff!

chilli lobster (limited to one order)

the chilli lobster was so so for me.

chilli lobster (limited to one order)

chilli gravy was good especially with the bun which was excellent.

lobster meat was not bouncy. did not feel like live or fresh lobster.

the thai lemongrass chilli lobster i had recently at red house was far, far better.

wasabi prawns

wasabi prawns were very good. tops!

did not look it though with too much of the green mayo. but the batter was very good, not like most places where they were thick, hard, tough. prawns were very fresh, water melon a great balance, counterpoint.

chilean seabass

i love chilean seabass, & majestic served very good steamed ones in their regular menu.

here it was non descript.

锅仔牛柳beef ribs korean style – galbi

the galbi style beef ribs were ok.

somehow it works better when served in individual small portion courses.

lobster crab roe broth

the sharksfin soup was limited to one order. there were like 3 or 4 other soups unlimited orders. we ordered 2 lobster crab roe broth to share.

a pretty good soup, though no comparison with the crab roe sharksfin soup.

spinach wolfberry in superior broth

the spinach wolfberry was good. this something i can do easily myself.

oyster mee sua蚝仔面线

wife love the oyster mee sua.

oyster mee sua蚝仔面线

it was very tasty with nice oyster flavour.

this also something quite easy to do myself-basically a good stock, as also for the spinach wolfberry, that’s about it.

salted egg custard buns流沙包

the salted egg custard buns流沙包 was very good here.

salted egg custard buns流沙包

the best!

deepfried durian ice cream

& the deepfried durian ice cream, another perennial favourite here.

deepfried durian ice cream

i ended up eating 1.5 portion.

really enjoyable lunch & family time on mother’s day.

after that, some of us had what my children called food induced coma.

not eating dinner this evening.

really!

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Majestic Restaurant
New Majestic Hotel
31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road
Singapore 089845

Contact
Tel: [65] 6511 4718
Fax: [65] 6222 3379
E-mail: restaurant@newmajestichotel.com

Majestic Hours

Tuesdays to Sundays
Closed on MondaysLunch – 11.45am to 2.30pm
Last lunch order – 2.15pm

Dinner – 6pm to 10pm
Last dinner order – 9.45pm

Protected: 8pax Curry Rice Lunch for OPS51 Friends on 21Apr2016

Posted on April 27, 2016 by chefquak

RI Friends 10pax curry rice lunch+bakuteh post JB trip 14Mar2016

Posted on March 15, 2016 by chefquak

#1 bakuteh singapore style

had a really fun JB trip last week with my RI buddies. we had really good bakuteh at shoon huat at sentosa JB & roast duck from ya wang opposite, and dinner at canton-i at city square, but we missed out on the kam long fish head curry.

the guys were coming to my place for lunch & watching jeju slides & guide from a friend who had been there.

so i decided to do a curry rice lunch + bakuteh (reminiscence of the recent JB trip) on 14.3.2016. ^^

7 dishes = curry rice + bakuteh + dessert

i had 7 dishes –

bakuteh singapore style
fish head curry
nonya curry chicken
sayur lodeh (using thai red curry)
kueh chap (pig head, pig ear, belly pork)
sio bak (roast pork)
lotus ginkyo nut cheng chow 莲子白果凉粉

#1 bakuteh singapore style

for bakuteh i bought the frozen prime ribs from sheng shiong. it’s the le bao brand 乐宝, just S$10.95/kg.

i used the usual ILC bakuteh sachet, about S$1.50 for 20g sachet.

#1 bakuteh singapore style

the bakuteh was excellent! soup was very tasty. many friends so commented.

1 used hara fried bean curd puff this time, i think this had more sweet 黄豆 flavours than the usual bean curd puff i used, the overall soup flavour was excellent, very tasty. a friend said it enhanced rather than overwhelmed the bakuteh sachet.

i think my soup was almost as good as shoon huat, and my pork ribs itself clearly better, more meaty, fatter & more flavoruful & excellent taken with my dark sauce which was very “pang” & not so salty.

#2 fish head curry

it’s the first time i cooked fish head curry.

#2 mak’s curry paste for fish head curry

i went to grab a curry paste from sheng shiong. found this mak’s nonya fish head curry S$2.45 i think, used it for the first time.

#2 fish head curry

wife went to chinatown market on sunday. i didn’t go. she bought a angkoli (sea bream) fish head. i though it was very expensive at S$16, but i had not bought this before not really qualified to comment on the price.

#2 fish head curry

anyway it was super fresh, meat was firm & sweet.

cooking was easy. i just followed instructions at the back of the sachet-

cut okra (lady’s fingers) and fried first with sliced yellow onions, curry rempah & some coconut milk.
added cut egg plant, fried another few minutes.
added fish head & coat with rempah
added chicken stock & coconut milk, covered, simmered about 8 – 10mins
added cut tomatoes.

curry was very tasty, maybe could be stronger, almost as good as outside, think curry wok.

#3 nonya curry chicken

i did my usual nonya curry chicken.

i did this nonya curry chicken recently for teban gardens community breakfast.

today though, it was just slightly below my own expectations.

#3 nonya curry chicken

my friends all liked it. the curry was very flavourful & lemak. they said just like outside nasi padang stall.

#4 kueh chap (pig head, pig ear, belly pork)

i did my usual kueh chap too.

i was also not all that satisfied with the flavours. i felt the texture was great but the braising sauce flavours not “pang” enough.

my friends told me i ate too often. for them it was fine. 🙂

#5 sayur lodeh

the sayur lodeh was quite fine. the long beans & hara fried bean curd puffs went very well with the cabbage & curry.

#5 sayur lodeh

i used the dancing chef thai curry paste, but added the wrong one yellow instead of red (hard to tell from a previously open sachet w/o cover description) so it looked a bit more yellowish & just like sayur lodeh instead of red colour, by accident…haha! 🙂

#5 sayur lodeh

anyway this dish i was quite happy with, nice vegetable for curry rice.

#6 airfryer sio bak

& a repeat of my recently “mastered” airfryer sio bak, learned from a friend.

i thought the belly pork was a bit too fatty. & i over compensated by grilling it 5mins longer. i told them this third time was poorer than the first 2.

#6 airfryer sio bak

but all my friends thought it was very good, the skin was crispy.

one friend said the skin was crispy on most, but some parts were tough. i told him probably because i used a fork to furiously stab the skin, kind of primitive, so not evenly done.

#7 lotus ginkyo nut cheng chow 莲子白果凉粉

i made the easy dessert we all enjoyed at hoe kee dessert 浩记甜品馆 during our jan2016 hong kong trip- lotus ginkyo nut cheng chow 莲子白果凉粉.

just boiled the lotus & ginkyo nuts in syrup & added to the cheng chow from sheng shiong. almost no effort & so enjoyable, refreshing to have.

friends brought strawberries & also longan & a friend brought a red, a bottle of michel torino.

after lunch we watched the slides on jeju. looks like a great place to eat & hike. according to guides, oct & nov are the best time to visit, dry & cool weather.

c.h.e.f andy

Klang Herbal Bakuteh 巴生肉骨茶 on 8Mar2016

Posted on March 9, 2016 by chefquak

herbal bakuteh

had a really wonderful JB trip with my RI friends yesterday, and especially enjoyed the bakuteh at shoon huat bakuteh 顺发肉骨茶 in Sentosa JB & roast duck from ya wang 鸭皇 opposite.

it was different from our singapore version peppery bakuteh, and just very mildly herbal & very tasty.

kee hiang klang 奇香巴生 bakuteh soup packet

i was looking for something simple to cook today on 8.3.2016.

found this kee hiang klang 奇香巴生 bakuteh soup base packet. i think my sis bought for me the last time.

it’s different from the usual cheap & good ILC packet i use.

kee hiang klang 奇香巴生 bakuteh soup packet

巴生肉骨茶, the klang herbal bakuteh is a different style, but i remembered previously, long time ago, i tried at race course road it was quite herbal which i didn’t really like.

herbal bakuteh

for this kee hiang klang packet, it was very mild in herbal taste, with avery mild sweetness on top of the meat sweetness. it was close to the shoon huat bakuteh 顺发肉骨茶, which i guess was a lot better so not making a comparison here.

herbal bakuteh

making it was easy-

just cut the ribs (for this time i used 500g frozen ribs from sheng shiong)
scald with boiling water to remove scum.
add packet with 1 bulb of peeled garlic cloves to 1litre+water & boil
add cleaned pork ribs & boil for 45mins (i like it with bite, if you like it really soft & falling off the bones, boil for 1 hr)
i remove the ribs & boiled 4 pieces of taupok (cut to 16strips) for 10-15mins so thye are soft enough to soak in the soup.

unlike ILC which is salty enough without adding salt, this one needs salt to bring out the flavour. just add to taste.

you can garnish with coriander or tang orh & add any toppings like liver, kidney, tau kee, small intestines, fish maw etc like in JB. for me i just added taupok.

very tasty soup & nice ribs. for me i still prefer ILC to this kee hiang klang 奇香巴生 bakuteh soup base, but if c/w the real thing at shoon huat bakuteh 顺发肉骨茶, then shoon huat is clearly better la.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Hokkien Mee just OK Fishball Noddles @ 六十年代 on 21Feb2016

Posted on February 23, 2016 by chefquak

S$4 fishball noodles dry

went with wife to togoyo at CT Hub kallang avenue on 21.2.2016. bought some gardening & household stuff. ^^

came here with my primary school classmate earlier in the week. 🙂

六十年代fishball noodles

this stall 六十年代fishball noodles i never tried before.

the photo really evokes nostalgia la. ^^

chinatown

my friend pointed out the space in front of 大中国 tai chong kok in sago lane.

his dad used to run a stall there selling 烧腊char siew, siew yoke & roast duck. 🙂

六十年代fishball noodles

pricing quite ok i guess, more ex than hawker stalls but equal or cheaper than food courts.

S$4 fishball noodles dry

there was 2 fishballs. 1 meatball, minced pork, some fish cake. you add your own la pok (deep-fried lard cubes), spring onions, birdeye chilli etc.

S$4 fishball noodles dry

a friend on facebook commented it looked so good. unfortunately it was ok but not that good. chilli had no kick (better after adding some birdeye chilli), not enuf vinegar i think. noodles was qq, and la pok was flavourful if slightly soft (lau hong).

it was passable la & at S$4 better than many at food courts.

but for good tecochew fishball noodles, i point my friend to jalan tua kong meepok at 6th avenue.

for good mushroom sauce bakchormee to ming fa @ upper thomson

& for a very good bakchormee that also lacking kick in chilli & vinegar but very tasty, ah hoe mee pok.

S$5 fried hokkien noodles

the S$5 fried hokkien mee was very good, tasty.

S$5 fried hokkien noodles

i think i am going to try making fried hokkien noodles myself la… 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great Roast Duck + Best Char Siew Noodle @ Joyful Palace 怡乐坊 Clementi on 30Jan2016

Posted on January 31, 2016 by chefquak

S$19 for 1/2 roast duck

went to joyful palace 怡乐坊 for dinner last evening on 30.1.2016. ^^

i had great dumsum & laksa etc here previously.

joyful palace 怡乐坊

it serves hong kong roasts 烧腊 & also sichuan mala dishes & lamian 拉面. ^^

quite a good variety actually. 🙂

S$19 for 1/2 roast duck

the S$19 roast duck was quite excellent. very flavourful & aromatic.

S$19 for 1/2 roast duck

still, it was not as good as the roast duck at canton paradise.

S$3 char siew noodles

what impressed me even more was the char siew noodles. this must be the best char siew i had.^^

& quite a good serving as well, for just S$3! ^^

i think i will try the 麻辣香锅next time. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great Value Alacarte Semi-buffet (Beyond Expectations) @ Tim Palace SAFRA Toa Payoh on 24Nov2015

Posted on November 27, 2015 by chefquak

roast duck, char siew & roast pork 烧味

went with my sis & b-i-l to tim palace @ SAFRA toa payoh to try out their ala carte semi-buffet on 24.11.2015.

buffet is S$25.80pax. the added attraction is S$5 discounts for SC aka senior citizens! ^^

there’s a S$2pax for water, tea & peanuts (S$2.50pax or more if other drinks). so it was S$22.80pax for 3 of us, S$27nett each.

tim palace

tim palace is at level 3 of SAFRA toa payoh clubhouse building.

tim palace

it is quite large in capacity, good for functions, tour groups??

roast duck, char siew & roast pork station

i did not have high expectation of the roast meat 烧味 station.

but surprise, surprise, the roast duck was really, really good! very flavourful.

char siu

so was the char siu!. i think this one of the best char siu i had. as good as the excellent chargrilled pork neck at imperial treasure nanbei or (better in fact than) any other good char siu places.

roast duck － second helping

i actually went for a second helping of roast duck, after taking the other food! 🙂

roast duck, char siew & roast pork 烧味

i was quite tempted to taste the salt baked chicken 盐炬鸡, but really no space left. sigh!

appetizer station

nothing much to say about the cold station. prawns was large, plump, fresh & sweet.

scallops & mussels all the frozen type, nothing worth taking.

appetizer station

the scallop tips (front) were quite nice. the prawn & squid salad were ok. sos so la!

cold flower crabs

the flower crabs were soft, mushy “nua nua”, the frozen type, not worth taking also. all these i took very little just to try.

sushi/sashimi station

salmon sashimi was ok. quite sweet. colour didn’t look that great.

i skipped the sushi.

appetizers

so, mainly prawn was good, salmon sashimi ok too, squid/prawn salad & scallop tips passable.

braised small abalone with broccoli

i ordered most of the dishes that they allowed only one order.

small abalone with broccoli was good restaurant standard. no complaints. 🙂

sharksfin soup

sharksfin soup was better than most cheaper sharksfin soup, not very gluey & stock quite tasty.

sea cucumber with yam

sea cucumber with yam was decent competent dish.

scallops & celery in xo sauce

the scallops & celery in xo sauce was pretty good.

crayfish

crayfish was poor!

crayfish

meat has no taste. this dish (thumbs down)!

char siew pao

we did not order the char siew pao, but somehow it was marked on the order sheet, the marking very different from our order markings, think some previous customers marked on it.

anyway no big deal, so we took it. the char siu pao were good!

steamed seabass with sambal sauce

i read that the deep-fried flower garoupa not so good, so we ordered the steamed seabass with sambal sauce.

steamed seabass with sambal sauce

seabass not such a great fish. but this preparation quite ok…so again a competent dish. maybe i will try the garoupa next time. don’t mind coming back again. 🙂

honey ribs

the honey ribs were ordinary. as good as any zi char stall i suppose. not my favourite.

honey ribs

cannot really criticise thsi dish, but the char siu was many times better than this.

drunken prawns

surprisingly also the drunken prawns was very good. must be a very good quality shaoxing wine 绍兴酒.

braised lamb pot

the braised lamb pot was competent dish, but no more.

lamb still retain the gamey taste, and not specially flavourful.

braised lamb pot

i would say it’s a robust dish like a beef stew, so unless the herbs & preparation is special (like say at majestic), it’s not a dish i am particularly fond of.

dessert station

dessert station the usual fare, with fruits, custard puffs & red bean pan cake etc.

sea coconut & longans

i took the sea coconut…quite refreshing.

lotus seed red beans dessert

and a bit of the lotus seed red beans dessert. pretty ok.

the food quality & cooking were pretty ok, not that much different from (i would say better actually) say peach garden miramar’s ala carte buffet, and certainly better than the ala carte buffet at ban heng orchard central.

the outstanding dishes for me here were the roast duck, char siu(tops), drunken prawns, abalone.

the sea cucumber & scallops were pretty good.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++

Tim Palace

Address :	293 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh #03-01 Safra Club Singapore 319387
Hotline :	6253 5515 (Reservation is needed on Saturday and Sunday)
Fax :	6253 0266
Email :	timpalace@gimtim.com.sg

OPENING HOURS:

Mon – Fri: 11:30 – 14:00; 18:00 – 22:00

Sat, Sun & PH: 11:00 – 14:30; 18:00 – 22:00

Protected: RI Friends G20 13pax Dinner at Peach Gardens @ Metropolis on 26May2015

Posted on May 31, 2015 by chefquak

RI Friends G20 13pax Dinner at Peach Gardens @ Metropolis on 26May2015

Posted on May 28, 2015 by chefquak

steamed soon hock

had a fun dinner get together among RI friends at peach garden @ metropolis on 26.5.2015. ^^

happened to be the same friend who organised G20 dinner 2 years ago also at peach garden (@ novena), aug2013.

come to think of it, this was the 3rd time we had G20 dinners at peach garden in as many years. the most recent was at peach garden @ miramar on 30.6.2014, almost 1 year ago.

many of us had not been to metropolis. 1 who had been associated it with MOE as he is a professor at NUS. for another in a brokerage firm, it was CDP that came to mind.

i parked at the openair carpark before metropolis building, very well located next to the bus stop & MRT. there was a lift that took me to level 2 right by peach garden. 🙂

place was new so looked somewhat better than previously at novena & also at miramar. the ala carte buffet menu with 1 free for 3 paying is for steamboat, so we decided to take the ala carte menu instead.

roast pork烧肉

we ordered the roast pork烧肉, a recommended dish. it was good, same standard as the usual places like crystal jade, imperial trasure, tunglok & canton paradise.

roast duck 明炉烧鸭

we were deciding between peking duck & roast duck. they were same price , i think S$56 for 1 duck. more went for roast duck, which was also my preference.

roast duck was good too, very flavourful & tender, & skin was crisp. it was no better than canton paradise. i think the latter still more fragrant & tasty, my gold standard. haha!^^

steamed soon hock

soon hock was S$9/100g. we had 12pax (+ one who came a bit later on), so we ordered a 1kg fish.

i always preferred steam for a very fresh live fish to deep-fried, which is like second best. soon hock was excellently done, very tender, smooth, tasty.

salted egg prawn

i was quite wary i.e. distrustful (& weary) of peach garden’s wasabi prawns. it once came with a ton of green wasabi mayo. but looking back at the 2013 photos actually it was not bad. anyhow we ordered the salted egg prawn, which was very good too, though not quite my favourite. 🙂

claypot tofu with naibai 奶白

a friend ordered the claypot tofu with naibai 奶白. a simple dish but really quite well executed!^^

chinese cabbage with golden mushrooms

& we had the chinese cabbage (jinbai 津白i think) with enoki mushrooms. again a very simple dish & very tastefully (both sight & taste) done indeed! 🙂

egg white dried scallops fried rice

egg white dried scallops fried rice is quite a standard dish in many good chinese restaurants. i used to love it a lot at imperial treasure nanbei, especially with the xo chilli sauce.

somehow this one didn’t wow, quite average to me, not much wok hae. i think i can do better than that myself. my favourite now is the spicy seafood fried rice at crystal jade la mian xiaolongbao.^^

fried kuayteow

a friend managed to reach when we were down to the second last dish, so he ordered a fried kuay teow. looked ok i guess, like the usual fare.

芝麻豆沙锅饼

the sesame red bean pancake was another standard dish. it was done pretty nicely – look & certainly taste also.

custard bun 流沙包

the last item was the custard bun. pretty good but i kind of tired of them (like i was tired of the crispy charsiew bao at timhowan).

a very enjoyable dinner & evening with friends.

the price came to S$414 nett for 13pax after a 15% credit card discount=S$32nett. of course we did not order much food too. we did not order expensive ingredients so these were average dishes but very well executed. price was ok, about there i guess.

c.h.e.f andy

Poor Dimsum at Sweet Dynasty 糖朝 on 6Apr2015

Posted on April 14, 2015 by chefquak

steamed pork ribs & chicken feet rice

we had some time in the morning before flight departure on 6.4.2015.

originally we were booked for lunch at lei gardens at elements mall where we would be doing a city check-in to the flight & taking the airport express. but because the lunch at lei gardens times square was really a let down, quite unsatisfactory, we canceled the reservation at elements.

also we had to refund the standard on-loan octopus card we bought on arrival. we purchased the octopus card at hk$150 inclusive hk$100 stored value & hk$50 refundable deposit, but only used about hk$30. there was discounts per trip but also an admin fee of hk$9 for refund so we did not save much however the octopus card gave great convenient taking the mtr & the star ferry, and if we had take the city bus or tram too. 🙂

及第粥 mixed congee

we did not want to go to yat lok at central or to cam’s at wanchai, so we walked around looking for a roast goose stall.

in the end we settled on sweet dynasty 糖朝. we used to frequent it when it was at canton road. we liked especially the congee & also the rice topped with steamed pork ribs, chicken feet or chicken with mushrooms. it relocated to hankow road a few years back.

we again ordered the steamed pork ribs & chicken feet rice. it was really good especially drizzled with the mildly sweet sauce. this was where i modelled my hk style steamed sausage, mushroom & chicken rice (香汁蒸蘑菇鸡饭).

ate too much rice as a result.

及第粥 mixed congee

we had the 及第粥 mixed congee. congee is always good, very smooth. the pig stomach & innards i liked & my wife took the kidney & liver, so pretty good for all.

but it was no better than the congee at canton paradise OR at crystal jade. 🙂

XO fried carrot cake

XO fried carrot cake was good, flavourful, nothing special & not my favourite.

roast duck & soy sauce chicken

the roast duck (not goose) was quite pathetic actually, felt like reheat in microwave oven zero crispiness in the skin (actually must not order this next time if there is a next time)-

can forget about comparing with yat lok roast goose.

not even as good as joyful palace at clementi food loft, not even comparing with canton paradise excellent roast duck.

the soy sauce chicken looked miserable but the breast meat was actually moist, tender & sweet. actually better than the complimentary roast chicken at superstar restaurant the evening before. 🙂

black sesame tau huay

the black sesame tau huay is my wife’s favourite.

somehow this time i did not find any attraction there.

we paid like hk$450 at sweet dynasty 糖朝, 50% more than the excellent dimsum at timhowan & nothing like it, & quite ex really at S$80 for 3pax for hk dimsum…of course in singapore it would cost about that for better food.

c.h.e.f andy

8pax Ala Carte Lohei Dinner @ Mitzo Grand Park Orchard on 3Mar2015

Posted on March 8, 2015 by chefquak

lohei

a friend organised a lohei dinner at mitzo, grand park orchard on 3.3.2015. 🙂

don’t think i have even stepped into this hotel since crown prince hotel was sold to the park hotel group in 2005. vaguely remember there was some ala carte buffet at long jiang restaurant here back then eons ago.

coming out of the lift on level 4, the entrance was a bit hidden, right at the end of the hall way.

place looked atas, with a japanese sounding name mitzo, and the waiting staff including at the welcome counter were mostly foreigners, took us a while to spot a singaporean. we were served by a spanish guy. must say the service was very polite & cheerful, and the staff were well trained.

it was only later that i read that mitzo was supposedly inspired by “mat zoe” 蜜枣 – honey dates used in cantonese double boiled soup & lie tong 例汤。whatever.^^

mitzo is also apparently positioned as an inventive cocktail bar, serving some cocktails from a teapot. 🙂

lohei

there were 8 of us.

we ordered a medium lohei. the lady who served us was i think filipino, and she managed to say a few auspicious messages like 年年有鱼(余),大吉大利etc, and some of them in english translations. an interesting diversion was when she used a cocktail tumbler to mix the sweet sauce & oil, not that it would make any difference to the lohei.

c/w with the lohei at char, the amount of salmon here was a lot more, i think 2x more. in terms of taste though, char’s lohei was a lot tastier & more refreshing, and altogether more enjoyable.

here because the end result was a bit too dry, we asked for more sauce & lady came & added what looked like the char siew sauce instead of the sweet sauce & oil, the result was not the taste we associated with lohei.

roast pork

the roast pork was pretty good. i think better than char but it was quite standard & not a stand-out c/w any of tunglok, imperial treasure, crystal jade, canton paradise.

char siew

the char siew was good. it was featured in their website also i guess one of the signature dishes? it was tender moist flavourful, slightly different from the one at char, not necessarily better. for me though, i prefer this (char’s was unique but sauce slightly on the sweet side).

soft shell crab in curry floss

the spanish waiter recommended the soft shell crab in curry floss. in fact we ordered all his recommended dishes.^^

the curry soft shell crab was good, competent. i liked the curry flavour. though it was kind of unrelated, i just happened to be making a curry miso lamb that evening (which turned out to be fabulous) in the oven at 90degC then 80degC for 10hours while i was dining.

roast duck

the roast duck with truffle was good too, a good restaurant standard. my favourite roast duck though is the one at canton paradise.

eggplant

eggplant was good, competent.

scallop, crabmeat, egg white fried rice

the scallop, crabmeat, egg white fried rice though was a bit below par, not enough wok hae. this a dish that i always order in imperial treasure nanbei or imperial treasure teochew at taka, so it was rather poor by comparison.

the food was actually quite authentic & better than my first impression that we were walking into an expensive atas place to eat so-so chinese food. i guess we were quite full & ordered very few dishes for 8pax, so we only paid S$30pax for the dinner.

but from what i saw of the set dinner & ala carte prices e.g. 1/2 roast duck was S$36 c/w S$26 at canton paradise, this place is certainly quite a bit more expensive. again it’s not comparing apple with apple as the ambience & location are quite different. 🙂

this not my usual kind of place for cantonese food but i don’t rule out completely also. not coming back anytime soon la…

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good CNY Set Lunch @ Char on 3Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

char siew

a fundonate partner organised a lohei lunch at char on 3.3.2015.^^

we had the S$38pax CNY set. it was good!

lohei

some staff were foreigners, so we waited for a chinese speaking local staff to do the lohei.

a friend asked the staff to drizzle just 1/2 the sweet sauce & 1/2 the oil. results was good.

the amount of salmon was puny, unlike what we had for dinner at mitzo. otherwise, i enjoyed this lohei.^^

fishmaw soup

the fish maw & scallop soup was excellent! very very tasty, 1 of the best i had!

3 roasts = char siew, roast pork, roast duck

the char siew with the special sauce (though a bit sweet) was best! 🙂

the roast pork was tasty, not quite crackling skin but skin was edible. the duck was forgettable, very below par.

steamed garoupa

steamed garoupa was good, fresh, sauce was excellent with a tinge of sesame oil, fish was fresh, sweet & firm.^^

brocoli with crab meat

broccoli with crabmeat was good if quite standard fare.

prawn fried rice

prawn fried rice was simple but good too!

red bean paste with lotus seeds

red bean paste with lotus seed was just ok. no 陈皮 old orange peel & lotus seed not cooked enough.

my friends said this place packed in the evening & he usually just call up & order the char siew.^^

c.h.e.f andy

6pax Family Dinner @ Canton Paradise on 28Nov2014 (Update)

Posted on December 1, 2014 by chefquak

crispy deepfried tofu

6pax family dinner at canton paradise @ j-cube on 28.11.2014. 🙂

this a quick update, as we were just here 2 days ago.^^

not that we had a choice. did not read the small prints, & bought 2 groupons which (1) could not be redeemed at canton paradise star vista but at other outlets, nearest being j-cube, & (2) could only redeem 1 voucher per visit. & today the last day for redemption, so we had to come back again before voucher expired.

this time it was 7.30pm on a friday night & parking was near impossible. we came in 2 cars. 4 of us got into the carpark at 7.10pm. the second car was in the queue but decided to try for another carpark, unsuccessfully & returned to queue again after 20 cars lining the way down the car park ramp & outside. so never get out of the queue! they came to the restaurant like 40mins later.

we tried a few new dishes.

the crispy deep-fried tofu (S$5.80) was very good, crisp outside, smooth consistent inside.

crispy cod fritters

my daughters liked the crispy cod fritters (S$9.80). my wife & I taught sauce was a bit sweet.

crispy char siew pao

i am a bit tired of this crispy char siew pao, others still liked it.

prawn fun cheong

prawn fun cheong was ok.

xiaolongbao (小笼包)

so was xiaolongbao (小笼包), though all of us preferred crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao.

spicy dumplings (抄手)

liked the spicy dumplings (抄手). 🙂

har gao (虾饺)

har gao (虾饺) was the best, 2 large prawns, excellent skin & flavours, the best! 🙂

salted egg custard buns (流沙包)

i am getting tired of salted egg custard buns (流沙包) also.

mixd innards congee (状元及第粥)

this time the mixd innards congee (状元及第粥) below par. they ran out of congee at 8pm after we placed our orders & this was apparently the last bowl. ingredients a bit overcooked.

roast pork

roast pork was good.

roast duck

roast duck, as always, perfect! 🙂

char siew

char siew can skip.

beef hor fun

beef hor fun was oily, has wok hae, tasted more like sicc char kuay teow, not in my book for dishes here.

c.h.e.f andy

Protected: RI G20 Monthly Dinner by Chak Joo @ Ban Heng Harbourfront Centre on 24Nov2014

Posted on December 1, 2014 by chefquak

RI Friends Monthly Dinner @ Ban Heng Harbourfront Centre on 24Nov2014

Posted on November 30, 2014 by chefquak

#10 roast pork

we had our november RI friends dinner @ ban heng harbourfront centre on 24.11.2014. 🙂

this was the smallest turnout, with 7pax.

i had not been to this ban heng outlet before. the last time G20 had a 23pax dinner at ban heng at orchard central, food was quite average.

this outlet has 2 ala carte buffet menu – one pried at S$28.80++ here, and the other at S$21.80++. from what i can see the main difference is for the S$28.80 menu you get to pick 1 order of abalones, crabs, froglegs, live prawns, scallops.

we took the S$28.80++ menu.

#1 roast duck

#1 roast duck was passable. but c/w the beautiful roast duck at both canton paradise star vista & canton paradise J-cube or with the noodles restaurant at centrepoint, this would be a poor & distant cousin.

#2 drunken chicken

#2 drunken chicken was average, competent.

#3 garlic spinach

#4 sambal kang kong

liked the vegetables, #3 garlic spinach & #4 sambal kang kong.

#5 deep-fried soon hock

#5 deep-fried soon hock was a standard dish. it was done well. 🙂

#6 beef with bitter gourd black bean sauce

#6 beef with bitter gourd black bean sauce was also done well. i personally would prefer fish head & meat with black bean bitter gourd, but this was as good as any good zi char, say kok sen at keong saik street or hong kong street chun kee at commonwealth crescent or ah orh at bukit merah.

#7 steamed prawns

#7 steamed prawns was good like any good seafood restaurant.

#8 sharks fin soup

surprisingly the #8 sharks fin soup though gluey like any served at weddings in yesteryears, had very tasty stock. this was much better than ban heng orchard central.

#9 frog legs with ginger & spring onions

#9 frog legs with ginger & spring onions was also a competent dish. not so different from what my family used to have often at ah yat turf city (now grandstand) long in the past.

#10 roast pork

#10 roast pork. all my friends liked this a lot. we had a second order. meat looked great, was tender & tasty & skin was crisp. i would say presentation & taste-wise still a tad below what i had recently at tunglok central.

#11 fried prawns with celery

#11 fried prawns with celery – passable, nothing interesting.

#12 char siew

#12 char siew looked & tasted great. of the 2 dishes, my friends liked the roast pork better.

#13 abalones with mushrooms & spinach

#13 abalones with mushrooms & spinach. this was quite good dish also. the braising sauce though was nothing like the really good brown sauce served in good cantonese restaurants say ah yat abalones forum restaurant for abalone dishes (also goose web & spiky sea cucumber dishes) or at chao yue xuan.

#14 deep-fried tilapia in thai sauce

#14 deep-fried tilapia in thai sauce was an interesting dish. it had less meat so some friends preferred the soon hock dish to this.

#15 scallops in yam nest

#15 scallops in yam nest. scallops were average & overall this dish was poor, below par, not even comparable with a good yam basket say at ah orh w/o expensive scallops.

#16 chai poh minced pork with steamed bean curd

#16 chai poh minced pork with steamed bean curd, i think this was really poor.

#17 sweet & sour soup

#17 sweet & sour soup. this was a pretty good soup.

#18 pepper crab

#18 pepper crab was quite the usual seafood restaurant standard, for sure better than spices cafe.

pulut hitam

aloe vera & jelly

self service dessert were quite standard. aloe vera with jelly was quite refreshing & pulut hitam the usual.

overall, food here was better than ban heng orchard central but not as good as (service especially) peach gardens miramar (menu had wider spread though at ban heng harbour front). for S$28.80++ pax it was 2/3 the price of spices cafe w/o the lobster. i guess quite an ok deal.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Dinner @ Canton Paradise at J-Cube on 26Nov2014

Posted on November 27, 2014 by chefquak

1/2 roast duck

quick update 6pax family dinner here 2 days later.

we had an early dinner at canton paradise @ J-cube on 26.11.2014. 🙂

wife bought a groupon voucher S$28.80 for S$50. we went at 4.3opm to skip the dinner crowd, traffic & parking.

canton paradise @ j-cube

the restaurant was quite empty at that time.

har gao（虾饺）

we ordered the har gao（虾饺). good as always. 🙂

1/2 roast duck – S$25

and of course our favourite 1/2 roast duck. the roast duck at canton paradise is really good, and this one was no exception, so flavourful and the breast meat so tender. this, like the roast duck at star vista outlet, is truly hong kong standard. the only other place i had roast duck of this standard was at the noodles restaurant.

spicy dumplings (抄手)

the spicy dumplings (抄手) was very good too.

porridge (minced prok balls, kidney, beef)

porridge (minced pork balls, kidney, beef) – S$9.20

and we always like the porridge (congee), very smooth & sweet. we had the selection of 3 (minced pork balls, kidney, beef). mmmm…really nice.

S$8.80 weekday afternoon promotion

they had this weekday promotion, just S$8.80 for 1 porridge, 1 dim sum & drink, from 2.30pm to 5pm. it’s a really good deal but we could not take that as we had our groupon deal. i probably come back here with some friends. 🙂

the dinner for 2pax came to S$58nett including drink & water, towels etc, so we had to top up S$8, which added to a total of S$37 with the voucher, a very good price for the food we had. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Good Hong Kong Food @ Canton Paradise Star Vista on 21Sep2014

Posted on September 22, 2014 by chefquak

1/2 roast duck

had an early 5pax family dinner @ canton paradise on 21.9.2014. last time we came was also early dinner on 22.2.2014.

it is first come first serve so we went at 5.45pm to avoid long queue. 🙂

it’s hk food. the hk roast duck looked particularly inviting & we decided to order 1/2duck at S$25. it was very good, genuinely hk standard. can’t say it was better than the roast duck at noodles restaurant @ centrepoint, but i would order this again anytime. 🙂

we ordered another roast 2-combo (烧腊双拼) of roast pork & char siew (did not take photos). it was competent but the char siew was not comparable with the excellent charcoal broiled pork neck & also the char siew at imperial treasure teochew ngee an city.

crispy char siew pao

tastebuds had not changed since our feb2014 visit. my daughter still likes this crispy char siew pao best & i still preferred the crispy char siew pao @ timhowan toa payoh. for me though, both were not of the standard of timhowan @ shamshuipo hk.

canton paradise @ star vista

har gao

har gao was good, the skin tore when i picked up one, but the prawns filling was excellent-fresh, bouncy, sweet. 🙂

charsiew fun cheong

charsiew fun cheong on this occasion was very poor, totally sub-par..the charsiew was not tasty enough & the cheong fun (肠粉) was thick & not smooth. this was the worse dish for me! 😦

we also had a xianglongbao. on this occasion the skin was a bit thick & the soup inside was not as sweet, so a poor second to crystal jade la mian xiaolongbao! 😦

porridge 3-combo=beef, pork live, kidney

porridge 3-combo=beef, pork liver, kidney

plain hk noodles

i did not try the noodles but it looked good & no different from hk standard & the children liked it too.

we ordered the porridge 3-combo=beef, pork liver, kidney. the porridge was excellent – velvety smooth & tasted great. the beef, pork liver, kidney were all great! i could come here just for porridge & roast duck. 🙂

salted egg bun

salted egg buns (流沙包)

daughter thought salted egg buns (流沙包) here was best. it was very good! for me, the 咸蛋流沙包 at imperial treasure teochew at ngee ann city was just as good. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Very Satisfying Comfort Food @ Four Seasons Chinatown London on 25Aug2014

Posted on September 1, 2014 by chefquak

roast duck (烧鸭)

coming back from cambridge, we decided to go to the regent street nespresso outlet to get some capsules for my friend in singapore. we took the piccadilly line from king’s cross to piccadilly. i bought 50each of the black ristretto (intensity 10 arabica) & the purple arpeggio (intensity 9 arabica) capsules. 🙂

as we were near to four seasons in chinatown, we decided to have another go at roast duck just for the 2 of us. 🙂

son felt that the roast duck at four seasons was better & the sauce was sweeter c/w the roast duck gold mine. i could not tell the difference & i really love the roast duck at both restaurants. really shook! 🙂 price wise there wasn’t much to compare either – £12 at gold mine and £12.50 at four seasons.

roast pork (烧肉) & char siew on rice

as there were only 2 of us & we already had 1/2duck, we decided to have a roast pork (烧肉) & char siew on rice for £7.80. i guessed it would be a smaller portion but this worked out well for us & was cheaper than getting a meat plate for £8.50 + £2.50 for rice.

the roast pork (烧肉) at gold mine was distinctly superior to this.

my last experience with four seasons was in 2011 & as expected the service was brisk & business like bordering on unfriendly or even rudeness i had come to expect in chinese restaurants (or for that matter in any restaurants like this of so many nasi chefs in singapore, & at la botte in stresa where business was so good & they were always full & so busy).

i spoke cantonese with the 40-ish lady server i mistook as from hong kong. she was fast in words & thoughts & forceful. later when she talked about high teacher’s pay in singapore (which i guessed was misinformation) i realised she not likely to be from hong kong & she told me she came to UK from malaysia 22 years ago. anyway she was very nice to us & gave 10% student discount when my son asked. we were not expecting that as my son was dining with me & not his student friends. 🙂

well, for me, gold mine & four seasons are the places i will go back every time i am in london.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Roast Duck (烧鸭) & Roast Pork (烧肉) in London @ Goldmine on 23Aug2014

Posted on August 24, 2014 by chefquak

1 whole boneless roast duck

goldmine is 1 of the favourite places my son & his friends go to for roast duck in london.

i came here once with my son 2 years back & wanted to try the place again. 🙂

the reviews were mostly good. we took the hammersmith line from king’s cross to edgeware road & changed to circle line to bayswater. goldmine was just 100m from the station & the street was lined with chinese restaurants including four seasons. i will probably try four seasons if i come again this trip, though not likely.

stepping into goldmine & seeing the 师傅 deboning the roast duck, one can see straight away that it was good. the roast pork looked amazing too. char siew looked ok. 🙂

son booked table of 5. only 2 of us were there. a son’s friend came shortly. the rule though was that only when all 5pax arrived then they would seat us. i spoke cantonese with the server & managed to get seated but they said we had to vacate by 750pm (we booked 630pm). i supposed it was fair enough under the circumstances. anyway we didn’t need to when the time arrived though restaurant continued to be quite full, but not overflowing.

watercress lie tong (例汤)

roast pork (烧肉)

char siew (叉烧)

hotplate braised tofu (铁棒豆腐)

fried kai lan

i ordered 1 roast duck deboned, 1 order each of roast pork (烧肉) & char siew (叉烧), and the watercress lie tong (例汤) which son wanted. son ordered the hotplate braised tofu (铁棒豆腐) & fried kai lan. 🙂

we were not disappointed. roast duck was very good. to me it was like hong kong standard. & 1 roast duck for GBP22 is cheaper than most restaurant prices in singapore. i thought the roast pork (烧肉) was really excellent, looked amazing & tasted incredible, so tender & the skin crisp. i can do this again. the char siew (叉烧) was quite average, not poor but no comparison with (say) imperial treasure teochew’s charcoal broiled pork collar or char siew.

son & friends loved the hotplate braised tofu (铁棒豆腐). it was very average though, the coffeeshop zi char standard & no comparison with (say) braised tofu at a good zi char like kok seng.

overall cost for 5pax came to GBP80. for me it was an enjoyable meal & i would be happy to come back again. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Cheap & Good 2-course Dinner + Drink @ Big Easy Covent Gardens on 22Aug2014

Posted on August 24, 2014 by chefquak

wood roasted mussels (hot & spicy)

son knew his place around london. 🙂

he booked this big easy place in king’s road covent gardens & we went there for late dinner at 10.30pm after watching a play “the curious incident of the dog in night time” at gielgud theatre on 22.8.2014. 🙂

restaurant had 2 levels & was crowded almost full, looked quite happening. we sat in the basement level, nice & roomy place. & they serve this cheap & good GBP9.95 lunch (till 6pm) & late night menu. 🙂

wood roasted mussels (garlic sauce)

we ordered the 2-course with free brew, slushy or wine menu.

we had the wood roasted mussels. son had garlic sauce & i had hot & spicy. mussels were good, sweet, succulent & tasty. garlic sauce was the better sauce. there were around 15+ to 20 mussels.

margarita

i tried the margarita. it was good though not my thing. will take a red if i come again.

bbq 1/2 chicken

prawn fritters & chips (fries)

i had the 1/2 bbq chicken. it was done beautifully. chicken was very tender, moist & flavourful, though i am not a fan of the american styled bbq sauce flavour. i took about 1/2 the chicken, and had nothing to complain about.

son took the prawn fritters with the fries. they were large & plump, batter was light enough & all said, again very well done really.

best thing of course was the price. really i mean a walk around borough market would cost more than this & not 1/2 as good. 🙂

it was a bit of the hearty & robust type of food for me, so not something i would really do again in a short while during the same trip (also for equally robust food, my preference would be to go for roast duck & roast pork at goldmine OR at four seasons chinatown etc), but i would certainly do this my next visit to london. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

	Nicholas B on Below Expectations – Cir…
	chefquak on 8th HCA 3 Dishes 35pax Lunch f…
	chefquak on Good Claypot Liver & Zicha…
	Christabel on Good Claypot Liver & Zicha…
	Sasha Blackwell on 8th HCA 3 Dishes 35pax Lunch f…
	Kelly on Grandson 1st Month Celebration…
	chefquak on Grandson 1st Month Celebration…
	Kelly on Grandson 1st Month Celebration…
	Singapore Food Blogs… on Belly Pork Alio Olio and Mala…
	hyacinthus on Teochew Fried Crayfish with Eg…

c.h.e.f

cook.hangout.eat.fun

Tag Archives: roast duck

Fabulous Mother’s Day Lunch @ Majestic Restaurant on 8May2016

Protected: 8pax Curry Rice Lunch for OPS51 Friends on 21Apr2016

RI Friends 10pax curry rice lunch+bakuteh post JB trip 14Mar2016

Klang Herbal Bakuteh 巴生肉骨茶 on 8Mar2016

Good Hokkien Mee just OK Fishball Noddles @ 六十年代 on 21Feb2016

Great Roast Duck + Best Char Siew Noodle @ Joyful Palace 怡乐坊 Clementi on 30Jan2016

Great Value Alacarte Semi-buffet (Beyond Expectations) @ Tim Palace SAFRA Toa Payoh on 24Nov2015

Protected: RI Friends G20 13pax Dinner at Peach Gardens @ Metropolis on 26May2015

RI Friends G20 13pax Dinner at Peach Gardens @ Metropolis on 26May2015

Poor Dimsum at Sweet Dynasty 糖朝 on 6Apr2015

8pax Ala Carte Lohei Dinner @ Mitzo Grand Park Orchard on 3Mar2015

Very Good CNY Set Lunch @ Char on 3Mar2015

6pax Family Dinner @ Canton Paradise on 28Nov2014 (Update)

Protected: RI G20 Monthly Dinner by Chak Joo @ Ban Heng Harbourfront Centre on 24Nov2014

RI Friends Monthly Dinner @ Ban Heng Harbourfront Centre on 24Nov2014

Great Dinner @ Canton Paradise at J-Cube on 26Nov2014

Good Hong Kong Food @ Canton Paradise Star Vista on 21Sep2014

Very Satisfying Comfort Food @ Four Seasons Chinatown London on 25Aug2014

Excellent Roast Duck (烧鸭) & Roast Pork (烧肉) in London @ Goldmine on 23Aug2014

Cheap & Good 2-course Dinner + Drink @ Big Easy Covent Gardens on 22Aug2014

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: