Taste Paradise

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Now Closed

For pictures and full review, pls visit:http://madamechewy.com/2014/07/16/taste-paradise-dim-sum/During lunchtime on weekends, it’s the norm to spot crowds lingering at the entrance of award-winning Taste Paradise. The interior is grand; it simply looks like no expense has been spared to make this place look as opulent as it can be. Occupying the span of an entire wall are life-sized portraits of China’s illustrious Qing emperors.Generally, Taste Paradise’s dim sum are excellent in quality, with a handful of drool-worthy items what I shall describe in more detail. We had quite a number of dim sum so here goes!I can’t say no to anything fried!Crispy Spring Roll with Smoked Duck Meat ($4.80). Amongst the fried dim sum, the spring roll stood out from crowd, thanks to its aromatic savory duck stuffing. Plus, the skin is so crispy you can hear the crunch in your head!Deep-fried Prawn in Bean curd skin roll ($5.80).Deep-fried Taro Puffs with Diced Chicken and Prawn ($4.80) was well-fried, not at all oily, and packed with filling.Deep-fried Prawn Balls with Almond Flakes ($5.80). Loved the combination of springy prawn balls, crunchy almond flakes and burst of flavor from the caviar.Deep-fried Prawn with Mango Roll ($5.60) was a tad too oily.Steamed morsels will now take centre-stage.Ahhh…my one true love- Liu Sha Bao. Pillow-y buns encasing intensely-flavored salted egg yolk custard that oozed endlessly. I always order 2 baskets of Taste Paradise’s Steamed Custard Bun ($5.80).Steamed Prawn Dumpling “Har Kau” ($5.80) and Steamed Pork Dumpling “Siew Mai” ($5.80) were ok, nothing to shout about. Royal China’s Har Kau scored better compared to Taste Paradise for fresher, juicer and larger prawns.Steamed Bean curd and Bacon with Black Truffle Sauce ($5.80).Steamed BBQ Honey Pork Bun ($4.50). Peel open the light and fluffy bun to reveal chucks of lean pork meat which were not overly sweet.For something more filling, Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken wrapped in Lotus Leaf ($4.60) is your best bet. The glutinous rice was sufficiently steamed and hence soft and lightly sticky.Baked BBQ Honey Pork Bun ($5.40) is a bit of a misnomer. I believe most would expect smooth brown buns instead of snow-capped ones like these. A better name would be Polo baked BBQ Honey Pork Bun. These addictive buns are a combination of sweet, savory, crispy and crumbly.Bite-sized Mini Egg Tarts ($4.20) were satisfactory- wobbly egg custard nesting in flaky puff pastry.Beautifully flavorsome, slightly spicy and ethereally soft is the XO Carrot Cake ($7.80). The dish just the right amount of bean sprouts for contrasting crunch. Taste Paradise’s XO carrot cake is the best I have had so far. A must order!Steamed Cheong-fun with Dough Fritter ($4.80)Steamed Cheong-fun served with Deep-fried Eggplant and Minced Pork ($5.80) looks aesthetically alarming. The rice roll’s pink tinge reminded us of red/pink plastic bags from convenience stores. The eggplant and mince pork filling was moist and tasty; personally, I wasn’t too fond of this itemBaked Fillet of Cod with Chef’s Miso Recipe ($16/portion), one of Taste Paradise’s signature dishes, easily won me over. The melt-in-the-mouth cod tasted slightly fatty and saccharine at the same time. I’ve got to hand it to the chef for the splendid miso paste, which was a fine companion to the firm and flaky cod. This dish is part of the main menu and is available during lunch and dinner.I love dramatic entrances!Chilled Mango Puree with Sago and Pomelo topped with Coconut Ice cream ($6.80) – a luxe rendition of the popular dessert.Mention-worthy is the Chilled Avocado Puree topped with Coffee Ice cream ($6.80) – a unique combination, which worked execeptionally well. A must try!You can count on Taste Paradise for consistent fine quality dim sum. On weekends, dining here is a harried affair as there are 3 seatings (11am, 12.30pm, 2pm) and diners need to vacate their table 15 minutes before the next time slot. Reservations is a must if you do not wish to be turned away.Taste Paradise used to be my go to place for dim sum, but not anymore because of a recent unpleasant experience. Because diners in the first seating were late, we had to wait for 30 min for our table, despite having a reservation. I don’t mind waiting for 15 mins, but half an hour is ridiculous. continue reading

for photos and more reviews, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.com/ (:finally i visited taste paradise for dim sum!!!!! (: i've heard about it a looooong time ago, but it's really difficult to get a reservation there! i called quite a number of times, but it was always full. finally this time i could get a reservation, but they only gave me two available timings 11am and 2pm. omg. oh well, for good food! (:i have to start with my char siew sou ($3.90 for 3) first because it was the best thing i tried that day. it was really really really nice. i'm not kidding you. yes, i am a fan of char siew sou, so it would most likely taste good to me, but this one was really special. the pastry was absolutely delicious! it was slightly sweet, and crumbly just-so that it fell apart in my mouth. the charsiew inside was coated with the wonderful sweet sauce which was absolutely lovely. ohmyyyy! really, you HAVE TO TRY IT. it's the best char siew sou i've ever eaten.most of the dishes we ordered were actually pretty much the usual fare. like chee cheong fun with char siew ($4.80). but there were also variations on this, one of which i found quite interesting was the scallop version ($5.50). and i also liked the wok fried cheong fun with XO chili sauce ($5.80, see picture below)! it was fragrant, infused with the XO sauce (:mostly ate the usual har gow ($4.80 for 4), siew mai ($4.80 for 4) and char siew bao ($3.90 for 3) which were pretty standard. the egg tart ($3.60 for 3), unlike the char siew sou, was nothing to shout about.the steamed shanghai pork dumpling with foie gras ($7.80) was something different which we tried though! i thought it was pretty interesting (:the pan-fried pumpkin pastry ($3.20 for 3) was pretty yummy as well. crispy on the outside, spongy inside, with a nice smooth pumpkin paste in it.i read about taste paradise having really awesome custard buns, but why did i not see it on the menu?!?!?!??! aww!and we couldn't leave the place without dessert! not when there were so many nice-sounding goodies on the menu! i say 'nice-sounding' cos i was disappointed with my dessert sighhhhh. they should really have some sort of description in their menu bleargh. i guess it's just me. but in case you're like me and hate the taste of almond jelly, DO NOT order the steamed mashed taro served in young coconut ($8.50). it sounded absolutely delectable, and looked gorgeous. but the moment i popped a spoon of it into my mouth, i nearly spat it out because of the almond taste. YUCK it's actually oh nee, which i like. but why why why did they did to add in the almond. this is what i call 'complete redundancy' -.- they just destroyed a perfectly wonderful dessert! so anyway, bottomline is, if you like almond, by all means, order it. if you're like me, stay FAR away. : continue reading

Best dim sum in Singapore for me for now so far and I have tried many. Love the XO carrot cake, liu sha bao, and all the other dim sum are so delicate and tasty. And although it is in ION, the price is reasonable (so long as you stick to ordering only the dim sum and not the other main dishes). Call to book a table. Food is good but service is quite bad - very hard to get their attention to place order or even get the bill. continue reading

I had lunch with my wife at Taste Paradise a couple of weeks ago. It is a really posh place and we walked in without reservations, so we had to wait around 30 minutes before we can get a table. Luckily, they are quite flexible in that they will get your number and you can walk around and when your table is ready, they will phone you. At Taste Paradise, the must order is the custard pau which comes in a basket of 3 paus. The custard is very savoury and sweet and care must be taken in eating it, if not you will risk wasting all the delicious flowy custard. The pau thickness is just right to contain the custard. This is my favourite item here. We also orderd the siew mai which comes in a basket of 4. The siew mai is rather ordinary, but I like that fresh ingredients are used instead of shirmp/meat paste as filling. I would say most of the items that we had are good, and dining in here is worth the price and wait. The bill came up to around $60 for a total of 8 dim sum items ordered, plus tea. continue reading

Just on a Sunday morning when most of us is still lazing at home under the comfortable shelter, we were already walking ups and downs in Ion Orchard before 11am, waiting for Taste Paradise business to be in operation. As usual, crowds were seen roaming about the main entrance even though dining is mainly due for reservations only. I walked up to the counter and indicated my presence with the ladies waiting my name to be called as I had made my reservations earlier on.This was my second visit but this time round with a purpose - to treat mum for her upcoming birthday. Interior was set to oriental chic design with an impressive feel of ancient elegance as we strolled into the restaurant guided by the well dressed ladies in grand Chinese suits. It had given us additional majestic feel with the greetings of the staff as we approached the dining area. Set in the opulence orange lightings trails with the domino placement of vertical wooden boards on its ceilings had illustrated a swishing tail of a dragon body.We were directed to a corner of the restaurant and have a bird-eye view of the place. Entire dining ambiance was made magnificence with its dragon's utensils, table cloths and menu covered by golden fabric.Pickled vegetables (appetizers) were served with our beverages (Glutinous Rice Tea) and were promptly refilled by the waitresses. It tastes more towards "Tie Guan Yin" to me.Cost: S$8.40Xiao Long Bao with the proverbial flavorful soup that shoot and flows out of the delicate Bao skin. Though thin, it was moist and good enough to contain the soup as we picked it up by the tip (where you can find the thickest portion portion of skin throughout) noting the weight of the big chunk of minced meat within. Cost: S$4.80 for 4Chee Cheong Fun with Scallop. Savour the smooth, fine and thin rice roll with shredded chewy scallops wrapped within. Delicately made with fillings well contained without even breaking through the layers. Added with the light soy sauce and some hints of fragrance from the sesame oil, this version of steamed "intestine-liked" rice rolls are simply worth the taste buds.Cost: S$6.20BBQ Pork Pastries were simply heavenly. As the waitress doles out these freshly baked pastries in a plate of 3, these glossy looking golden pillows were seen flaky and delicate. As we bite, the red juicy BBQ pork fillings was packed to the fullest that every mouthful does have them within the pastries.Cost: S$4.80 for 3The perfect marriage of deep fried prawn and mango in a roll just never fail to disappoint. Mum had made the right choice!Cost: S$5.60 for 3It's half time and I'm almost full. 2 Packets of Steam Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaves, the classic "Lor Mai Kai" but with the "parcel" opening feel as we flipped up the lotus leaves, with the wonderful scent rushes into our senses. Tell me, it's just hard to stop at this!Cost: S$4.60 for 2Siew Mai was rather normal and did not have the "Wao" factor like the rest of the dim sum. I would prefer the meat to have a stronger meat taste as the roes added was a little salty for me.Cost: S$5.80 for 4Har Gao, another common item that one will not miss when having dim sum. Up to the mark but not to die for.Cost: S$5.80 for 4Steamed Custard Buns is another noteworthy item that one cannot leave the restaurant without trying. Do not judge the overall just by its plain and ordinary white exterior, its seriously addictive especially when you hit the first bite - just like that molten lava, the golden custard flows out continuously. Cost: S$8.40 for 3Whet your appetitie for more to come! XO Carrot Cake lends a nice soft texture within the crunchy sprouts and spring onions.Cost: S$7.80BBQ Combi with suckling Pig that strikes just the right punch of crunchy and juicy! It was irrestistible especially when the combi were barbaqued with a exceptional crisp. I just cant stop at one serving!Cost: S$28.00While almost every dishes was remarkable, even for its desserts, we couldn't take our eyes off them. 3 of our desserts were exaggerating ! Check out in the video!Just like enjoying a cup of avocado drink, Taste Paradise's Avocado With Walnut Ice Cream was rich and creamy.Cost: S$6.80Likewise, Mango with Coconut Ice Cream standard were not that bad afterall.Cost: S$6.80Lime with lemongrass was saltish yet refreshing. Quite refreshing to cleanse the palate after some major savoriness.Cost: S$6.80We were requested to do a survey on mini ipad to note that down.With 10% of service charge and 7% of GST, it sums up to $127.12 for 3 pax. Note1) Appetizers cost are inclusive with the tea, therefore even if one omit the dishes, amount still remains the same.(2) Reservations must be made in advance to avoid disappointments.(3) Even Reservations were made, customers was given a fixed duration for each table. continue reading