Nice Dinner @ Paradise Dynasty Ion Orchard on 28Apr2016

Posted on April 29, 2016 by chefquak

xiaolongbao 小笼包

went with friends to watch captain america – civil war at shaw lido yesterday.

after the movie we adjourned to paradise dynasty at level 4 ion orchard for dinner on 28.4.2016. ^^.

another friend join us after his day seminar, so we had 4pax.

captain america – civil war was very enjoyable movie, the best comics movie for me, better than x-men etc which i like, and 1 of the best movies i have seen…

great story-telling, great dialogue, good humour… friendship…chemistry…so many good actors…super fun…

peanut & chestnuts starters – S$2.50

we asked the price of the peanut & chestnut starter. it was just S$2.50 so we took it. it was really good, there were lots of chestnuts.

paradise dynasty

the place was well patronised but not yet full at 8pm.

paradise dynasty

paradise dynasty was having 30% discounts on 5 dishes.

the service by the chinese server was very good. it was difficult for us to identify the 5 dishes as they appear in totally different parts of the ordering chit. she took us through, explained the dishes & ordered for us.

xiaolongbao 小笼包 – S$7.80

we started with 2trays x 6 xiaolongbao 小笼包. so 3 pieces each for 4pax.

xiaolongbao 小笼包 was good. the soup inside was very tasty. however dough skin at top slightly thicker, also the meat filling not as tasty.

overall not as good as crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao.

later we greedy lot added another 2 trays, so in total each of us took 6 pieces. haha! 🙂

drunken chicken醉鸡 – S$9.50

drunken chicken was good too.

drunken chicken醉鸡 – S$9.50

chicken was tender. presentation was good. the 绍兴酒fragrance very good. 🙂

(for comparison see the photo for peach garden miramar, tasted good looked odd).

minced pork soup 狮子头 – S$9.80

the minced pork soup 狮子头 quite a ok soup.

minced pork soup 狮子头 – S$9.80

soup below S$7 after discount so ok.

but really pales in comparison with a good lie tong 例汤say at tunglok signature orchard parade.

omelette 赛螃蟹 – S$13.80

the omelette 赛螃蟹 quite a meaningless dish for me, forgettable & it’s not cheap for egg whites with supposedly conpoy in it.

romaine lettuce油麦菜 – S$10.80

the romaine lettuce油麦菜 was quite misleading. it looked like a very tiny serving so i thought it was expensive at S$10 (this dish no discounts).

actually it was quite a decent helping, so not really more ex say c/w kok sen, a zi char stall.

fried rice – S$11.80

the fried rice was pretty good too. reasonably tasty & a good helping for 4pax.

fried rice – S$11.80

not the best of course.

no comparison with crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao’s spicy seafood fried rice.

fried ramen – S$11.80

we ordered a fried ramen. i guess we could eat a lot if we want too.

fried ramen – S$11.80

it was ok, but really no different from any breakfast fried noodles or the hong kong style street sweet soy sauce noodles.

dinner came to S$108nett for 4pax.

a friend has his birthday next week so we bought him dinner. ^^

very enjoyable movie & a great dinner chat & time together with good friends.

price wise, if we kept to the 5 items with discount which was quite enough for 4pax, price would be S$70nett, so very reasonabe for the food.

we added of course the veg, the noodles & 2 more xiaolongbao. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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

Paradise Dynasty at ION Orchard

Address –

2 Orchard Turn
ION Orchard #04-12A
Singapore 238801

Contact:

6509 9117

Business Hours

Mon – Fri
11.00am – 10.00pm (Last order at 9.30pm)

Sat, Sun & PH
10.30am – 10.00pm (Last order at 9.30pm)

Great Quality Lunch @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 6Appr2016

Posted on April 27, 2016 by chefquak

1/2 roast London duck – S$32

went with friend for lunch at tunglok signature @ orchard parade on 6.4.2016. ^^

just returned from london last evening. had an excellent family holiday in london, lisbon, porto with wife, son & daughter.

my OPS friend bought me an excellent G7 Sinma frog porridge lunch on 11.3.2016 before my trip.

so my turn to buy lunch. 🙂

garlic steamed razor clams – S$12.80

we started with a steamed razor clam.

clam was smaller than what usually is served in say ah yat, jumbo, long beach etc. the sauce a bit gluey, but overall the taste was still very good. 🙂

i would order this again, also after 50% palate discounts for 2pax, this dish was only S$6.40++.

lie tong 例汤 1/2 pot=S$16

we shared 1/2 pot lie tong 例汤 1/2 pot at S$16 (full pot S$28).

lie tong 例汤 always good here, and at others like imperial treasure etc. for me, a good lie tong 例汤 1/2 (they usually very good la) is better than taking sharksfin (politically incorrect) or even fishmaw soup.

1/2 roast London duck – S$32

& i wanted to let my friend try the roast london duck. ^^

they used irish duck which is fatter & more flavourful.

can’t it’s better than the tea smoked duck at xin cuisine,

but certainly it is better than the very good roast duck at canton paradise.

Rack of lamb – S$15

rack of lamb was good too, tender not too strong gamey taste. but chinese preparation is for me, never as good for this dish c/w with modern european.

we shared one order.

String beans – S$18

string beans was more ex, basically S$18 is a good restuarant kind of pricing for veg.

Garoupa fillet noodles soup – S$12

i had a zhajiangmian variation here with my wife recently.

this time, it was a garoupa fillet noodle soup.

it was good, soup very tasty, garoupa fillet fresh & sweet.

we shared one order.

Mediocre Food @ Tunglok Xihe Grandstand on 30Aug2015

Posted on September 2, 2015 by chefquak

tan jia sharksfin fishmaw soup

we go to tunglok often but have never tried tunglok xihe. this evening we decided to try the food at tunglok xihe @ grandstand on 30.8.2015. 🙂

tunglok xihe set menu

there was a 6-course S$68 menu which seemed ok at 50% palate discounts, so we ordered that.

tunglok xihe @ grandstand

there are ample parking at grandstand & the ambience of the restaurant was pretty good.

tunglok xihe @ grandstand

there were quite a few expat family tables. guess grandstand is quite a go to place for expat.

tan jia sharksfin fishmaw soup

the tan jia braised sharksfin fishmaw soup turned out to be the best dish for the evening.

it was chokeful of ingredients & wife liked it a lot.

tan jia sharksfin fishmaw soup

very good standard, like tunglok signature. i think majestic’s is better though.

steamed fish fillet with ginger & orange peel

the steamed fish was very poor. not sure what fish? menu said 野生鱼wild snakehead? the bill said sea fish.

it had soil taste so maybe it was snakehead. it could be garoupa. not sure

steamed fish fillet with ginger & orange peel

anyway it was very poor. our steamed fish (red garoupa from chinatown market) at home would beat this every time & by a long margin.

prawn in 2 ways

prawns were pretty good. both preparation were crispy outside & tender, bouncy inside. 🙂

asparagus, fungus, bamboo shoots

the vegetable was good. as good as the mixed vege we like at tunglok signature orchard parade.

asparagus, fungus, bamboo shoots

it had wok hae, colour & good taste.

lion’s head meatball with rice

can’t say the lion’s head meatball with rice dish was bad. but it was no comparison to (say) the cheap 凤爪排骨饭 steamed chicken feet & pork ribs rice at timhowan in hong kong.

lion’s head meatball with rice

there was no kick in this preparation – rice not fragrant, meatball just meatball & sauce non descript. at least it was not a bad dish, just non descript.

hashima with pear & ginseng

hashima dessert was pretty good though.

hashima with pear & ginseng

quite refreshing & i guess good ingredients.

the bill was higher than i expected. i think S$87 for 2pax. the reason was that the 10% service was charged on the full amount & not after the 50% discount. i queried the staff as this was not the practice of other tunglok outlets. the staff explained that since June2015 they had changed to the current system. i guess it was not as good as having the previous deal. it’s just a matter of what one considered the “real” price but anyway i am ok for the staff to have the 10% service at the “normal” un-discounted price.

i may still come back during weekdays to try the ala carte items & dimsum. for this set i think it was really mediocre & don’t think i will take it again.

c.h.e.f andy

Shiok as Before 2pax Dinner @ Tunglok Signature on 4Aug2015

Posted on August 5, 2015 by chefquak

S$12.80 steamed razor clams with tanhoon

had not been to tunglok signature at orchard parade for a while. last was in sep2014.

was deciding where to eat out for dinner. we had japanese recently at kuriya dining, and tomorrow i am cooking 12pax dinner at home which is mostly western/italian.

so we went to tunglok signature at orchard parade hotel for dinner this evening on 4.8.2015.

for me, the food never dissappoints, just as shiok as ever.

tunglok signature orchard parade hotel

don’t think other diners share my views though. the place had just few tables, quite empty.

S$8 garlic pork 蒜泥白肉

we ordered the garlic pork 蒜泥白肉.

S$8 garlic pork 蒜泥白肉

it was good. i liked it & would order it again, but honestly it was not better than my own garlic pork 蒜泥白肉 though the style was quite different. i like my spicy garlic pork 蒜泥白肉 more in terms of the flavours & tenderness of my belly pork but this here was good & looked very nice too.

S$16 lie tong 例汤

we had the lie tong 例汤.

S$ 16 lie tong 例汤

it was really good! ^^

my helper made very good lie tong 例汤 at home quite often, so this had to be really good to impress us. they had old cucumber & dried cuttlefish & pork softbones soup base. it was really tasty! 🙂

lie tong 例汤 ingredients

we ate up the 3 large pieces of pork softbones before remembering to take photo.

S$12.80 steamed razor clams with tanhoon

the steamed razor clams with tanhoon was really good too. this was as good as the ones we often had previously at ah yat grandstand & very less frequently at jumbo and long beach at dempsey.

steamed razor clams with tanhoon

top restaurant standards & very much better than the ones we had at the daipaidongs 大排档 in hong kong.

S$42 garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合

we ordered the garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合.

garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合

this was excellent too.

wok hae was very good. the garoupa fillet & vegetables – brocoli & lily bulbs 百合- were very well done.

i can definitely do this dish at home, maybe i will start with a vegetarian one for my niece’s coming brthday. 🙂

S$28 lobster noodles

i was looking forward to the lobster noodles.

S$28 lobster noodles

it was still good, but a far cry from the lobster noodles we had here previously(just looked at the previous photos here), or at any good restaurants eg xin restaurant.

lobster noodles @ tunglok orchard parade 29.11.2013

just look at the old photos of the “real” loster noodles. that’s how it should look like!

S$8 dessert 雪中情怀

& i always like the dessert 雪中情怀.

dessert 雪中情怀

it did not dissappoint. really excellent, the combination of fresh coconut, mango, grapefruit, vanilla & coconut ice cream was super!

i take this everytime!^^

with 50% for 2pax amex palate discounts the food came to S$100nett for 2pax & we got free parking as well.

c.h.e.f andy

A Relaxing Birthday Dinner at Tunglok Signature @ Central on 27May2015

Posted on May 28, 2015 by chefquak

salted egg prawns

last evening, my close dentist friend and godsis & her husband arranged a birthday dinner for another close friend at tunglok signature @ central on 27.5.2015. ^^

my wife & i & another friend joined dinner so there were 7pax.

birthday was several weeks before but some of us were away, anyway it was just fun to get together.

godsis was feeling rich & happy, and displayed great teamwork with her hubby, and managed to best my dentist friend to grab the bill at the end of dinner. 🙂

roast pork烧肉

i just had salted egg prawns & roast pork烧肉 at a 13pax RI friends G20 dinner at peach garden @ metropolis the evening before, and that was good too.

we can see from the photos that the presentation & colours of the 2 dishes at tunglok were better. taste-wise they were close – the roast pork烧肉 about same, the salted egg prawns maybe tunglok a tad better. 🙂

deep-fried fish fillet (also salted egg)

deep-fried cod fish fillet (also salted egg)

we had the deep-fried cod fish fillet that seemed to be salted egg flavoured also. it was a well executed dish, somewhat oily. not really a preferred preparation for me.

the same dentist friend & mei mei had a birthday dinner for me in 2013 here at this same tunglok outlet. we had star garoupa fillet with broccoli & lily bulbs & that was very good. of course for me, steamed fish is the best. haha!^^

tunglok’s 三层楼

we had the elegant 三层楼, which is a tunglok’s long standing dish of fried bean curd on spinach & shimeji mushrooms.

charcoal tofu dish

there was a newer dish of charcoal tofu with lily bulbs 百合.

both tofu dishes were very nice!

string beans with egg plant

next was a string beans with egg plant. just mildly spicy (if any at all) & quite nicely done.

another squash dish with edamame

another dish was a bit unusual combination, some squash with japanese edamame & slightly sweet sauce. can’t figure out this dish.

longevity buns 流沙寿桃

as it was a birthday, the restaurant provided complimentary longevity buns 流沙寿桃.

birthday message to 101

they were presented together with the cake mei mei bought, and handwritten “calligraphy” by a talented restaurant manager. haha!

少年壮志当十一

英俊潇洒二十一

状元高中三十一

年龄岁岁四十一

成就显赫五十一

儿孙满堂六十一

回想当年七十一

福禄寿全八十一

享受人生九十一

要找北京101？？？

the message changes according to occasions, so the guy must have a whole bookcase of them. haha!^^

i didn’t know the price as mei mei paid for it, estimate about S$175 or S$25pax

c.h.e.f andy

Delicious Dinner @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 16Dec2014

Posted on December 17, 2014 by chefquak

bamboo clam S$12.80pax

had a wonderful dinner with wife at tunglok signature, orchard parade last evening on 16.12.2014. 🙂

we had the amex palate privileges (50% discounts for 2pax). tunglok group though have this strange rule that it applies only to ala carte orders during weekdays & only to set orders during weekends.

so we did ala carte orders. 🙂

the bamboo clams with tanhoon was excellent!

lie tong 1/2 pot – S$16

& the lie tong 例汤 (soup of the day) was good, as always. this time it was pumpkin with pork rib, a really sweet, delicious soup. i am sure going to try this at home. 🙂

garoupa 2 ways – S$22pax

the garoupa in 2 preparations was good too. the steamed with peppery sauce preparation was very tasty, the deep-fried fish fillet was ok but ordinary.

lobster noodles – S$25pax

& the lobster noodles was always our favourite served in the excellent lobster 6-course set.

this was also the preparation that i replicated at home in my king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面).

tube juice – palate cleanser

they always serve a tube juice – pineapple, watermelon etc. nice! 🙂

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雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops ice cream

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雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops ice cream

we had 1 order of 雪中情怀, a mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops coconut ice cream, again our favourite here.

the dinner came to S$84.50nett, about S$72++ for 2pax.

well, we keep coming back! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

King Prawn Noodles (黄焖大虾面) (Part 2)

Posted on September 28, 2014 by chefquak

king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面)

did an almost perfect king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面) today on 28.9.2014, on the third try (top photo). 🙂

tunglok lobster ramen – 龙虾焖拉面

wife actually said it was better than tunglok’s lobster ramen – 龙虾焖拉面 (above photo). & the dry wok king prawns better than lobster. i think so also – almost there. sauce was very tasty with no sugar added.

i was very impressed with tunglok’s lobster ramen – 龙虾焖拉面 actually…the 黄焖 golden bisque was always very tasty, smooth & flavourful. it was very similar to & tasty like a good crab roe sharkskin soup. lobster was very good too. for purpose of recreating a dish, lobster is lobster, steamed, grilled or pan-grilled it is not hard to reproduce, so mainly it’s about how to recreate the 黄焖 slight starchy golden bisque.

i tested with egg yoke, mirin, sake, sugar, chicken stock, cornflour, fish sauce. 🙂

braised prawn noodles (黄焖虾面)

my first attempt used small grass prawns & vegetable stock (above 2 photos), whatever was readily available. i had slightly too much starch. i added fish sauce as i thought light soy sauce & oyster sauce might darken the golden colour of sauce. anyway the sauce was tasty & my daughter liked it, but i could taste the starch – a negative point.

king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面)

last evening i used the king prawns my wife bought from chinatown. these were very large prawns – 7 prawns/kg so like 140g per prawn. i fried cut chilli padi, ginger strips, & garlic in butter on high heat & added the king prawns & did the dry wok prawn method. it turned out beautifully, with perfect char-grilled flavours & texture. it is true that sometimes giant prawns taste even better than lobster. & they cost a lot less when comparing meat to shell ratio.

i did not have stock so i added sugar & more mirin. also i reduced the flour & added 2 egg yokes. the sauce was still ok tasty. my wife felt that the sweetness was artificial, which i agreed too. also 2 egg yokes did not work well as they separated from the mixture during cooking & did not blend fully. 😦

king prawn noodles (黄焖大虾面)

for lunch today, i had chicken stock, added 1 egg yoke & added light soy sauce & oyster sauce, & yuzu salad sauce & could still produce the golden sauce, this time a really, really tasty bisque. excellent! prawns were perfect as before. 🙂

it was important to record the recipe, as there was a bit of experimentation & varying amount of condiments used. that was the reason i blog anyway, as often i have to refer to my own recipes. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

600g king prawns (i had 4 large prawns 560g, but 300g small grass prawns should do also)
500ml chicken stock
1 egg yoke
2 tbsp cooking sake
2 tbsp mirin
1 tsp fish sauce (& add sea salt if required to taste)
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp yuzu salad sauce
1.5tsp cornflour
1 chopped chilli padi
1.5cm ginger (julienned)
2 tsp chopped garlic

Directions:

cooke prawn – season de-veined prawns (keep in shell) with fish sauce & white pepper. fry cut chilli padi, ginger strips, & garlic in butter on high heat. add king prawns & chargrilled using the dry wok prawn method to get perfect char-grilled flavours & texture. set aside the cooked prawns.
make sauce – add 1 egg yoke, mirin, sake, chicken stock, fish sauce, oyster sauce, cornflour in a mixing bowl & mix thoroughly. fry cut chilli padi, ginger strips, & garlic in olive oil. add the mixture on low fire to boiling. taste the bisque & add salt to taste.
cooke noodles – cook noodles (i used white jade 白玉 noodles which had a bit of ramen texture)to just below al dente & pour into a sieve or colander & add ice & cold water to stop the cooking.
now put together the dish!

Prawn Ramen in Golden Braising Sauce – 黄焖草虾面 (Part 1)

Posted on September 14, 2014 by chefquak

prawn ramen in golden braising sauce – 黄焖草虾面

tunglok lobster ramen – 姜葱龙虾焖拉面

enjoyed much the lobster 6-course dinner set last evening at tunglok signature orchard parade hotel 0n 13.9.2014.

the lobster ramen – 姜葱龙虾焖拉面 came with a yummy golden sauce. i didn’t know the recipe but was thinking how i could replicate a sauce that looked the same pleasing golden & had similar texture & taste good.

prawn ramen in golden braising sauce – 黄焖草虾面

i defrosted 7 small grass prawns & used kitchen sears (scissors) to de-vein the prawns. i marinated lightly with some fish sauce & white pepper.

for the golden sauce, i added 5 tablespoon vegetable stock (leftover soup) – that’s about 75ml approx 1/3 cup. i added 1 tablespoon each of mirin & sake. i then added 1 teaspoon white sugar &1 teaspoon fish sauce. i also added 1 teaspoon corn flour & 1 egg yolk for body & the yellow colour, then whisked.

i boiled a very cheap china noodle called white jade noodles for 4 minutes+ tasted it almost al dente & drained in a strainer & placed in cold water.

i placed a piece of butter (about 10g), some sliced ginger, cut spring onions & chilli padi in the pan. then immersed the prawns in the golden sauce & placed them in the hot pan & cooked for 2 minutes. i then added the golden sauce, cooked the prawns & added some water to achieve the slight starchy consistency.

i placed the noodles in a bowl & added the prawns & golden sauce, then garnished with chopped spring onions & coriander leaves. voila! 🙂

the key experiment here was the golden sauce. the current version was tasty, had the colour & body. it had just a little corn starch taste. egg yoke was fine. i am thinking of trying some pumpkin puree to replace the corn starch & see how it goes.

with a good tasty golden sauce, it would be quite easy to vary the ingredients like using lobster, some better ramen (but this cheap one was light & quite ok), and i can also cook this as a larger dish to serve say 6pax or 8pax as a light carb dish for my dinners.

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. – see latest update @ King Prawn Noodles (黄焖大虾面) – Part 2

Food that Pleases @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade Hotel on 13Sep2014

Posted on September 14, 2014 by chefquak

lobster ramen – the best!

time flies. almost a year had passed, the last time i took the fabulous 6-course lobster dinner set at tunglok signature orchard parade hotel was on 19.10.2013.

so i was looking forward to relish the wonderful moments on 13.9.2014. we took the exact same S$98 lobster & seafood set. as i noted previously, it was of exceptional quality, both in terms of quality of ingredients & quality of cooking. 🙂

as before & always, every dish pleases. if i have to pick my least favourite, it would be the kurobuta & it was good too. 🙂

foie gras & smoked duck wrap

foie gras & smoked duck wrap

the foie gras & smoked duck wrap was good, tasty, refreshing. i thought the “pan-fried foie gras” tasted similar to the usual unglamorous poached duck liver though.

crab roe sharksfin soup

the crab roe sharkskin was super & chokeful of ingredients.

steamed soon hock fillet

the steamed soon hock fillet was very well done, very sweet, tasty, smooth, with the garnishes & sauce as well. i am thinking to replicate this for my home dinners.

pan-fried kurobuta

the pan-fried spanish kurobuta was quite delicious too. if there were not other also great dishes, i would consider this pretty good.

lobster ramen – the best!

the lobster ramen was the best. this time the serving came with shelled 1/2 lobster (before it was a 1/2 lobster in shell). lobster meat was fresh, bouncy, sweet. the sauce was excellent. i was impressed with this dish & thinking how to replicate it at home.

(P.S. i subsequently created my own prawn ramen in golden braising sauce – 黄焖草虾面, not quite the same obviously but anyhow pretty good on its own).

雪种情怀

& i love the dessert 雪种情怀 – 1 vanilla & 1 coconut ice cream on the usual grapefruit mango puree (杨支甘露).

with palate 50% discounts for 2pax, dinner was S$49pax + S$2pax for the tea. wonderful deal! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great S$88 4pax Set Lunch @ Tunglok Signature at Central on 19Feb2014

Posted on February 19, 2014 by chefquak

smoked duck breast

had a great 4pax fun lunch at tunglok @ central today on 19.2.2014.

i visited the clinic of my close dental surgeon friend twice a year for regular maintenance, and we went lunch near his clinic afterwards each time with 2 other close friends. 🙂

today i ordered the S$88 6-course set lunch for 4pax. PLUS i added a xiaolongbao (小笼包), pan-fried custard buns (流沙包), and a dessert 雪中情怀＝杨支甘露 + ice cream for 2 to share, as 2 other of us did not want dessert. 🙂

fupeiquin (腐皮卷)

smoked duck breast with bean curd

siew mai 烧卖

xiaolongbao （小笼包）

lie tong (例汤) ingredients (forgot to take soup photo)

heng chye with bean curd

prawns with egg white (赛螃蟹)

#1 the 2 dim sums were quite ok, competent – fupeiquin (腐皮卷) was good, siew mai 烧卖 was ok..the xiaolongbao （小笼包）i added was low in tasty soup, skin average, overall average or below, the pan-fried custard buns (流沙包) which i asked to serve with the dessert was also average. overall dim sum wise cannot compare with crystal jade or imperial treasure. 🙂

#2 smoked duck breast was par excellence, as is quite obvious from the photo (top & above) & the braised bean curd too. 🙂

#3 lie tong (例汤) was very good, the ingredients included pork soft bones & 粉角 arrowroots, an excellent soup as always. 🙂

#4 the poached heng chye with beard was good too.

#5 the prawns with egg white (赛螃蟹) i guess was ok above average dish, prawns was fresh bouncy, the style of preparation not my favourite.

stone pot rice

stone pot rice

#6 the stone pot rice was excellent! 🙂

pan-fried custard buns (流沙包)

pan-fried custard buns (流沙包)

雪中情怀＝杨支甘露 + ice cream

complimentary drink refreshment

the pan-fried custard buns (流沙包) was ok average but really the ones at royal china & imperial treasure were much better.

雪中情怀＝杨支甘露 + ice cream is my favourite here, though i didn’t take it today. the complimentary refreshment was ok welcome.

overall the set lunch (exclude ala carte orders) was S$100++=S$117 include S$8 for 4pax tea & S$4 for peanuts which could do without. quite a good set lunch deal! 🙂 including 2 more dim sum & 1 desert it was S$141, still ok.

c.h.e.f andy

4pax Birthday ala Carte Buffet Lunch @ Jing on 28Dec2013

Posted on December 30, 2013 by chefquak

korean-styled beef ribs with kimchi

was buying a birthday lunch for a friend couple & decided to go Jing for the weekend ala carte buffet lunch on 28.12.2013. Jing is a joint venture by majestic chef yong bing ngen & low lik peng. the location is better however somehow i always find majestic food better. anyhow had not been to jing for many years so thought i would try it out again. 🙂

the weekend ala carte buffet is S$48pax, with 1 fee for 3paying using citibank credit card. previously it was S$36pax also with the 1 free promotion but perhaps that was sometime ago. anyway these days most better ala carte buffet would have cost this amount. 🙂

fishmaw soup

peking duck

previously peking duck was served at a cold cut station. this time it was served as a table order which was preferred. it was competent.

the fish maw soup was good as usual. we also tried the dumpling soup which was very tasty too!

we ordered 3 dim sum – a scallop dumpling, a deep-fried dragon beard scallop dumpling & a abalone crystal dumpling..they were good too.

signature wasabi prawns

chilean seabass topped with chye poh

deep-fried soon hock (marble goby)

chilli crab

monkey head mushrooms sichuan style

sliced beef with sweet basil

shark fin on rice (泡饭)

杨枝甘露 – mango pomelo dessert

the korean-styled galbi beef ribs with kimchi (top photo) was good as usual. the wasabi prawns were crispy, juicy, good, though my personal preference was for less mayo (like at majestic). the chilean seabass was kind of disappointment as majestic served a very tasty chilean seabass – this one was not firm & flat in taste.

the deep-fried soon hock was competent. the chilli crab was better than i expected as i had previously very poor chilli crab at majestic.

we had the monkey head mushroom dish – quite a meaningless nothing dish for me, just tasting the sweet sour “gong bao” taste.

the sliced beef with sweet basil was poor. most zi char did this better, even the S$9 thai basil beef set at le wu.

the sharkskin “pao fan”, a soupy rice dish, was also a dish that could do w/o, basically just eating carbo.

the mango pomelo dish was very average, nothing like that the 杨枝甘露 at tunglok signature.

birthday cake – swissbake paradiso

overall, my guests felt it was quite a good lunch. i thought i was ok too, though i didn’t really think it was any better than peach garden’s ala carte buffet which was cheaper & had wider choice of food.

i got a birthday cake from swissbake called paradiso, & Jing kept, served & arranged for the birthday boy to bring back the cake. 🙂

c.h.e.f. andy

Great Ala Carte Dinner @ Tunglok Signature at Orchard Parade on 29Nov2013

Posted on November 30, 2013 by chefquak

fried mixed vegetables

went back to tunglok signature @ orchard parade on 29.11.2013. was raining so wanted car park with shelter & did not want to go far. 🙂

amex palate privileges 50% for 2pax only for ala carte on weekdays so we explored the menu.

lamb rack S$10

lobster noodles S$25

雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops ice cream S$8

we decided to try the specials – a fish soup S$38. the soup was excellent! very smooth, sweet, tasty. 🙂 it was expensive though. the portion was similar to a 1/2 pot of lie tong (例汤) which cost S$14 – served 1.5 to 2 bowls each for 2pax. probably better off with the lie tong.

the lamb rack came with onion ring & tomato. it was very good too. lamb was very tender w/o strong taste, equal to the best among good western restaurants. the mildly sweet sauce was a nice change from the usual mint sauce too. 🙂

the mixed vegetable (top photo) was an excellent vegetarian dish. on this night it was a bit oily, but otherwise very good.

& the lobster ramen in superior sauce was heavenly. i had lobster noodles often at hua ting some years back when i had the alacarte card as it was very good. but this was even better! ramen was very nice too, especially the texture/bite. 🙂

& we rounded up with the really enjoyable 雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert with 2 scoops of ice cream. we asked to change the usual vanilla to coconut ice cream – very nice indeed! 🙂

the dinner was S$172 before discount. i wouldn’t do this at such prices. with 50% palate discount it was S$86 & a very good price for such fine dinner. the weekend lobster 6-course set though was even better as it included the 2 best dishes – lobster ramen & 雪中情怀 – plus other great dishes!

c.h.e.f andy

Another Wonderful Lunch @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 30Oct2013

Posted on November 2, 2013 by chefquak

razor clams S$10.50 each

a good friend bought me an excellent lunch at tunglok signature @ orchard parade on 30.10.2013. according to the service staff, they wanted to promote their set menu hence they offered palate discounts only for set menus on weekends (i had an excellent dinner set here recently on 19.10.2013), this was a weekday, we could only do ala carte to have the discounts. 🙂

lie tong – S$14 for 1/2 pot serves 3-4pax

star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs S$38

lobster in 2 ways S$32 for 1/2 lobster

ala carte was good too. 🙂

we ordered the razor clams. this was steamed with the usual minced garlic. the sauce looked a bit darker than light soy sauce. the taste was good, and the bite was almost there though my friend felt it was still a wee bit tough. so it wasn’t perfect but still pretty good. btw, i also did a good steamed razor clam in garlic oil myself. 🙂

the lie tong as usual was super! 🙂 the 1/2 pot was enough for 4pax & we had 2 bowls each.

the star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs were ok but missing the very evident wok hae, & the fish was not as firm & sweet as the ones i had recently at tunglok signature branch @ central.

the lobster in 2 ways – the flour gratin part was flavourful & the other was sweet & watermelon refreshing. 🙂 still, it was not quite worth S$32pax & both my friend & i would go with lobster steamed with superior sauce (上汤局) anytime. 🙂

durian puree in coconut S$12

aloe vera with lime sorbet S$6

testtube juice – 5 fruits

for dessert my friend ordered the durian puree in coconut. i tried a teaspoon of the duran. it was excellent! i had the aloe vera with lime sorbet. it was very good too. i love it! 🙂 we also had some complimentary 5 juices in a test tube. 🙂

it was a very enjoyable lunch! the cost came to S$96 for 2 after 50% palate discounts. they only charged S$1.50pax for tea. we had pu er & tea was good tea too. they should see me around more often.

c.h.e.f andy

Dinner with Brother & Sister @ Chao Yue Xuan on 28Oct2013

Posted on November 1, 2013 by chefquak

braised abalone, fish maw & brocoli

another quick update – went back for the S$38pax groupon 7-course set @ chao yue xuan wth my brother & sister on 28.10.2013. food was pretty much the same as the memorable lunch i had with 4 friends on 21.8.2013. most dishes were still good, especially the soup, abalone & kurobuta. this time however, the lobster was much below par. 🙂

chicken salad with goma sauce

star garoupa fillet in beer soup

steamed 1/2lobster in superior sauce

pan-fried kurobuta pork

tau kee & spinach

yeefu noodles

the chicken salad looked pretty, was quite good though kind of heavy & sesame sauce a bit overpowering.

the soup was good, though not better than a good lie tong.

the abalone was excellent, good in taste & bite accompanied by the defining brown braising sauce. 🙂

the kurobuta was tasty & my brother liked it especially.

the 1/2 lobster though was a tremendous let down. the meat was not bouncy – seemed not live & overcooked (something that don’t happen much these days with all the controlled kitchen environment). this really took away the shine from this set – look at the corresponding photo of the lobster when i had it here on 21.8.2013.

the vege & noodles were run of the mill & i didn’t take the green bean dessert of the day included in the set. overall, the set was poorer in quality c/w what i had here previously though menu items were same. i guess it was still very good value at S$38nett (chao yue xuan & ah yat though charged S$2.40pax for tea & peanuts whether or not you take them, & the tea was quite ok).

but price aside, the poorer quality overall made it less “wow”and just another good value above average set. so i would choose to go back to tunglok signature for the lobster & seafood set with palate 50% weekend discounts even though that cost a bit more.

c.h.e.f andy

Expensive Average Dinner Poor Service @ Cherry Gardens on 26Oct2013

Posted on October 29, 2013 by chefquak

braised abalone & tofu

was looking for a place for my birthday dinner with family. comparing the set menus between cherry garden at oriental & peach blossom at marina mandarin, cherry garden’s came up tops PLUS they have 15% discount on set menus. we had not gone to cherry gardens for many years & the last we were there the weekend ala carte buffet lunch was pretty good, the ambience was good too, we chose the S$88pax menu with 15% discount. 🙂

cherry gardens restaurant @ mandarin oriental hotel

7-course orchid menu

small starter dish – jellyfish & topshell

roast duck, roast pork & char siew appetizer

sweet soup seafood soup

braised abalone & tofu

prawns done 2 ways

fish fillet with tofu

rice with black sesame, garlic

杨支甘露 & lime sorbet

the small starter dish (like japanese kobachi) of jelly fish with sliced top shell was ok(looked pretty on photo). they called it amuse bouche but hardly qualified,,haha. 🙂

the first course roast combination of roast duck, roast pork & char siew was very average or perhaps below average,

the second course sweet & sour seafood soup was an excellent dish, just slightly sour, enough of trademark peppery taste, and a very tasty soup & pleasant to the eye as well, much better than most places, and something i would enjoy though its not my favourite soup like most lie tong were. 🙂

the third course of braised abalone with deep-fried beancurd was par excellence. the abalone was tasty & had great bite, and the braising sauce was super, like in all good braising dishes – abalones, sea cucumber or goose webs. the beancurd was excellent as well. 🙂

the next 2 courses though were very average for this quality of restaurant. individual serving & prawns in 2 ways did not make it fine dining (the deep-fried prawn was done wasabi prawn style but with sweet & sauce) and they did not come out better than or as good as a good zi char stall. i think a wasabi prawn like the excellent ones i just had at tunglok signature would be far better. & the fish fritter with tofu hardly fit the fine palate. kok sen zi char would do better for these 2 dishes.

the black sesame crabmeat fried rice was an unique, interesting dish & quite nice & tasty. 🙂

the dessert, the usual 杨支甘露 served with lime sorbet, was good. 🙂

overall rather surprisingly, my recent excellent dinner tunglok signature @ central was so much better than this – taste-wise the sea cucumber was superb & as good if not better than the abalone here, and all the other dishes were better!

overall the food, ambience etc was quite pleasant & enjoyable, the service though was very average for this class of restaurants, made worse by the attitude of the restaurant manager. we asked for carpark redemption and was first told only valet parking could be redeemed. we don’t usually valet park however it was jam packed that evening & we did valet park (S$15). the server came back with our valet parking chip which was signed over & i asked “so is parking free?” first she said “you pay S$15” but when i asked her to ask the manager she came back after some time & said it was free. as she obviously had difficulty speaking & understanding english as we were leaving the restaurant i asked a second time the reception lady (maybe filipino). she understood but she had no idea so i asked her to call the restaurant manager. it was a small place & i could see the manager taking an inordinately long time to come over after adjusting tableware etc for an empty table (quite unnecessarily). and when he came, he flashed an artificial smile and made an incredibly senseless comment “ö…did you dine at the restaurant?” when he was the one who helped usher us in when we arrived. he was no help at all, the staff were good in attitude poor in language & training & the manager needed to take lessons from his staff on service attitude & how to nicely cheerfully reassure customers & make warm friendly buddy gestures.

hope it was one off..anyway it mattered not as customer would just vote with their feet. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Birthday Dinner to Remember @ Tung Lok Signature Central on 22Oct2013

Posted on October 25, 2013 by chefquak

roast pork

a good friend organised an early birthday dinner for me at tunglok signature @ central which is next to his office on 22.10.2013. we had 4pax for the evening including my wife & a mutual friend. 🙂 my friend’s god-sister pre-ordered an ala carte menu which turned out to be very good indeed!

we had the usual roast pork as a starter. the look wasn’t that great. taste-wise it was good as usual, especially with the mustard. 🙂

lie tong 例汤 (soup of the day)

wasabi prawns

sea cucumber with jinbai (津白)

deep-fried tofu with shimeji mushrooms

fried garoupa fillet with broccoli

we had a very good lie tong 例汤 (soup of the day) with chicken stock & some roots, again a very competent & enjoyable dish as usual for tunglok restaurants.

the wasabi prawns with light mayo topped with some mangoes were excellent, better than what we had recently at peach garden.

the best dish for the evening was the thick sea cucumbers. this was served in a very nice brown braising sauce which was served commonly with abalones or goose webs. the taste was exquisite, & i liked the jinbai (津白) as well.

next up was the star garoupa fillet with broccoli & lily bulbs. the wok hae was super – another excellently executed dish. & i liked especially the deep-fried tofu with shimeji mushrooms, very flavourful. 🙂

birthday cake & 流沙寿桃 presentation

birthday cake & 流沙寿桃

alacarte birthday dinner menu

my friend also arranged for a very nice chocolate truffle birthday cake from swiss bake,and the restaurant made a great presentation with the longevity buns (which came as mini 流沙寿桃) on a plate with calligraphy of meaningful verses by their manager. the servers sand recited the verses & happy birthday song. service was excellent here – the server had advised us not to order more dishes earlier when my friend asked.

it was a very enjoyable dinner with the company, food & conversation. 🙂 i didn’t ask how much the dinner cost. i estimate the 6 dishes + dessert (excluding the cake to cost S$250. there was a 25% palate discount for 4pax ala carte, so probably about S$220nett.

c.h.e.f andy

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c.h.e.f

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Tag Archives: tunglok signature

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Great S$88 4pax Set Lunch @ Tunglok Signature at Central on 19Feb2014

4pax Birthday ala Carte Buffet Lunch @ Jing on 28Dec2013

Great Ala Carte Dinner @ Tunglok Signature at Orchard Parade on 29Nov2013

Another Wonderful Lunch @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 30Oct2013

Dinner with Brother & Sister @ Chao Yue Xuan on 28Oct2013

Expensive Average Dinner Poor Service @ Cherry Gardens on 26Oct2013

Birthday Dinner to Remember @ Tung Lok Signature Central on 22Oct2013

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