Taste Paradise 味之楼

why duck? well we had canton i that day and the duck there just didn't cut it. so we decided to give these guys a shot. of course we should be at dian xiao er for this. but ion hello? this was pretty barbaric. i mean. look! the poor duck. if anything else, lets not waste a beautiful life. but lets savour it. it was fatty. fat deliciously. the skin was perfectly crisp. but go easy on the fat. thats artery clogging stuff. wash it down with tea or you won't go very far with the rest of dinner.

SGD 40(Dinner)

Oh glutinous rice.

brings out the glut in me.

photos don't do this justice.

but it was all evenly coated a delicious brown.

every bite has a taste of diced mushroom or fatty waxed meat.

and the best part?

every bite was a chewy good bite. never a grain uncooked.

and of course we had an order of dessert too!

nutritious eight treasure soup.

has all the goodness and sweetness needed for a refreshing dessert.

SGD 13(Lunch)

We were here on a Father’s Day which no one planned for really. He had a distributor in town and I had just gotten back from HK. Chinese food was actually the last thing I wanted to have but well, whatever the man wanted. Taste Paradise at the Flyer was good. It was thankfully vacant on a special occasion since I guess most people would rather do a dinner with their family. We had an order of kung pao chicken which was pretty salty but happily devoured anyway. The salted egg yolk prawn was yummylicious. I liked that sandy taste of the salted egg yolk and it was a fiery red color. Perfect with rice.

SGD 20(Lunch)

Taste Paradise is one traditional Chinese restaurant that serves very nice 'xiao long bao' (attached picture). Mrupupup enjoyed Chinese dishes and loved to come to Taste Paradise at Ion Orchard Singapore. Mrupupup ordered the signature pork noodles in soup, Zha Jiang mee (spicy noodles) and of course their 'xiao long bao'. The xiao long bao is a small dumpling 'handmade' and with pork & soup in the dumpling. The xiao long bao is one delicate food item and do handle with care so as not to break the skin of the dumpling too early. The pork noodles with pork slices and an egg was very nice and Mrupupup finished the whole bowl! The pork soup was nicely done and loved the handmade noodles. The zha jiang mee was a bit spicy for Mrupupup. Mrupupup finished the meal with a traditional dessert with jelly bits in it which was a nice way to round off a meal. Xiao Long Bao (about $7 for 6), Pork Noodles ($10.80) and Zha Jiang Mee ($9.80) plus Jelly dessert ($3.80). Do take note the restaurant would need to wait for seats if you have a large group.

2012-11-05

SGD 18(Dinner)

We actually wanted to have french food for dinner but somehow their menu wasn't that attractive that we diverted for chinese food instead. My friend's first choice was Taste Paradise and we all agreed. As we were last minute walk in customers, we were told that we have only one and a half hour to finish our meal as their restaurant was fully booked after that.
So we settled for a simple dinner for 5 persons with a fish maw soup(very sweet and tasty with some herbs that looked like branches), a signature roasted chicken(very well roasted and the skin was amazingly crispy and the flesh was succulent and tender), a roasted meat combi(char siew, roasted pork and suckling pig, all so yummy and well roasted), a mayo with wasabi prawns(hmm, very normal) and finally a fried seafood mee sua( very oily but generous amount of cubed prawns and scallops).
We finished our dinner within 45 mins which normally you couldn't with chinese dishes at a restaurant as often they would served every dish in a slow pace. It happened so fast that we didn't really get to slowly sipped our chinese tea and enjoy the ambiance. Our total bill was $215.

2012-09-02

liu sha baos (custard bun) - well balanced, yolk filling is not too sweet or runny.
char siew sou - pastry has a great texture - its flaky yet moist, and melts in your mouth, char siew in it is lean and tasty
egg tarts - delicious!, delicately made. egg yolk tender and smooth
chee cheong fun with scallop - cant really see the scallop but taste is good

quality dim sum that is worth every dollar.
ambience: exquisite, imperial decor
service: attentive staff who constantly refills your tea without asking, covers your handbags with handkerchief to protect it in event of any spillage

2012-05-17

SGD 25(Lunch)

This seafood fried rice here not just only a fried rice, but has also been presented in a very beautiful layout on the plate which you almost like seeing an art piece on it. The grains are separated according and are not too wet and moist. The x.o sauce used in this fried rice is really fragrant. Likes the generous amount of diced prawns, scrambled eggs, mixed vegetables, pork lean meat and beansprouts which make this dish really colourful and delicious.

2012-05-02

SGD 30(Lunch)

Continued from Part 1Steamed Shanghai pork dumpling. Be careful when you put one of those in your mouth because the piping hot soup in the dumpling can scald your mouth. But trust me, the scalding is all worth while. This little devil is deliciously addictive! ($4.20)Deep fried fish skin with salt and pepper. I'm a big fan of fried fish skin this dish is too salty for me. I didn't like it at all. ($9.80)Deep fried silver bait with anchovies tossed in spicy salt. We were told that this is a special dish (ie. they don't have it all the time) and decided to order it to try. Taste almost like an over priced silver fish. Really, there isn't alot for the price we had to pay. The taste wasn't exceptional either. Totally not worth it. ($9.80). Braised chicken feet with abalone sauce. We were recommended this dish by the waitress. When it was served at our table, most of us had a shock. It looks really scary. The taste wasn't extraordinary either. It was an interesting experience though. Not something I would order again. ($9.80)Century egg with lime sherbet. This dish was a positive surprise. Didn't know century eggs can taste this good. The sour tinge in the lime added a bit of 'live' into the taste while the coldness in sherbet gives it a good twist. So for all those who thinks that century eggs can only be found in congee...you have got to try this! ($8.80)It was so good, we decided to order again. This time, it was another presentation. The century eggs were served in porcelain spoons instead of metal spoon like the earlier dish. ($8.80)Chilled asparagus served with truffle-infused mustard vinaigrette. The sauce made the entire dish taste heavenly. Truffles are expensive for a reason and we know why when you taste this dish. I could just clean out the entire plate all by myself. ($9.80). Mango sago with coconut ice cream. Ended the meal with a cold dessert. Taste ok but I still prefer the mango ice in Hong Kong. ($6.80)

In total, our group of 7 spent $220.69 which comes up to about $32 per person. It takes a long time for them to serve up the dishes though. The strategy is to order the moment you sit down. Although our timeslot is from 12.30pm to 2pm, the bill comes at 1.45pm.

2012-03-24

SGD 32

Back at this restaurant again! We took the 12.30pm to 2pm timeslot and boy, was it crowded! Sour and slightly sweetened cucumber to start the lunch.Deep fried prawn with mango roll. Prawn is deep fried without the over powering taste of flour. As you bite into a piece, you begin to feel the subtle fragrance of the mango. Good try if you like fried stuffs that are not too oily. ($4.80)Mini egg tart. Not the best I have tasted in my entire life but the best so far in Singapore. It's cute and tiny and. Would be good if there's a bit more egg custard in it. ($3.60)Steamed custard bun. This is a must-have if you are a salted egg yolk fan like me. I love how the salted egg yolk custard comes oozing out of the bun when you sink your teeth into one of those. Have to be eaten hot. ($4.50)Steamed BBQ honey pork bun. I like how soft the bun is and the tender sweetness of the meat. ($3.90)Steamed cheong fun with prawn filling. I love the softness of the cheong fun. Some cheong fun that I've eaten elsewhere tasted like a whole chunk of flour soaked in soya sauce while this one doesn't. ($5.50)Steamed cheong fun with dough fritter. When you can't decide whether to have another cheong fun or a dough fritter, you order something that has both. Soft on the outside, crispy on the inside. I am surprise how the crispiness can be maintained in a pool of sauce. Recommended! ($4.80)Steamed chicken claw with black bean sauce. Good source of collagen and very very soft on the teeth. Just put it into our mouth and pull out the bones. Not much efforts required to separate the bones and the collagen filled skin. ($3.80)

Continue in Part 2

2012-03-24

I certainly am not aware of such a gem in Ion serving good quality dim sum. We went there on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and we had to wait for 45minutes before we are finally offered a table. However, the wait is worth it! Almost all of the dim sums that I had were good. We ordered egg tarts, century egg porridge, xiao long bao, siew mai etc etc. All are fresh and piping hot. I especially loved the egg tarts. They are so flaky and eggy, it is really tasty. I finished one plate by myself since there are only 3 in a plate and once you eat it, you can't stop.

SGD 25

Taste Paradise is one of my favourite places to go for dim sum. Each of their dim sum is at worst average and I haven't been let down by what I ordered this trip there. I ordered the siew mai, almond flakes prawn ball, custard bun, lotus leaf rice and the pan-fried pumpkin pastry. Of the five dishes, my favourites are the custard pau and the siew mai. The custard pau is the flowy saltish sweet custard which will ooze out of the pau once you bite into it. It is really out of the world nice. I also love the siew mai as it is made of fresh prawns instead of meat and the siew mai is also not very salty nor greasy. The only not so fantastic dish is the almond flake prawn ball. The two flavours just don't really match each other.

SGD 20

It must be posh interior fatigue that I was suffering from because the dim lighted luxurious interior with huge paintings of past Chinese emperors certainly didn't impress me much. But I must say it's definitely nicer than alot of the Chinese restaurants out there.

Crispy Silver Bait - We got off to a great start with the crispy silver bait, as recommended by our waitress. The silver fish was crisp and sweet with a touch of sour. Portion size was quite small so get more to share if you have a big group.

XO Carrot Cake - What used to wow me back then turned out to be sheer disappointment this time round. It was overly soft and I couldn't make out any savoury aftertaste. The only thing I could make out was the spice from the chilli, if you consider that a taste. I reckon your local hawker centre could do a much better job at a less than half the price for the same portion size.

Roasted Pork - This dish of roasted pork takes edibility to a new low and I'm not kidding. Each tiny cube was literally one layer skin, one layer lean meat and two layers of fats. Sure, the skin was crisp but the pork taste was just too overwhelming (they probably didn't blanch it long enough) and they tried to mask it by seasoning it with more salt. Someone commented it was akin to literally biting into a raw pig and I can't help but agree. Gross.

Peking Duck - At least the peking duck didn't suffer the same fate as the roast pork. It was decently crisp but overall could have been better. The crepes were a little too thick and could have done with less sweet sauce. Oh and the crackers that came alongside were just plain bland.
We opted to have the meat fried with rice and it was average at best. Rather tasteless and a tad too moist with an evident fowl smell. Poor duck.

Yuan Yang Prawn Ball - Finally a dish that presented a glimmer of hope - the yuan yang prawn ball, comprising of one wasabi prawn and one laksa prawn, served up in a martini glass. While both were big and crunchy, I personally favoured the wasabi prawn over the latter as the laksa seasoning did seem a little bland and lacklustre as compared to the more provocative wasabi.

Garoupa in Two Ways - This was apparently the special for the day and it honestly didn't look or taste as great as what our waitress had described to us. Presentation wise, it looked haphazard at best with the steamed garoupa and asparagus occupying the centre and flanked by fried pieces of garoupa. Generally speaking, the fish meat was fresh but sticky (too much corn flour!) and not very sweet. I couldn't quite make out the delicateness of the fish.

Tofu with Crab Roe - Another bordering on average dish. I appreciated the generous serving of crab meat shreds in the gravy but could have done with a little more flavour. ie. crab taste. Same goes for the tofu as well, which was barely in existence. One interesting/weird thing about the gravy was that it had a sourish overtone that didn't sit too well with either of us.

The bill dealt a $360 blow to the 7 of us. Food quality was average but service was decent. I cannot fathom how an excellent dinner at Taste Paradise Mosque Street could culminate in such a poor showing at the Ion outlet. Looks like I'll be placing my trust elsewhere in future.

I come to this restaurant especially only for its dimsum. Usually I go there for lunch with my family every Sunday after my service. The dimsum is absolute even though it is pricey for each dimsum dish may cost about S$5.50 or more. I recommend those who like dimsum or chinese food very much to go down to this restaurant.

2011-09-13

my dad brought the family to taste paradise for a nice meal. it's been a while since the family sat down and ate together. i order my usual but favourite salmon sashimi. how can a meal be nice if the nicest thing on earth is not ordered. their salmon sashimi is sliced perfectly. the thick and juicy slab of salmon is indeed mouth watering. the wasabi they served is authentic wasabi. goes hand in hand with the delicious salmon sashimi. it is just so refreshing!

Àbacus Beads: Made of dough formed of tapioca and yam, cut into abacus-bead shapes, which when cooked, are soft on the outside and chewy on the inside. The dish may be cooked with minced chicken or pork, dried shrimps, mushrooms and various other vegetables. The dish is stir-fried, seasoned with light soy sauce, salt, sugar and sometimes rice wine or vinegar (depending on taste).

I had this in one of the hakka cuisine in this food court introduce by one of my friend, surprisingly addictive. I like it served hot and taste chewy and so flavourful! most important is not as oily as others i have tried.. It is worth a try because i heard that Àbacus Beads is very hard to made. and u don't need to order other food because it actually filled us up after a few mouthfuls!