Imperial Court Restaurant (Closed)

My good friends & mei mei arranged a dinner for my wife & i at imperial court restaurant at the grassroots club on 5.11.2015. ^^i have wanted to try the gimtim group of restaurants but have not done yet, so this suited.they have a 1/2 suckling pig set for 6. we had 7pax so my friend ordered 2 additional dishes.the #1 half suckling pig was a large helping. it was much larger than what i had at ah yat & other places like hung kang & summer gardens.i thought ah yat’s suckling pig was very good but this was equal or better & much bigger portions by comparison.it was extremely good, very crispy skin & very flavourful, tasty meat. it seemed to be a combination of the 片皮 & 南乳 styles. usually the 片皮 style came with wraps & the 南乳 comes with the meat. my wife & i prefer the 南乳 style.the next dish #2 (quite poor) fish maw soup though was quite poor.no comparison like the one at beng thin.my friend ordered 2 additional dishes=#9 addition sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 dish & ＃10 additional beef dish.sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 was so-so, maybe below par. the beef was pretty ok, not the very tenderised chinese style beef which i don’t like.the #3deepfried seabass in thai sauce was very good.the sauce was not the usual thai sweet sauce (best for deep-fried chicken wings) but a bit tangy.a very good fish dish by my reckoning.the #4 abalones with broccoli dish was the usual good standard, with nice broccoli & mushrooms.i love #5 the steamed scallops. i think they were the best! ^^usually i prefer steamed razor clams to steamed scallops because usually steamed scallops get overdone (i don’t know why?).these ones were very tender & sweet & tasty. excellent is the word!the #6 prawns were nicely done, fresh, tasty & crisp.i don’t like the sauce though, just overly sweet.the #7 braised seafood beehoon was very tasty.& with good ingredients.reminded me of my own crabless beehoon!the simple dessert of the day = #8 fruit cocktail dessert with ice shavings was very refreshing.overall an excellent dinner. i liked the suckling pig & the steamed scallops.i estimate the dinner to cost about S$350nett, so about S$50nett.service was very good. the servers took several photos for us & also went digging up a knife & candles for the cake.it was a really fun evening.a truly wonderful time with close friends & great dinner.See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/12/wonderful-dinner-treat-by-our-good-friends-imperial-court-on-5nov2015/…Read More

Located on the top floor of Grassroots club is Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant. It has been here for several years and it generally serves the neighbourhood of Yio Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio and caters for traditional Chinese weddings.Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant is owned by Gim Tim and has been around since 1975. Gim Tim is also one of the pioneer in the mobile kitchen arena, it has a fleet to cater for outdoor function.The dining area isn't the biggest but they have private rooms lining the entire dining area. On a weekday lunch at 12pm, we were one of 4 tables of dinners. It is definitely very quiet during the weekday and you can enjoy the peace and quiet while having dim sum.Their dim sum menu is pretty small but do not be initimidated. Having patronized their dim sum over the past 4 years. I am convinced that their dim sum quality outshines more chained competitors.1. Prawn Fritter with Fruit Juice $4.20++The prawn fritter was served with apple sauce! That's right! Apple sauce! It was a very sweet and syrupy sauce that gave the salty and yet juicy prawns a tangy taste! This is a very sweet and yet savoury dish! The prawn fritters are wrapped with a seaweed skin, much like the Japanese seaweed chicken!The seaweed skin gives the prawn fritter a crispier and crunchier texture upon each bite!2. Crispy Bean Curd Skin with Prawn $4.20++This is my typical favourite, served with mayonnaise. This was freshly fried to perfection. You could tell from the piping hot steam coming out of ths prawns as they cut it up with a scissors in front of you. The prawns were succulent and juicy and they were pretty sizeable as well!3. Pan Fried Carrot Cake $3.80++ *highly recommended*Their pan fried carrot cake is one of the best I've had! The exterior was charred perfectly to give it a slightly crisp exterior and yet still leaving the carrot shreds soft and moist! They were also cubes of char siew embedded in the carrot cake! A very delightful savoury dim sum which is pretty above average!4. Steamed Chang Fen with Char Siew $4++I had better expectations of this but ths skin wasn't thin enough and the sauce wasn't salty enough. The char siew was it's saving grace.5. Steamed Chang Fen with Shrimp $4++They have a lobster option for this but luckily we went with the cheaper shrimp option since I didn't quite like the steamed chang fen skin much. It was too thick and it couldn't absorb the sauce. Hence the chang fen just tasted bland.6. Steamed Shanghai Dumpling (Xiao Long Bao)  $4.50++My favourite dim sum item that arrived last. It tasted okay. Nothing spectacular.The soup in the xiao long bao had enough flavour and meat.7. Spare Rib in Black Bean Sauce $4.20++The meat was tasty and savoury. But though the came in large chunks with alot of fats. The sauce was also overly oily. 8. Pan Fried Chilli Crab Bun $4.20++This was an interesting dish and I ordered it out of plain curiousity. It is a pan fried bun and hence the bottom is charred!On the inside, you start to see the chilli crab, which looks to me they used alot of tumeric.Inside the bun, you can see shreds of crab meat and also a small slice of crab stick. Overall, it was too spicy for me and I had to wash it down with my pot of chrysanthemum tea. Nonetheless, if you can take spicy foods, do give this a try!9. Steamed Custard Bun $4++Probably my most favourite dim sum of the day. They were perfectly round and when they were served to us, they were too hot to be touched! On the inside, liquid gold, salted egg yolk sweet goodness flowed out!The texture and the thickness of the bun was spot on and the sweetness of the liu sha was perfect! Probably one of the best liu sha buns I've had!The service here was excellent on a weekday lunch since there weren't many customers. Most of the staff here speak cantonese, mandarin and english. They were very friendly in recommending items and explaining their promotions. They were also quick to top up drinks and clear dirty dishes.For about $25/pax for dim sum of this quality in an air conditioned area, I must say, this is one of the most value for money and yet quality dim sum places!…Read More

I was invited to a wedding dinner at the Grassroots Club Yio Chu Kang. I have to admit I was not expecting much from a neighbourhood restaurant. I was in for a surprise. The food was good and of great standard. The Buddha Jump Over the Wall impressed me the most. The ingredients were well stewed and melted in my mouth. In the pot, there were shark fin, abalone, fish maw, mushroom, chicken legs, scallops, jihua ham and sea cucumber. I even helped myself to a second bowl.The Pipa Duck was very good too. The duck skin was very crispy. The duck meat was roasted to perfection and the special sauce was an excellent combination for the duck meat. I was a bit disappointed with the lobster deluxe combination which should have more lobster meat. The yam paste was a bit watery to my liking. The fried rice with diced abalone wrapped in lotus leaf should use glutinous rice instead.…Read More

Met my fren for lunch as we were going to a place together in Yio Chu Kang. We decided to dine at The Grassroots' Club, at the Naked Fish Shoppe. However, there was a wedding solemnization going on and as we were in a rush, we decided to go to Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant upstairs to save the trouble of travelling to other places to look for food. It was our first time at this restaurant, though both of us studied so near this Grassroots' Club. There were only 2 of us, so we decided to choose Yang Chow Fried Rice and share it together. Their menu was quite extensive, and prices are pretty ok for a restaurant. Both of us only had to pay around $8 for our whole lunch, and its a restaurant! Hot chrysanthemum tea was poured for both of us and they served up peanuts and chilli sambal after we had placed our order. The peanuts were really nice, i couldnt stop eating it! It was soft, and the taste was just right. It wasnt those usual boring hard peanuts normally served in restaurants. The peanuts here were cooked!The fried rice arrive quite quickly, mayb it's becos there wasnt alot of ppl. The staffs were also quite free, mostly walking ard to serve customers, or just talking among themselves. I tink restaurants mostly have crowds only during night-time, when ppl just finish work and would like to catch up with frens during dinner. The fried rice had quite alot of ingredients in it, eggs, prawns, some kind of melon, etc. The serving was also very large, though we had ordered a small one. Both of us couldnt finish it! The rice wasnt too salty, just nice, and i had about 3 bowlful of it. My friend had a little more than me, and aft tat we were really full. Only thing was that it took abit of effort when i wanted my bill. Although i raised my hands for quite a while, the staffs didnt really notice. :/…Read More

Want to have Zi Char but don't know what to order to suit everyone? This buffet will save you from all the trouble!Per pax is $39.20 after the GST.The hit:This was suppose to be double boiled shark's fin soup with chicken soup & chinese herbs but it didn't look like it. I didn't know what soup is this but still taste good!Extremely love this deep fried prawns with mayonnaise! If we weren't so filled, I might have order a second round for this.Soon Hock fish with garlic, beside the bone issue most of us face, this dish was nice!Sauteed Chicken with Dried Chilli, the chicken was dice nicely, sauce was nicely blend and had a sweet taste to it that made me addicted to it.Soft Shell Crab with Meat Floss, it was crispy but too bad one person is limited to 1 shell crab, just couldn't have enough of it.Fried Vermicelli and Ee Fu Noodles with Crab Meat both not that oily which were good!…Read More