Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant (Closed)

For pictures and full review, pls visit:http://madamechewy.com/2015/10/17/nostalgic-dim-sum-buffet-feast-si-chuan-dou-hua-parkroyal-on-kitchener-road/Don’t you wonder why Dim Sum buffets are mostly held only on weekends? Such awesome meals should be available EVERYDAY! Si Chuan Dou Hua @ Park Royal has certainly got it right with their Nostalgic Dim Sum Buffet Feast, which is served daily from now until 31st Dec 2015.Unwind in the restaurant’s elegant oriental ambience and pick from 50 items listed on dim sum menu. We ate so much that I nearly rolled home, but there were still so many dishes I wanted to try! Si Chuan Dou Hua’s experienced culinary team consists of Cantonese and Si Chuan Chefs, so you can expect diverse offerings from both cuisines.Upon seated, the Tea Master promptly filled our cups with finesse.Chilled appetizers are always welcomed in Singapore’s hot weather. We sampled Sliced Pork in Garlic & Chilli Sauce and Seaweed with Shredded Carrot & Radish in Chilli Oil. The pork slices in the former were well marinated and tender, while the latter tasted surprisingly similar to jelly fish.Limited to a single serve, the Barbecue Platter consists of BBQ Pork Ribs, Teo Chew Stewed Duck and Soya Chicken.Also limited to one portion, the Double-boiled Cartilage Soup warms the soul and fortifies the body with its rich, savoury broth. Other choices include Sichuan Hot & Spicy Soup, Soup of the Day and Thick Soup with Shredded Abalone, Mushroom, Chicken and Conpoy.I’ll start with the inventive dim sum creations first, before moving on to well-loved classics.Much thought as been put into the Signature Pork Belly Roll with Yam. The Chef employs a special technique to retain the juices within the pork. Moist, tender meat, yam and pillowy steam bun-what a superb combination!Another intriguing item is the Fragrant Yam Cake with Waxed Meat. Flavours and textures are beautiful here. You get a crisp exterior juxtapose with soft yam, enliven with the saltiness from the waxed meat.A twist to the usual Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun, the Steamed Yam Bun with Salted Egg Yolk is a unique creation that I have never tried before. Hidden within the soft steamed bun is a core of sweet refined yam paste contrasted with golden salted egg yolk. Absolutely delish!The Pan-fried Duck Meat Bun with Goose Liver Sauce packs a punch with its intense sauce. I was not a fan of the Glutinous Rice Roll with Chinese Sausage though, as I find its skin too thick and starchy.Siew Mai alone is aaahhh! With abalone I’d be all ooooh! The Siew Mai with Diced Abalone is something you should not miss.Traditional favorites, the Hakka Dumpling with Turnip, Pan-fried Carrot Cake, Pan-fried Chive Dumplings, Pan-fried Bean Curd Skin Roll and Prawn Dumplings were skilfully executed. I particularly adored the Prawn Dumplings. Their thin translucent skin had just enough tensile strength to hold its generous filling of fresh crunchy prawns accentuated with coriander.Apart from steamed and fried Dim Sum, the Nostalgic Dim Sum Buffet Feast also includes 9 Chef Selections. We tried Braised Pig Shank in Vinegar and Ginger, Bean Curd in Spicy Minced Meat Sauce, Stir-fried Beef with Bitter gourd in Black Bean Sauce, Stir-fried French Beans with Minced Meat and Stir-fried Fish with Celery in Sichuan Spicy Sauce. The lattermost’s unfamiliar flavour didn’t sit too well with a couple of my dining companions, but my taste buds relished in its robust sauce.For those who can’t do without carbs, go for the silky smooth Minced Meat Porridge with Cuttlefish, or the comforting Casserole Rice with Chinese Sausage.Dessert options are mild and light, perfect to wrap up a heavy meal. The highlight would be the lusciously smooth Home Made Bean Curd, glittered with healthy sweet wolfberries. Fans of chilled desserts will find bliss in the elegant Chilled Osmanthus cake sweetened with honey, and Almond Cake brightened up with tangy mango sauce.Now you know why I over ate- too many scrumptious temptations in one place!The Nostalgic Dim Sum Buffet Feast is available daily from 11.30-2pm Mondays to Thursdays ($32++ per adult and $20.80++ per child), 11.30am-1pm and 1.30-3pm on Fri, Saturdays Sundays and Public Holidays ($38++ per adult, $22.80++ per child). UOB and HSBC Credit and Debit Cardholders dines free with every 3 accompanying diners from 1st Oct -31st Dec 2015.  continue reading

I been to Si Chuan Dou Hua for dinner at job plaza before and this is the first time I try out their dim sum at park royal. The dinner ala carte buffet is really good and value for money. On the other hand, the dim sum buffet turns a little disappointment for me. The service is very slow. We ordered the dishes and it takes at least 30 mins to arrive. Some are worst, it never came.  The food is so so only. Some are pretty salty. Of cos, there are some that are pretty good too. But overall, I personally feel not worth the money. The buffet cost 28 ++ per pax for a weekday and 30++ per pax for weekend. Environment. The restaurant is located at Kitchener road in park royal itself. Accessibility is still ok to me if I drive. But frankly speaking, I don't think I will return again.  continue reading

for photos and more reviews, visit http://littlemomentsofmylife.wordpress.com/ the braised pork belly served in whole pumpkin ($26 small) was something that left a great impression! it was definitely the most interesting dish we had that day, and one of the hot favourites! the pork was braised for hours to achieve a melt-in-the-mouth texture, and eaten with the pumpkin (just scrape the meat off from the skin!), it was absolutely wonderful! the contrasts in tastes went perfectly together to create a harmonious, balanced dish.their dish of braised kai lan with preserved vegetables ($24 medium) seems to be a trendy dish with more chinese restaurants introducing it on their menu. this novelty doesn't really appeal much to me though. well, i guess it's not bad, but i dont really take to this combination.on to desserts! i really enjoyed the homemade beancurd with wolfberry ($4). the beancurd was smooth and silky, and the wolfberries added a mild crunch, with a slight tinge of additional sweetness to the dessert.we also ordered our favourite wo beng! hmm this time it didn't really appeal to me though. there was something about the taste of the red bean paste that was slightly strange but i can't put my finger to it. continue reading

Who would have expected a Si Chuan restaurant to incorporate our local claypot rice to its menu? Speaking of claypot rice, the most irresistible flavour is none other than the Sliced Pork and Salted Fish version $18 (咸鱼五花肉煲饭). With the increase in prices of salted fish, it was a delight to find generous-sized salted fish in the pot of fluffy rice.Meanwhile there is also the Claypot Rice with Chicken, Live Frog and Enoki Mushroom$18 (松菇双滑鸡煲饭). 一道菜讲求所谓的 “色、香、味”---Perhaps due to the cool and comfortable interiors, there was not much of the sizzling sounds or smoky scents of charred rice. Fortunately, I could gleefully scrape off an abundant amount of burnt rice at the base of each claypot and swirl in more dark soya sauce provided alongside. If you are ordering other dishes, each claypot rice can feed about 2-3 mouths. The highlight of the day was the Barbequed Suckling pig $198, which was indeed a terrific dish. Prepared by Barbeque Chef Zheng Guang Liang, the pig from Hebei China is grilled excellently to produce a crisp, burmished crackling skin and ladies can forget about scraping the fats off the skin. Meanwhile the meat, which was sliced and re-served for easy consumption, was neither too dry nor too greasy—a culinary feat that deserves a round of applause for the chef. Besides the new promotional dishes, regular items such as the Double-boiled Deer Tendon Soup with Deer Antler (上等鹿茸炖鲜鹿根汤) $18/person is definitely worth ordering. Made with good quality ingredients and herbs such as cordyceps flowers that warms your body, it is a nourishing brew that is brimming with collagen. Jumping straight to desserts, What forged a deeper impression was the Deep-fried Yam coated with Soya Bean Crisps (豆莊皇沙酥) $18. The yam was soft, with a crunchy exterior that triggers your sweet receptors but not too much. And the fact that it is made with soya bean gives us a very good excuse to enjoy this indulgent snack!For full review and more photos, please visit http://dairycream.blogspot.jp/2013/09/si-chuan-dou-hua-winter-revelry-of.html continue reading

那些年，我们吃过的点心。。。what a nostalgic tagline for what seems like our contemporary style of having dim sum, the buffet way. A special as part of their anniversary celebration, they have this ala carte dim sum feast during lunch daily, from 11.30am – 2.30pm.Located within Parkroyal Hotel at Kitchener Road, it was quite a posh set-up, typical of hotel restaurant dining and seemed pretty atypical of dim sum buffets. Upon reaching, we were greeted with excellent service and a seamless reservation process online.Once seated, you’re served a cup of Chinese tea (香片), by their staff holding on to a long spout kettle, where you can spot the fanciful swirls or I like to call it a mini whirlpool in your teacup. It is said that the long tip helps to maintain the tea at the optimal temperature when served, as the heat is transferred as it flows through the long tip. The spout is also narrow enough to give sufficient water pressure so that it pushes the tea leaves to roll smoothly in the tea cup for a richer taste and aroma. Prawns in Beancurd SkinWe were all satisfied with this simple yet nicely done dish. Fresh juicy prawns wrapped with just a thin layer of crispy beancurd skin, it was fried to perfection where you don’t get to see much excess oil and it didn’t leave a greasy touch to it after finishing. Every mouthful we took was resounded by a crispy crunch and the smiles on all our faces reflected it all.Pan-fried Carrot CakeWith the name as such, we were all expected the squarish pieces of carrot cake, pan-fried to crisp outside. This came as a surprise, but a pleasant one at that. We all dug in to extremely soft cubes, well-seasoned and nicely complemented with the slight refreshing crunch of beansprouts (I’m never a fan of towgays but this was cooked long enough to get rid of the raw taste that I even helped myself to more portions of towgays). A tad oily but it’s probably required for the eggs that were stir-fried together in the dish. The less-than-health-conscious us cleared everything within minutes and ordered a second serving to satisfy our tummies.Hakka Dumpling with Turnip (茶果)This isn’t a typical item on dim sum menus but it definitely brought back those olden days flavours and tugged at the heartstrings of my dining companion. Within the chewy bouncy with a slight translucent skin, contained bits of mushroom, beans, minced turnip etc, cooked together to give a unique savoury taste. It has a pretty strong veggie taste to it but that’s just me and my anti-veggie phenomenon, and seeing how the table of them enjoyed and even talked about it the day after the meal shows how much they’ve enjoyed it. Siew MaiGiven the name of the dim sum feast, I was expecting some old school simple siew mai with just minced meat or the occasional prawn bits. This came as a surprise after I took a bite and its skin came off the top to reveal a tiny quail’s egg! With half a quail’s egg in each siew mai, it added a nice touch to the differing textures, and it was basically old school dim sum with a hidden bonus! Minced meat wrapped in smooth skin that doesn’t stick to your teeth with every bite, yet carefully wrapped such that it doesn’t drop easily to make eating it a chore. A timeless classic that has been nicely done! Har Gao with CorianderThis is always my test to determine if a place serves good dimsum. A simple dish of prawns wrapped in skin, it’s always a challenge finding the perfect one where the skin is of a perfect chewiness, able to hold the insides together yet not overly sticky and doesn’t break too easily, and of course the use of fresh prawns with a tinge of natural sweetness, those that ain’t the crunchy type yet having a tad of bounce in its meat. This managed to satisfy all the above well enough, though I’d have preferred one that didn’t have a blend of coriander in it. Despite the coriander mix, the freshness of the prawns still managed to come through with a tinge of sweetness, and the perfect skin for our palate. Yam Paste Bun with Salted Egg YolkWe were half expecting the likes of a 流沙包 (salted egg yolk custard bun), prying open cautiously just in case the fillings overflow in our eagerness and of course getting my camera ready for that shot of the moment. Not sure if it was our heightened expectations that got us thinking that the bun was quite a dismal attempt, we opened up to find nothing flowing, just what you'd normally see if you order red bean bun or lotus paste bun. It delivered exactly what it described though, imagine your bowl of orh nee, used as fillings and a salted egg yolk in the middle. The yam paste wasn't overly sweet and went well with the bun, while the yolk became a little too jelat for us. Aptly described by my companions, they said it reminded them of eating mooncakes, but in a bun form this time. Well, the taste indeed does match up to that especially with the egg yolk. Not exactly our type of bun, perhaps mooncake/salted yolk lovers would have a different verdict from us? Roast DuckIf you're the kind who loves to indulge in duck meat well roasted with crispy skin and juicy fats for that shiokness, you'd love this plate! After all, what's a dish of roast without the fats right? Glistening with fats, the meat was extremely smooth and tender, albeit a little boney for my liking. The skin could have been crispier, and the tiny fragments of the bones could have been removed for ease of consumption. That aside, it was still a dish good enough to satisfy us all, though not those who're more health-conscious! Marinated Rice Noodle with Shredded Duck (cold appetiser) This was quite an exotic dish in my opinion but my companion loved it so much, dipping it with the soy chicken sauce and the 红油 sauce which we ordered later on. The rice noodles tasted pretty plain but were very chewy (or q), hence went well with almost any sauce. It was slightly savory with the pieces of shredded duck, though it tasted slightly like shredded pieces of ham to me. Somewhat an acquired taste I suppose! Pork Belly with Taro and Mushroom How could we not order this with its name of 那些年烧腩卷, seeming like a signature dish for this Dim Sum spread! With very fattening pork belly wrapped in a bun roll, it tasted somewhat like your usual braised pork belly bun (扣肉包) in a smaller bite-size portion. Tender and soft meat with the fragrance of taro infused in it, it was quite a delish in a mouthful! The mushroom taste wasn't exactly strong nor distinct, but I liked it that way! Pan-fried Duck Meat Bun with Goose Liver SauceThis sounded equally tempting to us and we waited for this with much anticipation after our first order got forgotten. It's like the concept of 生煎包, except that the fillings are changed to duck meat. Pan-fried to a light crisp with soft bun on the inside and a flavourful filling, this was quite a contentment. The duck meat was minced too small though, that you couldn't really figure out it was duck meat unless you'd read the menu. It was more of a cross between Char Siew Bao and 生煎包, a satisfying one nonetheless!Minced Meat Dumpling with Sour and Spicy StockFor the adventurous spicy-goers, this is almost an essential! We loved how it wasn't chokingly spicy at the beginning, with the spice subtly emerging from the back of your throat to give that extra kick! Definitely went well with the Rice Noodles earlier, though you'll probably be asking for more tea very soon! Would have preferred it with a bit less skin for that perfect dumpling. Glutinous Rice Ball in Brown Sugar Syrup (糖不甩)Imagine your rice balls (湯圓) coated in peanut like your 'muah chee', this had finely grated peanuts and brown sugar syrup that wasn't overly sweet and complemented the dish with the varying textures all in a mouthful - sticky, chewy, crunchy, a simple combination of contentment. Almond Cake with Mango SauceExtremely fragile little pieces of jelly, it threatened to wobble and fall off our spoons while on the way to our mouths. A little too sweet with the mango sauce, it overwhelmed the favour of the almond cake itself, though the cold jelly was a nice cooling touch to our throats. The mango sauce tasted similar to what was used in the mango sago with pomelo, nice yet too strong to go along with this. Homemade Beancurd with WolfberryThis is a must-try for every visit to Si Chuan Dou Hua I believe. One that won me over and requested for extra servings after my first mouthful. Replacing the typical sugar syrup with honey-coated wolfberries, it gave just a slightly sweetened taste to the smooth and silky warm beancurd, a melt-in-your-mouth sensation with every mouthful you take! With cooked wolfberries in the addition, it also gave rise to a subtle natural sweetness, yet not overpowering the inherent beancurd taste and texture. Simplicity at its very best, it's legit to ask for more than one bowl of it! With a fusion of different Chinese cuisines, it was a buffet spread that left us feeling contented and craving for more after the meal. With hits and misses, a usual for most places we visit anyway, some dishes were so memorable that it left a lingering taste and memory of how it made us feel, making us want to go back for another round soon! And perhaps this is what 点心 symbolises - 吃在口里 , 点到心里.This buffet was priced at $30 per pax, and $5 for the floral tea, topped with service charge and GST, each person came up to about $42. Best to call and check on the availability of this buffet, as it's not on its regular menu. continue reading