Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

Me and my group of 20 friends had the famous holland village's xiao long bao buffet and it was amazing. because of the size of our group, we had to split into 2 tables but the xiao long baos were so god-like that we all ate at least 5 baskets. The xiao long baos were served piping hot so each of them is like a little wonder in your mouth. It is so juicy!!! The ambience is good but the food comes a little slowly during peak hours so order in bulk!The price is great- under $30 for unlimited xiao long baos - i am not a steamboat fan so i focused more on xiao ong baos. I would recommend this to all. Enjoy!

I'm sure many of us have patronized, or at least heard about the large food chain of Chinese Culinary Restaurants - Crystal Jade. Not only does Crystal Jade serve comforting food that warms your stomach, it serves exquisite chinese culinary that you probably could find elsewhere, but fetching at an even higher price. And all because of this, Crystal Jade managed to be one of the great places to visit for family lunch/dinner, not forgetting to mention - their fantastic Xiao Long Bao and La Mian. I started off my dinner with a simple Honey Lemon Drink (Iced).
If restaurants always serve you diluted honey lemon drink and you feel cheated for paying for such a quality, fret no more because the honey lemon here is really sweet and soothing for the throat. It fetches a good balance between the sweetness from the honey and the sourness from the lemon. Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao 隆福一口小笼包
(4 pieces for $5.20)
It's no secret that the Steamed Soupy Xiao Long Bao receives tremendous popularity when the number of buns sold per outlet is 6000-7000. The thickness of the skin has been kept ideal - not too thin such that is breaks when lifted up, and not too thick such that the flour skin would cover the taste of the soup and meat. To enhance the taste, you may want to dip it with some vinegar and sliced ginger. Spicy and Sour thick soup “Sichuan” style 四川酸辣汤
$7.50
Everytime I visit a Chinese restaurant, I would order their Sichuan Spicy and Sour soup because I love the combination of spicy and sour. Do not belittle this humble looking bowl of soup here at Crystal Jade because it comes with generous amount of ingredients, as shown in the photo. Ingredients include sliced bamboo shoots, mushrooms and even strands of egg white. Chicken marinated with Chinese wine and wolfberries
鲜淮山杞子花雕醉鸡 ($9.00)
Give yourself a pamper and enjoy this dish filled with wellness and nutrients that are good for your health. Chinese ingredients like Wolfberries (枸杞子) and Chinese Yam (淮山Huai Shan) are used to create this dish with authentic flavour. I personally like the slightly chilled chicken texture (note, it's not served hot!) dipped in a pool of Chinese Wine. Not only does the chicken meat taste extremely succulent and tender, every bite reveals the chicken wine that was successfully absorbed into the meat. Braised pork belly (served with pancakes)
极品东坡肉 $14.80
Make a sinful choice and it definitely has to be the Braised pork belly. I know health conscious people will be very wary about having this dish but what's wrong with taking a sinful indulgence only once in a blue moon? To reduce the overwhelming greasiness from the layered fats, you may like to complement the pork belly with the plain pancakes. Sauteed Egg White with Fish Meat and Conpoy
翡翠艺品赛螃蟹 $13.50
If you understand mandarin, you may thought this dish has got to do with crab meat (赛螃蟹); but sorry that's not the case! This dish is actually a combination of egg white, fish meat and a little trace of dried scallop to resemble crab meat texture. As I bring a mouthful into my mouth, I could taste trends of white fish mixed within fresh velvety egg whites. It was indeed a unique dish that I've never came across before. Mango Pudding 芒果布丁 $6.00
We ended off our exciting gastronomical meal with a cooling Mango Pudding that comes with HK condensed milk, added with your own discretion. Some fun facts here: A bowl of mango pudding is actually made of a whole mange, half used to make the mango juice while the other half remains as the mango cubes aggregated into the mango pudding.

It gets really crowded during dinner time so make sure you make your reservation to prevent disappointment!

Hope you liked this review!
http://chiamhuiy.blogspot.sg/2013/05/crystal-jade-la-mian-xiao-long-bao-food.html

Hui Yan-

For more detailed review and food pictures, please go to http://princessmic80.blogspot.sg/2013/05/of-late-dinner-holland-v-place-where.html

Cravings for Xiao Long Bao & La mian at night and afraid that all restaurants has taken all their last order? fear not cos you still can get xiao long bao at Holland V's Crystal Jade Shanghainese Restaurant.

This time we tried their Dong Po Rou ( fatty meat ) with mantou. and is really good. the meat is very well cooked and soft. It melts in your mouth. Especially the "collagen" on the skin, it is so rich that you can feel it! the mantou is super thin so you will get to enjoy the meat more than the mantou.we will be definitely back for more late night food Crystal Jade @ Holland V!

2013-05-10

SGD 20(Dinner)

If you are looking for juicy Xiao long Bao, must go to Crystal jade! My all time favorite!
The la main always come in a huge portion, and if you are a small eater, two person can actually share a bowl of la mian.
The spicy cucumber did a great start as an appetizer! Cucumber was very crunchy, and the chili oil blend well with it and was really refreshing. I ordered the spicy and sour thick soup la mian. And guess what, the soup was really thick, more like gravy. There were a lot of dried chili flakes in it, but taste was okay, not too spicy. My friend ordered the la mian soup with shrimp wanton! The wanton was big and shrimp were very fresh! And we ordered 2 set of the famous Xiao Long Bao,total 8 pieces! The Xiao long Bao were very juicy, and were bigger in size compare to the one in Ding Tai Fung! Dipping the Xiao Long Bao in the ginger and vinegar was the way to eat it! But beware of your bite while eating Xiao long Bao, as the soup will gush out and might burn your tongue ! Then, we ordered another 8 pieces of pork dumplings with spicy chili sauce. Dumplings skin was just nice, soft and smooth! It was a perfect la mian dinner!

2013-05-11

SGD 30(Dinner)

Though it was quite a hurried dinner, the food was served very promptly and having the opportunity to order endlessly whilst cooking your own food with unlimited XLBs was a joy to behold!!

Waning! The Spicy soup was really really spicy. Choice of soup was at the beginning and changing soups partway through was not an option. Nevertheless, it was certainly a chance to eat and stuff!!

2013-04-12

eating at this place is a luxury.

because queueing is a nightmare.

calling in for reservations should be done a week in advance.

not because it's that hard to get seats.

but because it's that hard to get them to pick up calls.

you can try going in to drop in to make reservations.

i really think that's more efficient if you're asking me.

the hotpot is amazing.

free flow xiao long baos.

i really think i'm happy with just the xlbs.

SGD 27(Dinner)

Crystal jade has always served consistently good food at affordable prices. The noodles are one reason I keep coming back. I had the spicy and sour soup la mian which was quite good. The soup was robust and tasty without being overly spicy. While the noodles were freshly made and cooked to just the right texture. We also enjoyed other sharing dishes such as spring rolls

On a cold and rainy day, we stayed in to bake and mess up the house. But then we got tired. And went out for a run after the rain cleared up. I love it that my friend stays right across from Holland Village. That was a run down to Dempsey and back. Which almost killed me no matter how short it was.

So of course we needed dinner.
And initially, we wanted something hot and soupy.

But of course, the carnivore took over. And we made an order for this.Hmm. It wasn't as satisfying a crunch I would have liked from the skin.
But the meat was well, all that. PORK yum.

And I loved the side of peanuts.

SGD 15(Dinner)

I remembered the first time I had Xiao Long Bao, it was in this particular Crystal Jade restaurant and till today, the vivid memory of my awkward fumbling of these delicate art pieces still haunts me. Due to my virgin experience and ignorance, I didn't knew the existence of a small pouch of soup wrapped beneath the thin, delicate dumpling skin. At that time, I sucked at using chopsticks and the way I picked things up - it's to poke them. Things happened and my lovely Xiao Long Bao was ruined.

Recently, dear Peiyi and I had the chance to visit this famous Shanghai-nese restaurant during the weekdays. And oh my, customers were already queueing up, but again, lucky us for we were seated within 15 minutes. Those with bigger groups had to wait up to almost an hour (and again I stressed - it was a weekday!)

Xiao Long Bao (S$4.80 for 4) was glorious. The dumpling skin was just right and the broth complemented the juicy minced pork meat. Mother Kook called me stupid for not eating it with vinegar (which I don't, I detest the smell), but let me tell you that this beauties go well without vinegar and shredded ginger too. Just do not make the same mistake as me.

Pan Fried Pork Bun (S$4.00 for 3) does not lose out. Sink your teeth into these soft fragrant bun and savour the succulent fillings. I thought this yummy buns look like the classic Meat Pao, but just pan fried and upgraded like four levels up.Ohh-la-la. Salted Nanjing Duck (S$8.50) was a tad hard for my liking. Nevertheless, these beautiful duck slices were luscious with a thin layer of fat. Just look at the soft pinkish-red meat! However, I always preferred eating duck drenched in Chinese braised sauce, so this does not appeal to me much.Lastly, we had Crystal Jade speciality La Mian with Braised Beef (S$8.50). The beef was so tender and juicy, especially the tendons, which I totally love them. (while girlfriend finds them fross. Weird.) Their speciality noodles were definitely one of the best in Singapore, with the spot-on chewiness. But what I wanted to praise most is what holds this entire dish together - the broth. Thick brown soup made of long-simmered ingredients, it brings forth a subtle sweet and herbal aroma that makes you want to devour this dish.Besides ala-carte, Crystal Jade (Holland Village) also presents a South-Northern buffet experience which includes steamboat and a huge variety of appetizers, meat, drinks and dim-sum. The best part is that you get all the Xiao Long Bao you can eat!

A very useful tip - do your reservations! Walking in for the buffet guarantees near 0% you can get a table at dinner hours.

After hearing so much about this place from my elder sister, she finally decide to blanja the whole family for steamboat buffet at crystal jade holland.
Xiao Long Bao is not only superb it's also free flow so we ordered like 8 trays of it.
Prawn was very fresh but they put a limit for each table.
Slice beef and pork is still frozen when served.
The rest of the food is alright. There's a sauce station for you to create your own dipping.
Service was rather slow; and some of the items ran out even before we could order it.

The overall dining experience is ok; no wow factor. The ingredients are fresh and up to quality; well they have to be of quality at the slightly hefty price charged. The place is quite small and some seats are already torn – replacement of seats is in urgent need. The meat are generally tender and well-marinated ~ pork belly is the best among all ... Kimchi soup is ok too ~ I have tasted better ones elsewhere ~

This version of fried rice from Crystal jade is really colourful and filled with lots of delicious ingredients in it. The ham meat and chicken meat are very fresh and chewy. The mini shrimps inside are also very crunchy and sweet in flavour. Added beaten eggs have also added that extra fragrant to the fried rice too. The rice is also not too salty and with the right amount of seasoning in it. Simply delicious!

2012-07-07

Crystal Jade restaurant at Holland Village serves up very nice Chinese food. Mrupupup had congee (porridge), soya sauce chicken and water cress with pork ribs soup (attached picture). The Crystal Jade porridge is one of the best Mrupupup had tried and just enjoy the smooth texture of the porridge. The chicken was nicely roasted and delicious. Mrupupup also enjoyed the water cress soup with pork ribs which was boiled till very tender. Always enjoyed Crystal Jade food for Chinese food is light and very nice.

2012-07-02

Finally it's graduation for my friends and I! And we get to head down to Xiao Long Bao Crystal Jade in Holland Village to fill our empty stomach to begin a new chapter and end off the great story of our previous 'school life'.It's awesome when we get to choose our soup base, especially when you are with friends and some just don't take spicy (like me!). So I can't tell you how awesome the ma la soup is, you've gotta read the other reviews but I thought the sweet corn soup was so-so-. Maybe because I have high expectations of soup you know?So we grabbed a lot of dishes (the way you order is to tick off a menu and pass off to the waiters/waitresses). We get the very ShangHai/China feel because the crew are mainly from mainland or city China, so you can expect some fiercer tone when they're speaking to you loudly. Anyway, what can we say about buffet? JUST TAKE AND TRY EVERYTHING!!! But if you are a small eater (thankfully I don't think I am), then go for the best food to fill your stomach. And that's right! XIao Long Bao is definitely the only thing you should fill your tummy with since it cost about $10.80 in other restaurants for 10 xiao long bao. Eat unlimitedly please. Oh don't be so crazy to order 10 cages (shi long in chinese), you'd be sick of it and surely will never touch xiao long bao again. Order the la mian off the buffet menu, that is really good! They really are up to their standard and reputation, this delicate work of making the icy soup stay within the xiao long bao and the very thin pieces of skin clasped together makes your mouth simply.. remember the taste forever. If you ask me if they need any further improvements, I'd say about the drinks. Honestly I think it'd be better to have more variety of tea, Chinese tea or green tea rather than soft drinks. In fact they could even strip off all the soft drinks the menu! And also to add some fragrance in the restaurant since it's super squeezy on the second level.. and also very difficult to walk when you are in a big group with friends.

All in all, there is sooo much more dishes that you can try here but it also depends on your cooking skills. If you talk too much to your friends, the marinate on the meat will surely drain away into the soup, so if you are confident in your 'steamboat' buffet skills, GO for it!

SGD 25

Went to eat the famous crystal jade free flow xiao long bao yesterday with colleagues. Food was good as it's a steamboat dinner with quite a number of varieties to order. But it seem that the standard of the xiao long bao has dropped as when we try to pick up the xiao long bao all the soup was dripping and it seem that it did not fold properly. But nevertheless it was kinda nice to eat over there with your friends and colleagues.

2012-05-18

SGD 29(Dinner)