25 Sep 2011 - The Eastern Restaurant

As part of the "Eat-at-a-yet-to-visit-place" campaign, they visited The Eastern Restaurant. He had chanced upon some blogs that wrote about it.

Being located in Centrepoint sounded convenient, but they had a bit of trouble finding it in the mall. He frequented the fast food restaurants in the mall, but never knew the existence of The Eastern Restaurant. It was way back in the mall, with other restaurants like Ichiban Boshi and Lerk Thai.

The menu, immediately implying a basket of steamed pork dumplings....


Starter of spiced beef shank, $6.50++. Cold and nicely seasoned to prepare you for the feast.


Basket of four pork dumplings (xiao long bao) served on a piece of cabbage, $4++. Upon lifting the cover, the smell of cabbage wafted out. Some may like it, some may not. Nevertheless, it was an interesting way to serve the pork dumplings, other than in bases of cloth or tin.


Plate of three pan-fried pork dumpings (guo tie) for $3.80++. Liked it that the skin did not have the doughy smell, had a bit of broth within the dumplings too, tasty.


Stewed beef brisket noodles, $8.80++.
Noodles were hand-pulled, but he isn't sure if that contributed to the nice springy texture of the noodles. He had ordered 1 serving to share, and had to get the waitress' help to cut the noodles. That's because the noodles were really long, possibly the whole bundle was just a single strand of noodle.
Beef brisket looked dry, but they were deceived. It was actually tender and full of flavor.
Soup was touted to have collagen added, good for the skin. Liked the fact that it was not salty, providing reassurance to finish up the soup.


Special Furong Egg, $10.80++. This is scrambled egg white with crab meat. Not too sure if the brown shreds sprinkled on top were crab meat or conpoy, but they were crispy and tasty. In it were also bits of processed crabsticks and peas. What do you do with the raw egg yolk in the middle?


Add black vinegar and pepper, then beat up the mixture. They enjoyed this smooth and savoury dish. By the way, this portion is probably right for 4 persons, unless you really like eggs.


Serving of 5 dumplings in chilli oil, $6++. Reminded him of May 2010 in Taiwan's Shihlin Market, and he would later place orders of an additional 2 servings. The skin was moist and smooth, and the mixture of fried garlic, chilli oil and vinegar together titillated the senses.


Basket of three steamed custard buns for $4.50++. Tasted good enough, right mix of sweetness and saltiness, but the custard was not as full as expected. Still enjoyed this anyhow.