See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/29/nice-dinner-paradise-dynasty-ion-orchard-on-28apr2016/
went with friends to watch captain america – civil war at shaw lido yesterday. after the movie we adjourned to paradise dynasty at level 4 ion orchard for dinner on 28.4.2016. ^^.
we asked the price of the peanut & chestnut starter. it was just S$2.50 so we took it. it was really good, there were lots of chestnuts.
the place was well patronised but not yet full at 8pm.
paradise dynasty was having 30% discounts on 5 dishes.
the service by the chinese server was very good. it was difficult for us to identify the 5 dishes as they appear in totally different parts of the ordering chit. she took us through, explained the dishes & ordered for us.
we started with 2trays x 6 xiaolongbao 小笼包. so 3 pieces each for 4pax.
xiaolongbao 小笼包 was good. the soup inside was very tasty. however dough skin at top slightly thicker, also the meat filling not as tasty.
overall not as good as crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao.
later we greedy lot added another 2 trays, so in total each of us took 6 pieces. haha!
drunken chicken was good too.
chicken was tender. presentation was good. the 绍兴酒fragrance very good.
(for comparison see the photo for peach garden miramar, tasted good looked odd).
the minced pork soup 狮子头 quite a ok soup.
soup below S$7 after discount so ok.
but really pales in comparison with a good lie tong 例汤say at tunglok signature orchard parade.
the omelette 赛螃蟹 quite a meaningless dish for me, forgettable & it’s not cheap for egg whites with supposedly conpoy in it.
the romaine lettuce油麦菜 was quite misleading. it looked like a very tiny serving so i thought it was expensive at S$10 (this dish no discounts).
actually it was quite a decent helping, so not really more ex say c/w kok sen, a zi char stall.
the fried rice was pretty good too. reasonably tasty & a good helping for 4pax.
not the best of course.
no comparison with crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao’s spicy seafood fried rice.
we ordered a fried ramen. i guess we could eat a lot if we want too.
it was ok, but really no different from any breakfast fried noodles or the hong kong style street sweet soy sauce noodles.
dinner came to S$108nett for 4pax.
a friend has his birthday next week so we bought him dinner. ^^
very enjoyable movie & a great dinner chat & time together with good friends.
price wise, if we kept to the 5 items with discount which was quite enough for 4pax, price would be S$70nett, so very reasonabe for the food.
we added of course the veg, the noodles & 2 more xiaolongbao.

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/27/excellent-5pax-birthday-lunch-red-house-on-26apr2016/
a friend bought lunch at red house princep street on 26.4.2016.
i have never been to red house for the longest time.
they are having a 40% off dimsum promotion till 31.12.2016!
food was surprisingly good leh! ^^
the spinach mushroom dumpling looked alluring & tasted really good. very nice mushroom flavours, and so refine.:-)
the simple har gao虾饺 also looked so refine, and tasted wonderful too.:-)
fu pei quin 腐皮卷 not overly oily, very crispy & good fresh prawn fillings, a very well done dish.:-)
friend ordered the steamed bamboo clams 圣子. dish was ok. this a bit small c/w say ah yat or jumbo or long beach, quite similar size to the recent ones we had at tunglok signature orchard parade, but tunglok’s minced garlic oil & tanhoon a lot tastier than this.
the lemongrass chilli lobster 香茅辣椒龙虾 was excellent! ^^
usually it is a waste to add chilli to a fresh & expensive lobster.
this one though was done very well. the chilli was very tasty, i thought a bit thai style.
lobster very good, the chilli did not overwhelm the sweetness of the lobster meat. enhanced it la…:-)
friend also ordered 1/2 fragrant crispy duck 香酥鸭.
this was deep-fried & could taste the fragrance of the spices. they usually served it with some crepe so the server proceeded to destroy (tear up) the duck. we didn’t want the crepe. friend’s wife commented the presentation was not good. in shanghai/jiangsu they would cut the duck in slices & nicer presentation.
also the duck was a bit dry inside, not such a good preparation.
the spinach tofu was excellent, very tasty very well done.
i first had this 三层楼 at tunglok group maybe >20years ago. this one though tasted better than tunglok.
sambal kang kong was good, more than competent.
the seafood hor fun 杂锦河粉 was very good too. very nice wok hae (wok fragrance!)
the dimsum dishes were quite refine & the main courses were also top draw.
overall it was an excellent lunch, much better than i expected from a seafood restaurant like red house (there are so many similar places like jumbo, long beach, no sign board etc).
the dessert were ok but did not really stand out.
i enjoyed my lemongrass jelly with sorbet.
the 杨枝甘露 looked average.the orh nee 芋泥 didn’t looked right. maybe taste was ok?
lunch came to S$311 for 5pax, about S$62pax.
quite high for lunch. still i think a great place for a great lunch or dinner with good friends. must look a bit at the dishes to order, but i surely coming back again la!:-)

See my full review & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/26/nice-coffee-pastry-breakfast-place-tiong-bahru-bakery-on-22mar2016/
a RI friend organised a & coffee at tiong bahru bakery on 22.3.2016. ^^
i say – this tiong bahru bakery really crowded!
must say that the plain croissant is one of the best i had.
flaky outside soft inside & nice buttery flavour.
not so hot on the almond croissant.
there were some promotion …i think its about S$2.50 each.
and the coffee is good here!
pastry stuff not top of my list, but i quite happy to have a nice cuppa & chat with good friends. ambience wise it is no better than any of the good coffee places.

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/26/just-average-zi-char-jin-wee-siglap-on-25apr2016/
5 of us went to jin wee @ siglap for dinner.
it’s a regular zi char eating house.
menu likewise pretty standard zi char fare.
we were looking at the lie tong 例汤 S$12 & the fish maw soup S$25. a friend decided on the fish maw soup.
soup was quite good. quite chokeful of ingredients, good amount of crabmeat & very tasty.
not as good as the fish maw soup at beng thin, but maybe not that far off.
seemed expensive at S$25 at a zi char place like this, but what’s important is it’s good la..
the crispy pork is popular here, we ordered the larger serving at S$15.
crispy pork was good, & the sweet sour sauce was well done too, a competent sauce not too sweet & good with the pork. sweet & sour not my favourite though.
overall i like loo’s curry pork chop better.
the fried bean curd with minced pork was quite tasty too.
felt expensive to me at S$15 for a simple dish with cheap ingredients, but maybe it was not exorbitant.
the sambal kang kong was nice if quite standard fare anywhere.
the dinner came to S$71 including drinks (we had 4 barleys + 1 tea) for 5pax, so about S$14pax. we ordered not much food though just 3 dishes + soup.
i thought the prices were just a bit expensive but it was quite ok dinner overall.

See my full reviews & photos at = https://chefquak.com/2016/04/26/enjoyable-curry-rice-loos-hainanese-curry-rice-on-22mar2016/
went for early lunch at loo’s hainanese curry rice on 22.3.2016. we had 8pax.
the loo’s curry rice was quite simple food, dishes a bit limited, but still quite enjoyable.
the curry was especially shiok!
not that it was better than the fish head curry or lemak chicken curry. it’s slightly powdery, but overall just very shiok combine with the rice & pork chop.
pork chop was good.
not a particularly interesting dish for me. still thinking whether i want to try cooking this. deep-fry is always a bit troublesome & i try to avoid.
curry sotong was good. large sotong, nice think ones. nothing special i guess.
meat balls were ok.
the egg plant was good. nice colour & great taste.
chap chai was quite standard.
5dishes S$55 for 8pax.
simple food, limited selection, no really special dishes except curry.
but they all combined to give a really enjoyable meal.