Guo Pei // Empress at ACM

Hey there, TGIF! A couple of girlfriends and I visited the exhibition Guo Pei: Chinese Art & Couture at Asian Civilisations Museum. The beads, the pearls and the embroidery... It was East meets Alexander McQueen and John Galliano. Absolutely breath-taking and on till 15 Sept so go see it!

Afterwards, we had dinner at Empress, which falls under the Prive Group. I love the space - it is airy, spiffy and overlooks the Singapore River. Great space for entertaining friends or for special occasions. I wouldn't say it has the best Chinese food in town but it was a fun relaxing restautant and service on en point.

CRISPY AROMATIC DUCK SALAD 

The girlfriends found the deep-fried and shredded duck rather off-putting but I didn't mind it. It was a potentially heavy salad but the addition of pomelo and nashi pear cut through the greasiness of the duck.

WOK-CHARRED BROCCOLI & BROCCOLINI SALAD 

If you like crunch in your salad, this broccoli / broccolini salad would please. In full modern-Asian mode, this salad had a zesty chili-calamansi vinaigrette, which might throw some people off. I liked that they serve the dressing on the side, which allowed you to control how much sawww-ce you want in your salad.

CHILLI CRAB MANTOU BUNS

I was surprised by these mantou buns, as I was expecting chili crab sauce served with mantou buns. These little pucks of joy were quite yummy and 100x less messy than the original chili crab. I like. 

HOKKAIDO SCALLOP & PRAWN ‘MAPO’ TOFU

To be honest, I never thought much of mapo tofu. Gunky, insipid and downright a waste of calories... THIS WAS NOT. There's a tingly lip-naming sensation with every bite and I was quite happy to just down this with some refined carbs. 

SAUTÉED HALIBUT FILLET & MINCED PORK 

HENG HWA RICE VERMICELLI

Speaking of carbs... Comfort food alert! For maxima satisfacion, I smothered the vermicelli with mapo tofu and inhaled it. You are welcomed!

NEVER TOO MATCHA

While the bitterness of the green tea mousse might put some off, I absolutely adored it. One of my pet peeves about matcha products is the overt milky content which utterly defeats the purpose of having matcha. Those who find this too tongue-curling should sweeten up the mousse with coconut sorbet and chunkily mashed red beans. 

STICKY DATE & LONGAN PUDDING

Now we know Prive does a mean sticky date pudding and this was no exception. Spiked with longan bits for a smidge of differentiation, this moist spongy mould of liveliness scored high in my books. You really can't go wrong with gula Melaka. 

Fragrant Hot Pot, 313@Somerset

Love this place. Came twice in a row. The first time was with a group of mala-loving colleagues.  Second time round, I introduced it to KW and even Russell managed to have some. Admittedly, the best thing about mala is having a bunch of homies who are willing to savour/suffer every bite of the way with you.

Paradise Dynasty, Ion Orchard

Gasp... we have come to the end of March, the end of the first quarter! 
Keep calm and eat xiao long baos! 
 
I have a really diverse team - and that includes dietary preferences and requirements. From foodies to vegans and the plain picky, there are very few places we can go to as a team without someone feeling left out. In fact, in my three months here, there is only one place we have gone to as a team and that is Paradise Dynasty at Changi Airport. I’ve grown to really like the food there and for our regular fortnight meal with my in-laws, I suggested going to Paradise Dynasty at Ion Orchard.

Xiao Long Bao

Paradise Dynasty is best known to be the first to present 8-hued xiao long bao sampling basket, which consists of flavours such ginseng, foie gras, black truffles, crab roe, cheese, garlic and Szechuan. Personally, I am not a big fan of funky flavours. I’m a traditionalist when it comes to xiao long bao. Old school traditionalist.

A little fatty and porky; the broth is quite divine. I didn’t want Lucas to scald himself so I sipped up the broth in his xiao long bao. Hooray for maternal instincts!

French beans with Minced Pork 

A decidedly superb dish, given the humble ingredients involved.

Fried Rice with Prawns 

A kid-friendly carb. It was rather ordinary, I think Din Tai Fung makes a meaner plate of fried rice any given day. 

Mala Shui Zhu Yu (Sichuan Boiled Fish) 

What I really liked about this was the inclusion of beancurd skin stripes, mung bean noodles and bean sprouts. Russell loved the ming bean noodles, though he did need an ice cube to cool off after eating it. A wickedly fiery dish that can be shared by all. We ordered level 2 and it burnt a hole in my stomach. You have been duly warned.

Vegetables Pork Wanton 

Tubby yet silky dumplings stewing in a light creamy broth. They do taste somewhat like the xiao long baos with just a spattering more greens.

Pan Fried Shanghai Pork Bun 

Juicy meat buns with crisp bottoms. We get at least 4 plates of this whenever we have team lunches. It's that good - or we are just gluttons.

And because I have been to Paradise Dynasty at least 3 times over the past couple of month, here are some dishes worth ordering too: Radish Pastry, Pork Dumplings with Chilli Sauce, Ma Po Tofu and Red Bean Pancake

Birthday traditions at Silk, SICC

It has become somewhat of a tradition to celebrate KW's grandmother's birthday at Silk at SICC and we are pretty pleased about it. The food is great and we don't have to fret about the kids' acting up  - a win on many fronts. As per the usual arrangement, my father-in-law picked out a 8-course set meal and it was one of those rare instances where every dish was right up my alley. 

We kicked off with longevity buns before this little piggy arrived. Though I am no expert on suckling pigs, this was fantastic sample. Tender and fatty, veiled with thin crispy skin. 

That's my man, slicing up the pork cheek. I am blessed. 

"Banquet soups" are a really hit and miss for me, but I know I can always count on the creamy but light double-boiled fish bone soup with fish maw and bamboo pith.

Cereal prawns are my favourite and it took a lot of will power to not hoover down the cereal flakes. Silk does a really good wasabi prawn too.

Chinese mushrooms, tofu and greens. A break between the richness of the other dishes.

We were served individual portions of pan-fried Wagyu beef. By now, I was started to regret my pig-out with the roasted suckling pig, but this incredibly tender slice could not be passed up.

Another winning dish is the wok-fried crab meat with egg white and truffle oil.

I didn't take any pictures of the braised mee pok with truffle oil and assorted Chinese pastries but they weren't any different from previous years.

Guo Fu Steamboat 国府珍锅 , China Square Central

Farewell lunch for one of our colleagues took place at one of his favourite restaurants - Guo Fu Steamboat 国府珍锅. The lunch deals are pretty good - for less than $20, you get to choose your broth, andmeat, plus you get a couple of middling desserts and orange slices. Like Imperial Treasure, you get to make your own dipping too, and how that tastes makes a world of difference to how your hotpot experience will be.

I will say, the individual pots are good for dining with people you aren't familiar with but I prefer the communal set-up any other day. There's something missing when you are restrained to your silo-ed pot. 

London Fat Duck, Scotts Square

How is it that our tiny island suddenly pops up with not one but two roast duck specialty restaurants?

It is obvious a not-so-great review in Sunday Times didn't turn the crowds off. That's great because Wong Ah Yoke is quite a quack and his reviews are generally not worth reading. So yeah, we waited close to 1.5 hours at Maison Kayser, snacking on sandwiches. I know sandwiches before roast duck? Yeah, we pulled all the stops to not get hangry. Trust me, it could get ugly.

I guess it wasn't a great time to visit as we were thick in the hype. Throughout the meal, I felt incredibly hassled - not unlike the overwhelmed staff, I'm sure. I'm not sure how long you have to wait for takeaway but take that option and enjoy it from the comfort of anywhere-but-here.

Media reviews seemed unnecessarily harsh, but then again, we stuck to the roast meats and stayed clear of the dim sum. Our expectations matched the absurd waiting time, but thankfully, the quality of the food didn't suffer with the crowds or hype.

The namesake roast duck was ahh-mazing! Fatty, juicy and succulent, it delivered the goods and more. The next time we get this, I'm ordering a whole damn duck so that we won't need to ration.

Excellent smoky char siew. We promptly ordered a second plate as soon as we wiped off the first. You would scrap the plate clean just to get some of that sweet sticky sauce for your rice. Don't be embarrassed, everyone's doing it.

Crunchy crackling skin with good amount of lean meat and little fat. A little porky but dab on some mustard and that ommphy chili, and all will be fine.

The only dim sum we had were these Black Pepper London Duck Buns. They were delectable little pucks filled with peppery and juicy diced duck. Best eaten warm for that crisp wispy crust.

In case you missed the name of the restaurant, London Fat Duck is not a place you would want to bring vegetarians - unless you plan on converting them. The only greens found in the menu - seasonal vegetables with ouster sauce - were overboiled and lackluster.

These wantons were tiny bundles of crunchy shrimp wrapped in paper thin skin.

The name might be a misnomer (hint: it's not from London and has nothing to do with THE Fat Duck), but the grub is genuinely good.

Little bundles of joy at Jing Hua, Palais Renaissance

Jing Hua first opened doors at “Qun Zhong Eating House” and now, second generation has taken the old mother hen out for a modern spin and even expanded it beyond our sunny shores.

Due to my love-hate relationship with town (love the bustle but hate the crowds), I liked how quiet this outlet at Palais Renaissance was. Thanks to its location, it is hardly surprising that this outlet has a noticeably more ritzy décor than the Neil Road and Bugis outlet.

An appetizer of sorts were these cigar-shaped egg spring rolls. I was recenelty blown away by the spring rolls at Shanghai Ren Jia (oh those delectable plump pillows with juicy scald-your-tongue fillings!) so these were rather underwhelming. At least they were served warm with a gratifying crisp within each bite.

You get ‘em boiled

You can argue that there isn’t much to be offered here as the menu is as tight as a corset, and the dumplings are more or less made with the same "mixed seafood and pork" filling; however, to me, this exudes a wholesome, home-style charm absent among their overtly commercialized competitors.

Hastily thrown on a plate were some boiled mixed Seafood & Pork Dumplings. Filled with pork, shrimp and crab, I am happy to report they were really satisfying despite the haphazard presentation.

You get ‘em boiled deep-fried

There is also a deep-fried version with them dumplings resembling golden ingots. 

You get ‘em pan-fried

The Pan-Fried Mixed Seafood & Pork Dumplings were just as delicious and it was easy to pop one too many into your mouth before you realize the damage done.

Another dish that I really liked was the Chinese Pizza (though I really dislike the need to westernise the name of this dish). Essentially a pancake stuffed with the same-same-but-different mixed seafood and pork filling with crisp crimped edges. A word of advice: You have to eat it quick before soggy bottoms set in.

Spinach with oyster sauce – token vegetable dish.

The noodle dishes - Zha Jiang Noodle and Sliced Pork Sichuan Vegtable Noodle - were meh and severely lacking oomph, compared to the other dishes. Skip them unless you… You know what, hmm just skip them.

A popular dessert among the family is the crispy red bean pancake, which was pleasant though a little doughy and over-fried. Nonetheless, I lapped up 3 pieces, given my love for this dessert. 

If you need to relieve yourself of the oiliness of the meal, the Sweet Osmanthus Flower Rice Ball Soup would delight. The rice flour skins might be thicker than usual but it bore a pleasing mochi-esque texture and each bowl was blessed with an assortment of different fillings such as black sesame, peanut, red bean and lotus paste. Sharing might mean hanging onto a lottery ticket, so yup, get your own bowl.