Tag Archives: Royal China

Ever Satisfying Lunch @ Imperial Treasure Teochew on 17Aug2014

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1/2 teochew braised duck S$28

1/2 teochew braised duck S$28

last time i came imperial treasure teochew at level 4 ngee ann city was on 1.9.2013. wa…almost a year now…

that’s the plus point about blogging. memories do not get better, but at least i can refer back. 🙂

i ordered the usual 1/2 teochew braised duck S$28, and charcoal broiled pork collar. children ordered the rest. 🙂

i think the teochew braised duck is exceedingly good, lots better than all the teochew restaurants like chui huay lim, or cheaper ones like mu liang zai liang kee. it was the usual moist, tender & very flavourful. i do a very good teochew braised duck myself. this though was somewhat different, the meat was tender but firm, not overcooked, and very flavourful. 🙂

charcoal broiled pork collar was good as always, though portion had shrunk!

虾饺

har gao (虾饺)

har gao (虾饺) always good here, thin skin, tasty filling. 🙂

har fun cheong 虾粉肠

har fun cheong (虾粉肠)

char siew fun cheong 叉烧粉肠

char siew fun cheong (叉烧粉肠)

the har fun cheong (虾粉肠) and char siew fun cheong (叉烧粉肠) were almost good HK standard, smooth skin tasty fillings. 🙂

this reminded me that the fun cheong at timhowan were also very good.

charcoal broiled pork collar

charcoal broiled pork collar

this was good – already said!

siew yoke (烧肉)

siew yoke (烧肉)

siew yoke (烧肉) was leaner & very good this time, very nicely pressed, good consistency, crispy skin & tasty. this such a standard common dish but surprisingly many other restaurants can still get it wrong.

chicken feet

chicken feet

this was ok competent.

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs

this kind of too much bones & fat. taste was good but many places like royal china did a much better steamed pork ribs.

fried carrot cake

fried carrot cake

this was ok. did not leave any impression.

dried scallop egg white fried rice

dried scallop egg white fried rice

always enjoyed the fried rice here. this had less chilli & less robust flavours than the excellent spicy seafood fried rice at crystal jade lamian xiolongbao. have to put them both as my equal favourites. 🙂

the crystal jade version had inspired my own pretty good seafood fried rice. haha! 🙂

teochew fried kueh teow

teochew fried kueh teow

wife ordered the teochew char kueh teow. kueh teow was too soft but taste was pretty ok & there were quite many prawns. i am ok with this dish, not my favourite & for me neither was the one at chui huay lim.

salted egg custard bun

salted egg custard bun

this was good, better than the salted egg custard bun at royal china (with the strange mango concoction) but canton paradise might be even better than this.

total bill was S$186nett. not cheap at S$31pax nett for dim sum but a tasty enjoyable lunch with variety & quality of food to please all. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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Comfort Food to Return to @ Crystal Jade Lamian Xiaolongbao at Taka on 2Sep2013

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saliva chicken (口水鸡)

saliva chicken (口水鸡)

we had our G8 dinner at crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao @ takashimaya on 2.9.2013. 🙂

the food was mostly excellent overall for the price, though 1 of our friends could not take fatty food and was just having plain chicken soup lamian & another could not take some of the mala dishes.

salt water duck (咸水鸭)

salt water duck (咸水鸭)

4 coloured xialongbao

4 coloured xialongbao

抄手 - spicy dumplings

抄手 – spicy dumplings

for starters we had 2 cold dishes, saliva chicken (口水鸡) & salt water duck (咸水鸭). both were very good! 🙂 the saliva chicken was mala (麻辣) with peppercorn (花椒), & very flavourful with a kick but you must like mala to enjoy! the duck was good & tasty but still not the standard of shin yeh, tunglok’s taiwanese restaurant at liang court.

the xiaolongbao at crystal jade is very good, and they were having 50% discount for the 4-coloured xialongbao – vege (green), mala (orange), truffle (black). usual (plain) – so 4 for S$3.10 instead S$6.20. we ordered 4trays x4 for 8pax. the spicy dumpling here was also very good, c/w the spicy dumplings we had at royal china. 🙂

stir-fried beef

stir-fried beef

sichuan song fish head (剁椒鱼头)

sichuan song fish head (剁椒鱼头)

for mains, we had a stir-fried beef (the usual bicarbonate tenderised version) with 2 mushrooms & black fungus – this dish not so “lak ku” (in demand). the 剁椒鱼头 (sichuan version using song fish head) fared much better. it was very good but i still prefer the HK style or chilli black bean sauce style, like those at 香港街 stalls or food centres.

plain chicken soup la mian 清汤拉面

plain chicken soup la mian 清汤拉面

beef brisket + tendon lamian

beef brisket + tendon lamian

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for carbo we ordered 2 seafood fried rice. this my new love affair. rice was very “tiok tiok” (means al dente not mushy each long grain separate & not sticking together) very fragrant & with lots of seafood ingredients. we ordered 2 portions (2xS$14.50) for 8pax.

we also had 1 plain chicken soup la mian 清汤拉面 for 1 friend who could not take fatty food, and 1 beef brisket + tendon lamian to share. it was very good but 1 friend like me preferred the HK ngaolammeen (牛腩面) – why cannot find in Singapore leh?

aloe vera with wolfberries

aloe vera with wolfberries

sesame dumplings in ginger tea 姜茶汤圆

sesame dumplings in ginger tea 姜茶汤圆

all 3 desserts we ordered were good. the osmanthus aloe vera with wolfberries was very refreshing. so was the almond taohuay with black jelly (forgot to take photo) & the sesame dumplings in ginger tea 姜茶汤圆 were just great! 🙂

dinner was S$194 for 8pax, just over S$24pax. we had a jolly good time & good food, a bit heavy on the carbo side though. haha! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great Family Lunch @ Imperial Treasure Teochew on 1Sep2013

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braised 1/2 duck

braised 1/2 duck

my last post on imperial treasure teochew was on 17.3.2013.

daughter arranged family lunch, 7pax this time & went back to our favourite imperial treasure teochew on 1.9.2013. 🙂

ter kar tan (猪脚冻)

ter kar tan (猪脚冻)

smoked sliced trotters (佛山熏蹄)

smoked sliced trotters (佛山熏蹄)

charcoal bbq pork collar (炭烧猪颈肉)

charcoal bbq pork collar (炭烧猪颈肉)

i ordered the braised duck, pork trotter jelly, smoked sliced trotters & the pork collar char siew; and daughter decided on the dimsums. 🙂

the braised duck was fabulous. the restaurants, whether hua ting or here at imperial treasure, had a way of braising duck (maybe lower temperature) that made the meat tender & consistent yet quite firm not falling apart like overcooked (close to western way sous vide). 🙂

the pig trotter jelly was very good, tasty (though my children were not quite fond of it). western fine dining has a lot of jellied items as their standard fare for degustation as well.

the smoked trotters was also very good, and my children liked it better.

the bbq pork collar was super! 🙂 i read when trying my hands at cooking char siew (not very successfully though as a result  i developed a very good miso char siew recipe of my own) that pork collar was the best cut, as the fat was more distributed than belly pork.

fried carrot cake

fried carrot cake

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet

char siew pao

char siew pao

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs

har cheung (虾肠粉)

har cheung (虾肠粉)

carrot puff

carrot puff

咸水饺

咸水饺

xianglongbao (小龙包 )

xianglongbao (小龙包 )

har gao

har gao

i liked all the dimsums. 🙂 fried carrot cake always good with the chilli.  steamed chicken feet looked great though i did not try. char siew pao, an item we rarely tried at dimsums was good too. steamed pork ribs here was the best! very lean & much better than shang palace & also royal china. the har cheung (prawn rolls) was smooth & great. i did not take the carrot puff but it was in good demand too around the table. xiaolongbao was tasty but somehow felt crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao was still better. har gao was always good here! 🙂

yangzhou fried rice

yangzhou fried rice

dried scallop crabmeat fried rice

scallop crabmeat egg white fried rice

for carbo items, 1 of us didn’t take seafood, so we had a yangzhou fried rice w/o prawns only with char siew. first time taking that here but my son had always liked yangzhou fried rice, & my younger daughter liked it a lot too. i liked it too. our regular favourite scallop crabmeat egg white fried rice was not so overwhelming today but still more subtle vs the yangzhou fried rice. though i felt the seafood fried rice at crystal jade xiaolongbao was better than both. 🙂

salted egg custard bun (流沙包)

salted egg custard bun (流沙包)

salted egg custard bun (流沙包)

salted egg custard bun (流沙包)

& the salted egg custard bun (流沙包) here was the standard bearer, far better than the salted egg custard bun at royal china (which recently added mango which took away instead of adding to the taste)!

in total we paid S$218 for 7pax, kind of ex for dimsum but it was certainly a very gratifying family lunch. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Early Sunday Dimsum Lunch @ Royal China on 25Aug2013

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char siew

char siew – S$14

the children arranged early sunday dimsum lunch at royal china, a dimsum restaurant we all liked but had not gone for a while. 🙂

we booked 4pax at 11am on sunday 25.8.2013 & was advised we had to vacate by 12.30pm, quite usual. 🙂

some dishes i did not quite recall whether they were good or not. now that i record in the blog i can remember whole lot better. well, that’s why i blog. 🙂 the char siew was very good & a very good-sized helping at S$14.

scallop dumpling

scallop dumpling

spicy mala dumpling (抄手) -

spicy mala dumpling (抄手)

i didn’t remember the scallop dumpling. it was good. the har gao was also good (but i forgot to take photo). i thought i remembered the spicy mala dumpling (抄手) usually came in a glass with quite a bit of sauce & was quite good. this time it did not taste good, especially the filling. i would not order this next time. the ones we had recently at crystal jade lamian xialongbao were very much better!

special cheung fun - 1 char siew, 1 scallop, 1 prawn

special cheung fun – 1 char siew, 1 scallop, 1 prawn

XO fried carrot cake

XO fried carrot cake – S$8.80

deep-fried mango spring rolls

deep-fried mango spring rolls

deep-fried mango spring rolls

deep-fried mango spring rolls

we ordered the special cheung fun which included 1 char siew, 1 scallop, 1 prawn – smooth & good as usual, liked it! i didn’t remember the XO fried carrot cake – cost a bit more at S$8.80 but liked this especially with the haebeehiam chilli. 🙂 also had the deep-fried mango spring rolls – the skin was great, crisp, somehow the prawn mango filling was not such a great matching. i can do without.

steamed pork ribs

steamed pork ribs

char siew sou

char siew sou

mango salted egg custard bun (香芒流沙包)

mango salted egg custard bun (香芒流沙包)

the steamed pork rib was very good as usual. my son ordered the char siew sou, the rest of us were not great fan of that. it’s competent but not my favourite. we used to like the salted egg custard bun. this time they had mango in it – mango salted egg custard bun (香芒流沙包). it was not a disaster, still taste of salted egg bun, but really it was a big minus to me.

the 4pax lunch cost S$89. overall we were quite ok with the dimsum lunch, nice environment, ok service (they forgot 3 of our orders), & generally good food. i would still prefer crystal jade’s 抄手, imperial treasure’s dragon beard carrot dumpling & fried rice at both places (very strangely there were no fried rice dishes on the menu).

c.h.e.f andy

Really Nice Dishes @ Crystal Jade Lamian Xiaolongbao on 11Aug2013

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special sauce chicken (口水鸡) la mian -

special sauce chicken (口水鸡) la mian –

recently my children had been taking me places. 🙂

i guess it is quite odd that i have not been to crystal jade la mian xiao long bao at HollandV! anyway i had a really great lunch there on 11.8.2013, the day i was cooking a 7-course family dinner for 8pax at home. over-overdose of carbo! 🙂

every dish was good! so best among the good to me was the special sauce chicken (口水鸡) la mian. i am firstly partial to sichuan ma la (四川麻辣) dishes. and this chicken was so excellent & the noodles al dente & went perfectly with the chilli sauce. 🙂

抄手 spicy dumpling

抄手 spicy dumpling

the 抄手 was good, though this dish is good too in many places like imperial treasure, royal china etc. 🙂

小龙包 - the best!

小龙包 – the best!

the 小龙包 xiaolongbao was the best! the soup inside was so tasty & the meat & skin just perfect. this must be the best 小龙包 i had!

beef brisket/tendon la mian (dry)

beef brisket/tendon la mian (dry)

the beef brisket/tendon la mian 牛腩筋拉面(dry) was to me surprisingly good! though it is still no competition for me re my favourite beef noodles 牛腩牛杂面 in HK, & when my son ordered it i thought it couldn’t be as good as the one at SICC (which is very good)..but it was! the beef brisket/tendon were very tasty & very nice with the la mian.

seafood fried rice - super good

seafood fried rice – super good

the seafood fried rice again surprised me.i thought no fried rice was as good as imperial treasure’s, but it was! very good, just as good, maybe better. 🙂 we were super greedy so ordered 2 fried rice! the 6 dishes cost about S$80 for 4pax. be back for more soon! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Dimsum Lunch @ 迎 Joyous One on 11May2013

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HK$38 BB pigeon

HK$38 BB pigeon

we completed our morning’s 5.7km 2hr hike at Dragon’s Back (Shek O Country Park) on 11.5.2013 a bit early & decided to make our way back to Tsimshatsui where we had made prior lunch reservation at 迎 Joyous One at Nathan Road. 🙂

we had wanted to take the HK$238pax 6-course set inclusive of a glass of wine, but that was not available so we settled down to a good dimsum instead, which could not go too far wrong in Hong Kong. 🙂

DSCN4809 179178_10151575766544494_1968456618_n

we made the usual dimsum orders. the 潮州粉果. this was ok but i thought Timhowan was better. the steamed fu pei quin was quite good too.

steamed chicken feet

steamed chicken feet

steamed pork rib

steamed pork rib

the steamed chicken feet was good & much better than Timhowan (we later found the one at Lei Gardens was better than both). the steamed pork rib was also a lot better than Timhowan-the sauce was tasty but the pork rib pieces were just average but at least they were not mostly fat like at Timhowan.

mustard veg pig stomach soup

mustard veg pig stomach soup

mustard veg pig stomach soup was just HK$38! this was good we all liked it.:-)

the BB pigeon (top photo) was HK$38 & smaller than the one at 强记 which was HK$58..the skin was more crispy but overall i think 强记’s tasted better.

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the 香煎萝卜糕 was again below average.  it was really surprising that both Timhowan & here could not do this well. the steamed fishmaw was quite tasty, above average…I thought 糖朝 sweet dynasty was better. the 珍珠糯米鸡 was also below average, Timhowan’s much better though that had lots of glutinous rice & not enough ingredients.

char siew cheung 叉烧肠粉 -

char siew cheung 叉烧肠粉 –

the char siew cheung 叉烧肠粉 was good better than the liver cheung fun at Timhowan but i think many HK restaurants did this better.

DSCN4808 DSCN4804

the 奶黄流沙包 custard egg bun was just average not as good as Imperial Treasure & Royal China. the 水晶包, a teochew dessert more commonly available in Hong Kong than Singapore was good, except they really should serve this & the custard bun last as a sweet but instead they served both first.

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we had 12 dimsum item + tea + 10% = HK$388 (about S$62 for 4pax). though I made many comparisons here, the lunch was really quite good overall with some pluses & minuses :-), very relax and very enjoyable, and of course it’s still much cheaper dimsum lunch c/w Singapore. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy