Was enticed by LJS’s latest coupon deals and decided to try out one of their latest offerings – Silver’s Fish Supreme Combo ($5.95 nett). The burger consists of their signature fish fillet sandwiched between two pieces of Ciabatta bread and layered with a generous serving of creamy dill sauce.

Overall, I found the burger to be rather average (Mac’s Fillet-O-Fish still rocks my world!), with only the creamy dill sauce deserving some compliments. The Ciabatta bread slices were kind of tough and lacked the fragrance commonly associated with the herbs in the bread. The fish did not seem to go well with the bread and might have been better off as a standalone classic LJS Pollock Fish Fillet & Chicken Combo. The only saving grace was the creamy dill sauce that added a zesty and refreshing taste to the burger. Good try LJS, but I guess I’ll probably stick to my usual Fish & Chicken Combo

P/S: Perhaps LJS could consider offering the creamy dill sauce as a complementary sauce to their Fish & Chicken Combo

We decided to try out Paradise Group’s Prosperity Pen Cai ($198++ for small portion enough for 6 pax) to usher in the lunar new year. Like our other Paradise experiences, this proves to be yet another disappointment. The Pen Cai was oily and lacked the rich flavours and essences of the Chinese delicacies found. Our pot of gold was more aptly, a pot of rubbles.

The usual suspects – baby abalone, scallops, sea cucumber, fish maw, dried oysters etc were all nicely layered and braised. However, the gravy tasted more like stale lard and did not even taste remotely like anything we had in previous years. The ingredients, we suspect, were not fresh, thus resulting in the poor quality of the gravy. The only saving grace was that the ingredients were soft and relatively tender.

Sadly, our yearly indulgent affair had turned into an endurance affair. Paradise Group seriously has to pull up their socks in terms of food quality. In today’s highly competitive F&B industry, any lapse in quality (be it food, service, overall dining concept etc) can be costly.

A follow up from my previous review, the husband and I continued on our Paradise adventure, this time round, venturing into the den of Paradise Dynasty 2 (Lot 1 branch).

As per the other branches, service was excellent. The servers were prompt in ushering us to our seats, taking orders, refilling our tea etc…However, as with our dining experience at Canton Paradise, we could not say so for the culinary quality at Paradise Dynasty, albeit it being a notch better than the former.

Yangchow Lion Head with Vegetables Soup
This was by far the best dish served. The soup was clear, lightly seasoned and exuded a light hint of meaty fragrance and essence. The meat ball was soft, flavourful and literally melts in your mouth. One of the must orders! Scrambled Egg White with Fish and Dried Scallop
This tops the must-have list of the husband; however, it fell short of his expectations to the extent of making him rethink if he would ever order this dish again on subsequent visits. Compared to the ones served at Crystal Jade, this one clearly lacked the flavours and sweetness embedded in the ingredients. It was blend, watery and kind of “rubbery”; nothing like the silky, rich and flavourful ones we were expecting.

Chilled Salted Duck Slices
Like wine and cheese, the duck slices were well complemented by the accompanying plum/vinegar sauce. However, when taken alone, the duck slices were dry and tough.

La Mien with Stewed Beef Brisket
Highly sinful bowl of lard-filled soup with la mien. The soup broth was thick and rich, thanks to the generous amount of lard added in the soup (we suspect). However, this also makes one feel very “gelat” after a couple of mouthfuls, definitely not for those watching their waist-line.

The beef was tender and had the right mix of fats and meat, making it a delight to slowly savour the full flavours. The la mien lived up to its name - silky, smooth and Q. Vegetable Bun
Simple vegetable buns filled with finely chopped greens. Tasted decent, but nothing much to shout about. Original Flavour Xiao Long Bao
The standard of the XLB has evidently dipped. Though it was still juicy, the meat filling somehow lacked the porky goodness that used to sweep us off our feet. Perhaps they had concentrated too much on mastering the other signature flavours (i.e., cheese, foie gras, crab roe etc.)? Overall, this dining experience was a mixture of hits and misses, and definitely can’t hold a candle to the flagship outlet at Orchard Ion.

The Paradise Group has been rapidly expanding its reach to every corner of Singapore these couple of years, targeting customers from all walks of life with its various dining concepts and unique fares. However, with such rapid expansion, issues such as quality control is definitely a main concern to be addressed.

We’ve been loyal supporters of the Paradise franchise for more than a year now. As it’s my birthday month (meaning I’ll be able to reap 20% rebate), we decided to visit Canton Paradise (Jcube branch) for a catch up session with some old friends (and ultimately, make use of the birthday month privilege). The queue was, as usual, exceptionally long on a Friday night and we waited for almost 30mins to get seated. Sadly, the quality of food has lost its glorious past and the only thing worth reminiscing was the commendable service level (which we were glad the management had maintained at all its branches).

Signature congee ($10.80++)
The congee, consisting of scallops, prawns and grouper fillets, was smooth and silky, just like how Cantonese style congee should be. Although the congee was rich in ingredients, it somehow lacked the flavours, sweetness and essences embodied in the ingredients. Overall, it was still a decent bowl of congee, but definitely not worth the wait and price tag.BBQ Pork, a.k.a Char Siew ($10.80++)
We initially wanted to order a two-dish combination (BBQ Pork + Chicken) but the waiter informed us that the chicken was out of stock. We then requested for roasted duck and again, it was out of stock. Bleh… In the end, we decided to just have the BBQ Pork only.

By far, this was the highlight of the night. The pork was succulent and tender, with the right mix of fats and meat. The BBQ sauce was tasty and brought out the full flavours of this delectable dish, canton style. We were glad this dish didn’t disappoint us. Sliced Fish Noodle ($8.80++)
My friend totally regretted ordering this. There were many tiny bones embedded within the grass carp fillet, making it a total nuisance to keep clearing the bones with each single bite. Throughout dinner, my friend was constantly busy trying not to get choked by the bones and had to literally fish out the bones.

Custard Bun ($5.20++ for 3 pcs)
We were awestruck when we first tasted their custard buns, but this time round, we were awfully stricken. The buns were tough and kind of grainy, not the soft and fluffy ones we used to have. The fillings were also a huge disappointment as it was not the smooth, rich and gooey type that burst into immense ecstasy with single bite.
Overall, it was disappointing, even to the point of depressing, to see one of my favourite restaurants experience such a tremendous plunge in food quality. My two cents worth, keep the servers and change the chef.

Had always wanted to try the paus from this shop as there’s always a queue (being Singaporean, if there’s a queue, it means good food, right )

Bought a red bean pau ($0.70) late afternoon for tea break and boy was I disappointed… Firstly, the pau wasn’t hot at all (warm at best) even though it was freshly taken out from the giant steamer, lack of quality control perhaps?

Next, the pau was rather hard and not the soft fluffy type as I had expected. The only saving grace was the red bean paste which I found was smooth and creamy, unlike the normal pasty type. The pau was also rather small and definitely not worth the price. Even paus sold at 7-11 tasted better and more value for money!Perhaps I caught them at the wrong time, or perhaps it was really all hype. Nevertheless, I’m still willing to give it another chance and try out their more famous pork filling pau the next time round since it’s just located next to my office building.

Till next time…