11 Feb 2012 - Dim Sum at Crystal Jade and The Eastern Restaurant

Crystal Jade
Had a pot of Pu'er, one pineapple bun, a bowl of porridge, 2 baskets of siew mai, 1 basket of shrimp dumpling, a serving of braised "phoenix claws" (chicken feet) and another basket of custard buns. ~$40.

Waiting for food...


Siew Mai was puny as compared to the ones he had last week at Straits Cafe. However, judging by the ingredients and texture, these were of higher grade. At least 2 parts of crunchy prawns and small pieces of meat inside, as opposed to being wholly minced meat.


The close up.


Shrimp dumplings, nice, but perhaps the Siew Mai was more worth it.


Pineapple bun with a slice of butter. ~$2. Love how the sweet and brittle crust contrasted, yet complemented, the soft bread beneath.


Bowl of porridge, with toppings such as cuttlefish, peanuts and... can't remember. ~$7.


Golden delights, custard buns. Imagined to be overflowing with the custard of salted egg yolks.


Looked like the flow was well contained, but these were still a delicious way to end the meal.


Walked around and had some damage done to his pockets before they decided to go for another meal. Genki Sushi had quite the queue, looked much too long to wait for sashimi. So they went across to CentrePoint for more dim sum.

At The Eastern Restaurant, had Pu'er again, Yangzhou-style fried rice, 1 serving of braised beef brisket, 2 servings of dumplings in chilli oil and 1 basket of soup dumplings. ~$50

Various menus...


Dumplings in chilli oil, 红油抄手. Chilli oil for some fire and vinegar base for that piquant taste, kept him wanting for more. A little pricey at $6 for 5 though.


Soup dumplings, bursting with soup inside.


Yangzhou-style fried rice. Seemed quite healthy, not too oily or salty. Had him thinking that it was a bit bland. ~$10


Chunks of braised beef brisket in a generous serving (probably for 4persons), $~12. Meat was fork tender and tasty, and the dish also had slices of bamboo shoots and mushrooms, equally delicious.

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.

30 April 2011 - Old Hong Kong Taste

With the second last voucher on hand, they re-visited Old Hong Kong Taste at Serangoon Gardens.

Lean meat porridge, finely shredded.


Pineapple buns (bo luo bao) which contained no pineapples, barbecued pork filling instead.


Cross section of the pineapple bun


"Phoenix" claws again...


Flour wrap (chee cheong fun) with prawn fillings. He prefers the barbecued pork version.


Siew mai, had it so frequently it didn't taste fantastic anymore.


Beef noodles with noodles like "wonton" noodles. Generous serving of beef.


Beef brisket radish soup, simply love the clear soup.


Comparing braised tendon and tendon from the soup. The braised one tasted better while the one boiled in soup seemed more gelatinous.


The egg yolk lava buns making their appearance again...

23 April 2011 - Old Hong Kong Taste

This time, they visited Old Hong Kong Taste at myVillage, in Serangoon Gardens.

The restaurant was more spacious than the branch at Square 2. Although located at the heart of private housing estate, the queue was also missing in comparison. Reached there around 1.30pm, and ordering without waiting for the 2.30pm 20% discount. Note that this discount is only available for orders between 2.30pm and 5pm everyday, except for Sundays, public holidays and eves.

Photos today are courtesy of her.

Similar table setting with slightly different tableware.


Chrysanthemum Pu-er Tea - $3++ for 2pax
Maybe a little disappointed that this was not the pretty see-through tea set.


Although the ambience was good, healthy amount of space and soothing music, the senior waiter kept casting lingering glances which caused some discomfort. Luckily, the food came quickly to bring their attention elsewhere.

Pan-fried Carrot Cake - $3.30++
Soft and fragrant, with bits of shiitake mushroom and chinese sausage to provide some bite.


Deep-fried Spring Roll - $3.00++
This contained some Chinese BBQ meat (Char Siew) in addition to some other fillings that he didn't manage to identify. It had a crisp crackle when bitten into.


Steamed Flour Roll with BBQ Pork (Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun) - $4.20++
The waitress drizzled some sweet savoury sauce right after serving. The diced char siew was juicy and kept him wanting for more, which didn't occur. The chee cheong fun was thin and smooth, easier to down than the thicker plain variety he always had.


Steamed Beef Ball with Bean Curd Skin - $3.80++
Huge minced meat balls with herbs, laid upon bean curd skins. Tender and smooth, without any bit of chewy sinew.


Deep-fried Prawn Paste Chicken Wing - $6.80++
Crispy skin without being too oily. Not too bad but not something he would order again.


Beef Brisket Soup with Turnip - $8++
Clear soup has always been appealing to him, and thankfully this tasted more vegetable than game. Tendons and meat were soft and tender, though he would have preferred his beef brisket in thicker chunks. This was also the first time that he's had beef tendons that were not braised with soy, but the gelatinous goodness was not to be underestimated.


Steamed Egg Yolk Custard Bun - $3.30++
Had this previously at Crystal Jade but all he remembered was a sweet tasting bun.


This was a bit of a pleasant surprise, the custard filling had the powdery texture of salted egg yolk, and the contrast of the sweetness and saltiness blended in very well. At least, it was to his liking. Thumbs up for this.


Ordered a lava cake to top things off. Heart Too Soft - $5.50++
Not too sure if he was already dizzy from all the food, but this brought about a few familiar tastes. The powder stuff was like Ovaltine, and the rich chocolatey lava cake actually tasted like Milo.

03 April 2011 - Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant

Alighted at Orchard MRT for her weekly invasion of the retail shops. She just had her online shopping delivered and still wanted to make more killings. Luckily this stopped with the purchase of a interior design magazine and her monthly dosage of the ViVi magazine.

As usual, she got hungry after all that walking. Despite his grumbling about having bought groceries and not cooking them, they went for dim sum that she craved. Inquired at Crystal Jade Takashimaya, but the waitress informed them that dim sum was not available. Browsed their way eastwards and finally made a pit stop at Plaza Singapura. Tried their luck at Crystal Jade again, but was realised that dim sum was served only in the afternoon.

In the end, they went next door, Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant.


Tea was served while waiting for the food. The service assistants were very attentive, kept topping up the tea as the water level dropped. $2.40++ for a pot of tea, free flow.

Ginger shreds that were not enough for his dim sum...


Drunken chicken was served refreshingly cold. This was not as tender as the Hainanese-styled steam chicken that they so dearly loved. Thick chunks of chicken at $6.80++, guess it soothes the ache of the price a little.


Generous chunks of beef brisket and tendon at $9.80++. Tendons and meat were well softened. The rich and decadent tendons really melt in the mouth, so good that the plate did not seem to provide enough.


Next came the Golden Fried Rice at $8.80++. Topped with floss, this had a sweet and slightly spicy taste. Not how he likes his fried rice. There were also crispy and sweet bits that he could make out, not too bad to chew on though.


Finally, dim sum. Pork dumplings for $6++ a basket. The soup contained within was tasty, did not have any hint of gaminess, and the first one burst on the first bite. 爆浆小笼包!


Guess what? The girls at the next table had the crab roe version of dumplings, and this made her want to pig out. So here you go, Crab Roe Dumplings for $11.80++. Each of the dumplings had crab roe mixed into the mince pork filling. He didn't feel that this was worth it, as the price was double that of the vanilla pork dumplings.


Last but not least, 10% discount on A la carte items with DBS/POSB credit cards.