My dad and I went to Great World City and we tried the food at Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. We ordered Steamed Vegetable Dumpling, Pan-fried Dumpling and Sweet Sour Chicken. They were good.
The first dish is not made up of merely chives but has mushrooms and 'real' vegetables. The latter dish is nicely fried and the soup oozing from the dumpling as it is bitten into is heavenly. The dumpling skin can be eaten on its own and the amount of pork wrapped in it is fitted to the shape of the skin, and so it is of a substantial amount. The last dish has the chicken moulded into rather huge balls before being deep-fried. Thus, there are two layers: the chicken and the batter. The sauce has peppers, tomatoes, onions and apples pieces, which make it exotic.
The food court at Great World City is unique in its decor too. There are leather seats in the shape of each letter that makes up the name of the food court: Food Junction, outside the food court. The seating area in the food court is divided into sections defined by the colours of the seats. The colours are bright and remind me of a childcare centre. I looked at some of the stalls in the food court. There is one selling grilled food items and they sound interesting. A customer who ordered food from there sat in front of us and the food looked delicious.
We went to Riverview Hotel's coffeehouse with some friends and some menu items made a positive impression on me. The Seafood Fried Rice is worth its price at $17. Some types of seafood that come with the rice are rather unusual, like huge squids and Japanese octopi. There is also a side dish of stir-fried vegetable and tofu soup too. The Nasi Lemak is also another item that has good accompaniments. One of the waiters who served us was thoughtful. He overheard us discussing our intention to share the two dessert items and took his initiative to serve each of us smaller bowls with spoons.
We then went to Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant at Turf City. Our friends ordered rather exotic dishes and truly, this place has kept its reputation for seafood intact. We had the privilege to eat Escargots but cooked Asian-style, Clams, Drunken Prawns, Crabs cooked in Chilli and with Spring Onions and Ginger, Lobster cooked with Noodles, Kangkong stir-fried with Garlic, Kow Kei in Stock and Peking Duck. We spent about $70 per person.
Another place we ate at was Sanur Indonesian Restaurant at Centrepoint. We ordered Ayam Marica, Javanese Soup and Gado-gado. The chicken dish is a tinge too salty but not too bad, with the pepper sauce over the fried chicken. The Gado-gado is rather well-done, with the gravy full of peanuts. The only flaw is that there are not enough ingredients. There can be more vegetables added to it and potato, rice cakes and fermented beans are missing.
The soup is good. There are shredded chicken, fried potato cubes and mung bean noodles in the soup, which looks like Soto Ayam. The difference is that it is not as spicy. It offsets the other 2 spicy dishes we ordered. The only regret is that they charge $3 for the fried prawn crackers which come in a basket, regardless of the fact that we ate only a few pieces. They may have served a lot of crackers but they do not filter in the possibility of customers choosing not to eat them at all.
Opposite Novena church is this shop called Whitley Road Big Prawn Mee. I ordered the Prawn Mee and it is delicious. The secret to delicious Prawn Mee is the soup and it tastes rather good. Also, when ordering this item, thick bee hoon must be the type of noodles asked for. There is lard added into the soup and perhaps that accounts for the tastiness. My dad ordered Minced Mee Noodles, which sounds very ordinary, since it can be obtained in many other places. However, he said it is really good. Perhaps lard is also added into it. The fishballs do not taste fishy, which is a good thing. The barley drink is homemade, judging from the taste, and it is thick too. It is a good drink to order.
Then we went to Hong Kong Cafe just a few doors away. I recommended the Golden Fantasy Dessert to my dad and he liked the French Toast with Banana. It is really thick and big but for French Toast lovers, it just makes their eyes pop out in delight. :) He was happy with the banana placed in between the slices of bread. I ordered Almond Cream with Sesame Glutinous Rice Balls and Hot Honey Lemon Drink. The cream is steaming hot, which means it is made on the spot and the rice balls taste as if they are handmade. Though there are only 2 balls, they caused me to become full very quickly. I think the sesame filling sparked off my cough and sore throat though. The drink is obviously made on the spot, as it tastes very light, probably due to the lemon juice. The good thing is that it is not too thick with not so much honey and more water used to make the drink.
The club near my house; Serangoon Garden Country Club, has a cafe called Atrium Cafe. One of their dishes is called Steamed Egg with Minced Chicken and Tofu. It is a simple homemade dish but tastes exquisite. The seasoning used is light soya sauce and the egg tastes soft, with the chicken adding texture to the dish. It is a very nutritious dish, with the tofu added in as well. This also makes it a good dish for those who want to have good skin. Overall, it is a good dish for convalescents and the sick. I enjoyed it a lot, also due to the fact that I am nursing a flu right now. Hehe.
I went back to the eating area opposite Novena church. This time, it was to Peach Garden restaurant. The menu planned by my mum's friend was luxurious. :) I am sure it must have taken some time for her to make sure it was perfect and impressive. We had Peking Duck as the first dish and it is my favourite dish too. I enjoyed it a lot. We had Braised Sharks' Fin Soup with Abalone, which was my mum's favourite dish, and so I ate it with extra savour. Fried Prawns with Wasabi Paste is a superb item. The prawns are fried lightly, in tempura batter and they are coated with a cream-like wasabi sauce. The wasabi is not too strong and it made the dish appealing for me, since I am a little averse to it.
The Deep-fried Seabass in Soya Sauce was also well-liked. The sauce is tasty and the fish is fried so well that even the bones can be eaten. Some even ate the fin of the fish as a whole and said it tasted like crackers! The Baked Pork Ribs are huge and besides the honey taste, there is a pungent taste of garlic. They are probably taken from the pig's belly as there is a substantial amount of fat. I enjoyed the Vegetables and Honmeiji Mushrooms. They made me feel better with their vitamin content, as I am nursing a flu. Then it was Seafood Fried Rice. The rice is fried with a lot of egg and this made it taste delicious. The prawns and scallops included in it are big pieces too.
The dessert items were especially wide in assortment. There were Mango Sago with Pomelo Shreds, Ice Jelly with Coconut Shavings, Salted Egg Custard Buns, Almond Cream with Soya Beancurd and Lotus Pancake. If I was well, I would have taken the Mango dessert. I tried the buns though and the filling oozes out from the soft buns as I bite into it. The Almond dessert is warm and especially good for my frail physicality. It is also good for the throat and the skin. I felt much better after consuming it. The pancake is very good. The filling is not overly sweet and the batter has a great texture. The Almond and the pancake were popular desserts.
The service there is very good. Perhaps it may be due to the fact that we have connections and we were in the VIP room, or it could be because we spent a huge amount of money. The plates are changed at regular intervals and each dish is served in individual portions on the plates. It is a very personalized service and they also do not short-change the amount of food entitled to us. We had only 8 persons at our table but they still served enough for 10 people, which is the usual number of people at a table. There are also glass square plates underneath the usual plates used to serve the food, a very clean and zen-like form of cutlery used at the table.
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