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See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2013/11/29/good-teochew-dinner-swa-garden-on-28nov2013/many friends were away. we had a smaller group of 9 for the monthly dinner at swa garden on 28.11.2013. i had wanted to come to this place the longest time but never got to it. had the impression it was expensive but looking at set menus (the one for S$268 looked ok & the more pricy ones included suckling pig), price looked ok.the friend who organised for this evening pre-order 9 ala carte dishes. we started with the cold crab, it was good. Perhaps no difference from other teochew restaurants like chui huay lim, but good.the braised duck was good too, “pang” ie flavourful & not tough or overcooked/fibrous. it said “goose”on paper but they readily admitted it was duck (a 半菜 duck).the scallop with yellow chives was good, scallops plump & tasty.& i liked the pot with pig tendon & fish maw, tasty & well done dish, though 1 friend thought the helping was not large enough for 9pax. i thought it was quite ok.the mullet was a wet steamed version which i very seldom had..usually i took the air dried cold version at some bakuteh stalls like lao ah ti. i liked this version. the chye sim salted vegetables were nice & it was easier to pick up the fish meat c/w the dry version but both version had their own attractiveness. the crayfish was a competent dish, tasty. i still preferred the ah orh style though as i felt the sauce masked the sweetness & flavour of the crayfish.the prawn balls & ngoh hiang was another average, ok dish.teochew plain fried char kuay teow was good, had wok hae, though not my favourite. i liked chui huay lim’s seafood beehoon better.the orh nee was very average, not “pang”. the ones we had recently at much cheaper muliangzai liang kee was better.overall we had 9 dishes for 9pax costing $297nett=S$33pax. perhaps slightly more expensive c/w with the S$268 10pax set menu (above). price was ok, the food was average to above average. i was not overly impressed but it is a place i would come again for fairly good quality food at ok prices.
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Full Swa Garden Restaurant review here: http://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.sg/2013/04/zi-char-swa-garden-restaurant.htmlSwa Garden Restaurant is a small Chinese restaurant that specialises in traditional and authentic Teochew cuisine, faithfully churning out Zi Char dishes from their unchanging menu for well over 2 decades. A visit to Swa Garden Restaurant is a throwback to years gone by, and will appeal to seniors / elders in the family.A traditional yet uncommon dish, Teochew Cold Crabs requires skill in not only steaming the crabs, but selecting the right type of crabs for steaming. The meat is wonderfully fresh, with a natural tasting flavour. The roe within is also quite substantial, and added a burst of salty, briny taste to the overall dish. The sour plum dipping sauce made for a good pairing.A sort of sampler, the Spiced Pork Rolls, Crab Rolls, Prawn Rolls dish features 1 meat roll and 2 seafood rolls. The Spiced Pork Rolls were excellent, with a crisp exterior that had a nice crunch, and a meaty and juicy interior. The Crab Rolls were unique, and the crab mean within was well packed, fresh, and flavourful. But I thought the Prawn Rolls were the weakest of the 3, being rather average in taste.
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First time ever had my longest break for CNY 2012. I had a week holiday but then i need to work from home on the new year eve and third day of cny. Not too bad huh?So I started work on 8th day of CNY and we had company reunion dinner at a Teochew Restaurant called Swa Garden located at Macpherson Road.This Teochew Restaurant was so called well-known in Teochew food scene. It's decor evident of its age. Harsh fluorescent lighting,faded curtains flanking the doors to the restaurant that have seen better days. However, nowadays the ambience in the restaurants are totally out from the choice of for dinning. It's the foods that draws the customers to come back.Our first dish is the Prosperity Raw Fish which is Yu Sheng. Teochew yusheng style is different from the one that i had before. It is served with fresh lettuce which brighten ups the whole dish. The taste is refreshing and not too sweet or sour.Next we have the Swa Garden Cold Dish combination. It has the braised goose, cuttlefish, fried minced ball, slices of chicken and also the slice ginger with century eggs. Totally awesome taste of the combination. Something new from me We also had braised superior shark's fin. This is something new for me as well. A new way of eating for me as we are having the shark fin with the bean sprout. It gives totally a new combination of taste. It doesn't taste weird nor tasty to me. However, the taste of the shark fin soup is superior as we can taste the thick soup of the braised shark fin.Roasted suckling pig is served as well. the roasted suckling pig was nicely sliced and displayed nicely on the table. The roasted pig skin is cripsy and goes extremely well with the sweet sauce.Fish is a must have dish in the dinner course. We have steamed fish on that night as well. "Nian nian you yu". The fish is tender and texture is smooth. The fish meat goes well with soup. "Gold Coin" Fatt Choy is the combination of seaweed and fish paste. This dish signature a good luck purpose and you can taste the fish paste with the special sauce made by the cook.Chye Poh Kway Teow which is not the usual one that we ate. It's a simple dish with reserved radish, kway teow and chopped green. You can feel the wok smell and taste when you tried on it.Followed by Vegetarian Delights with various vegetables and mushrooms served. Colourful display satisfying our visual and the taste is nice as well.Dessert will always be the last dish to end the dinner. This is called Orh Nee (yam paste) which is sweet yam with gingko nuts. This dessert is the traditional Teochew dessert which round off the delicious dinner. The taste is sweet but not overwhelming yet able to taste the sweetness, soft and smooth texture of it. Service was ok only. The staffs are around middle age range and they are polite with customers. They are attentive to customers as well. They do help to refill drinks and change the clean plate after few dishes are served.The location is accessible by bus but only certain bus number only.Overall view of the information can check out my blog post : http://hazelnutlife.blogspot.sg/2012/02/swa-garden-teochew-restaurant-540.html
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Suckling roast pig! Sometimes pork gets too tough or too fat, but SWA garden restaurant does it perfectly fine. With a crispy skin and tender pork meat, this delicious dish is definitely not to be missed!by the way, SWA garden restaurant is quite popular in sg, so if you're a local and you haven't try it, please include in your new-year resolution or wishlist next year (i'm sure it'd still be around and yes, good things are worth the wait). if you love GREAT food, it's better you stop waiting and just head down right now. this teochew restaurant... i'm not sure if i went to any other teochew restaurant, my dad is teochew, so if he passes this, so it is surely pass with flying colours their gingko nut and sweet yam desert is a great way to end your meal. it's not always available, so i hope you are lucky.is it me, or do you realize that all teochews LOVE fish and they're really good in cooking promphet? that's right! try their steamed promphet, and also their fish maw soup. fresh and no fishy smell.
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My family's hunt for good Teochew food continues with a visit to Swa Garden located along MacPherson road. It is a small reclusive restaurant with no outstanding signage or features. Frilly white curtains from yesteryear don the eatery and shelter diners from the prying eyes of passersby. The interior is sparsely furnished, with tiled walls and foam block ceilings. Although the set menus looked reasonable and interesting, we decided to go ala carte. Ordered the Braised goose, Four Treasures Beancurd, Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw, Ha Zhor (Prawn roll), Stir Fried Kailan and Orh Nee.The dishes came fast and furious, almost simultaneously. The braised goose was a little too soft for my liking and was nowhere as good as the ones from Guan Hin, Hung Kang or Huat Kee. However the portions are quite substantial, which propels it to the top of the food portions category. Stir fried Kailan was pretty normal. The Ha Zhor was pretty good. Crispy and compact. However the dipping sauce was sweet sauce and not the traditional plum sauce.I only had a bite of the Fish Maw and found it quite decent, but nothing too outstanding unlike the one I had at Beng Hiang. The Four Treasures beancurd is slightly better than the homemade beancurd I had at Guan Hin. Though made in the same way(I presume so cause both had rough textures), Swa Garden's offering was slightly more robust in texture and flavour. However, having said that, I am still of the opinion that it was not impressive.Swa Garden's Orh Nee is a little different from the Orh Nees that I have eaten. Firstly, it comes submerged under a layer of syrup. Secondly, it is more watery than the others that I've tried, which isn't a bad thing really. It makes the paste smoother and it just glides down your throat. However, I did find it a little too watery for my liking. My dad liked it though.>$80++ for 4 pax isn't really too expensive, but it stops short of being cheap. Not exactly an impressive dinner, but an enjoyable one nevertheless. The set menu for 4 does offer some really good bargains and I'll definitely be back to try it.
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