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 = http://chefquak.com/2015/12/20/4pax-family-lunch-sumiya-on-20dec2015/

son was back from london for holidays.
we decided to have a sunday family lunch. mikuni was fully booked so we went to sumiya on 20.12.2015. ^^
came to sumiya a few times, most recetly with a RI friend on 30.10.2015.
then the bara kaisen don set was still S$18.80 & the wagyu don set S$30.80. price had gone up since. the bara kaisen don set still ok at S$20.80, but the wagyu don set went up very steep, now at S$38.80!it was excellent though, the beef was so wonderful, very marbled & tasty! :-)
c/w the realtively poor S$50 wagyu & onion don at ginzawa that was much below expectations.
2 of us had the bara kaisen don set, wife had the anago don set (forgot to take photos) & youngest daughter had the ex S$38.80 wagyu don set.
the bara kaisen don just just as good. sashimi cuts were very fresh & tasty.
salad was usual.
there was chawanmushi. it was ok but btw item for the set.
we all agreed my own chawanmushi was better – smooth, tasty.
side today was sweet potatoes. nicely sweet with good bite texture.
& we all liked the mochi.
very nice cream inside, not so sweet la so quite edible!
had a great family lunch.

i came tim palace few weeks back with my sis & b-i-l on 24.11.2015.
some RI friends wanted to try after reading that post. happens that a close RI friend was visiting from cupertino USA (same friend so was at my house yesterday for a homecooked pasta + steak lunch & we had a cuppa at ducth colony pasarbella afterwards).
so he arranged a 10pax lunch at tim palace today on 16.12.2015. ^^
salmon sashimi was bad, wrong colour & almost “sweating”. cold flower crab looked a bit better maybe it was ok this time. didn't try.prawn & sotong salad & the pickledd scallops tips were still ok. poached prawn was good too.
roast station though was quite ridiculous –
we had 10pax. we got a plate good for 2pax!! yes 2pax!! you just have to look at my photos last visit to see what we got for 3pax! so being not so silent & compliant type singaporeans, we told the manager & was served another 2 plates (top photo).
sharks fin was ok.mainly because the stock was tasty & so the dish overall was pretty good.
drunken prawns was good.prawns were very fresh, bouncy, good. herbal soup was good too.
abalone & broccoli dish was very competent. there were 9 abalones for 10pax. we told the server & manager, & got 1 more abalone, no worries la!
they served us 2 deep-fried flower garoupa., pretty ok dish.
steamed seabass with sambal sauce was good, very nice sauce & dish done well. ^^
the sea cucumber with yam was ok.
there was a last order (i think 2pm). i ordered the prawns since the other 2 prawn dishes were good.the
xo scallop dish was competent.small scallops, quite nicely done.
& we ordered the lala.lala was fresh but it was overdone. this dish below par.
one friend said my manila clams was so much better.
the cereal crayfish this time was quite fresh so pretty ok
honey ribs non-descript.not badly done, just very ordinary zi char standard.
spicy steamed chicken feet was ok but not the good dimsum restaurant standard, both the sauce & the texture of the deep-fried chicken feet.
2-egg spinach was competent.not the standard of uncle leong though.
sambal kang kong was good if ordinary.
i had both the sea coconut & the lotus seed red beans, quite ok both.
we had a great time, lot of laughter & fun.
food was pretty good re the price = it was S$20.90pax after S$5 SC (senior citizen 55yrs) discounts. there is an additional S$2 for the tea+peanuts (you get charged anyway whethe you take or not).
here is what i meant by service being pleasant if untrained.
we asked for 2 pots of different tea. they said cannot & they will charge. we told them we had 10pax so 5pax take 1 tea & 5pax take another tea, why cannot leh?
after talking to manager we got 2 pots – pu er & jamine..of course they can actually refuse, but they let us have 2 pots. in my opinion the best trained service is one where you know something does not really matter, & the customers are not asking something unreasonable, and you can be flexible & give it to them to promote goodwill.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/30/very-enjoyable-s18-80-bara-chirashi-don-sumiya-on-30oct2015/
have not gone back to sumiya for a while, forgot how good the bara chirashi don set was for the price.
last time i wrote about the bara chirashi don set here was on nov2014.
today i went with a good friend to sumiya for lunch at 12.50pm on 30.10.2015. ^^ after that we walked over to orchard cineleisure to watch the movie “the martian”.
sumiya was crowded.
full house on a weekday lunchtime. so better book!
we ordered 2 “mixed bara kaisen don” set @ S$18.80 ea. we asked for sushi rice (there is a note on the menu to say the default is normal rice but you can ask for sushi rice with no charge).
it came with appetizer, salad, pickles, chawanmushi, miso soup & dessert.
japanese tea was also foc. we had 1 cold & 1 hot green tea.
chawanmushi was by the way thing. the appetizer, miso soup, pickles as well, but i guess still good to have. :-)
salad was great.
my own chawanmushi is lots better.^^
& the mochi dessert was quite excellent! :-) the mochi dough was soft & perfect mochi texture.
there was another layer of tasty cream inside the bean paste.
restaurant is on the rooftop & we were seated by the window, so there was view as well.most importantly, the chirashi don was very good. usually bara chirashi don uses small diced sashimi from leftover bits. this one here has larger cubes & the sashimi was really fresh & sweet. there was no expensive sashimi of course, just salmon, maguro & kajiki, with lots of ikura & tobiko, & avogado.
& the sushi rice was great too!
cannot ask more for a S$18.80 chirashi don set.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/10/08/good-value-peranakan-buffet-ellenborough-market-cafe-on-8oct2015/
went with a friend, who is an accomplished peranakan home chef himself, to ellenborough market cafe for lunch today on 8.10.2015. ^^
this my second time here this year, after a hiatus of probably 8 or 10 years. never get to use the FAR (feed at raffles) 50% vouchers for many years at this or other FAR restaurants either.
ambience was pretty nice. friend who is more familiar with this place thought it’s usually quite packed & was surprised that it wasn’t.
there was a cold appetizer section with prawns, yabbies, mussels.
prawns was good, i guess quite standard.
yabbies nice to look at & admire. as we know, not much meat & also meat is rougher that prawns, not as fine & sweet.
there was a salad section bread soup & bread.
there were 2 soup – a chinese lie tong type, pork ribs i think & a cream of tomato with basil. i wasn’t too interested so did not take photos.
i tried the lady fingers. pretty ok.
the prawn mushrooms. ok too.
there was only salmon sashimi & some maki sushi.
i started with sashimi, cold appetiser & salad.
didn’t look particularly great, but the salmon sashimi was quite excellent. fresh & sweet & i like the oily belly cuts. ^^
friend made 6 kueh pie tee (you have to add the ingredients onto the hat yourself).
they were nice, good standard.
i think the chinese ramen was the bestest dish!^^
ramen chef made a live demo, whacking the marble top with the flour noodles.
freshly made & rather thick.
but it was super nice! excellent texture, wholesome taste, a super broth to rival any tonkotsu & very tasty meatballs.
i liked the babi pongteh too. just perfect texture & so flavourful.liked the chicken too.
very nice curry, some very fragrant galangal taste & ginger fibre texture.
the hong kong steamed garoupa was also very well done.
problem with buffet – you take a tiny morsel here, and there & your plate & stomach are full.
the sea sumcumber duck was also very good.
duck was very tender, very lightly & nicely flavoured. i had a second helping.
did too for the babi pongteh & ayam buah keluak.
din take the fruits nor the ahborling (sesame dumplings) & most other dessert.
basically took some durian pengat.
they were very good.
usually i go for semi buffet where the main course is an ala carte order like at one ninety @ four seasons hotel or equinox or basilico, like a fine dining main course.
for buffets like the edge or carousel or olive tree (all i mostly don’t really like) or 10 at claymore with ala carte buffet items (which i like), i go for the appetizer & skips most of the main course.
here at EMC, there is very little appetizer to talk about (say c/w one ninety or equinox), fortunately main courses tasted quite well.
best thing was the price. just S$19++pax weekday lunch after 50% FAR discounts, nothing to complain about, and the best thing was that the dishes were really quite good.
& the great ambience, good company & conversation.