347. Peony Jade Restaurant

I have not been posting any entries recently. Tied up with work and study. Let me do an entry on my CNY meal after such a long hiatus. I treated my family to Peony Jade for dinner. Surprisingly, there weren't many people.

Lotus Soup @$8/pax

I called it the auspicious soup. Contained lotus slice, pork, 1 dried oyster and the black moss of "hair" (fatt-choy). It was not very salty but I felt it was not flavourful enough. Mum kept repeating that she could have done it better. Homecooked soup versus commercialized soup?


It has an auspicious name for it as well but couldn't remember the 4 chinese words. “哈哈大笑” or what....couldn't really remember. Anyway, the manager pointed out that the prawns were more expensive for the CNY. Not taking his words into consideration, we ordered prawns anyway simply because we wanted to eat prawns. And indeed, it was very much more expensive. This dish cost $68, which meant the 6 prawns on the plate were indeed levelled up in price. But, I liked the small "abalone", made like the cold dish topshell, pretty appetizing.


Tea and camphor wood smoked duck

It smelled great. The tea infused into the duck meat but not overpowering. The smoked duck with its sakura pink meat was enough to make our saliva drool. It was a pity the hua-bao or the bun was made very small, in bite size. There was hardly enough space to wrap the duck meat dipped with the always-welcomed black plum sauce and spring onion.


Tofu with mushrooms

We also had the Hong Kong style steamed soon hock @$120. The manager had it mutated before I could even take a decent photo of it. But, it was simply delicious. The fresh fish meat simply melted in my mouth.

And last, we had the fried ee-fu noodles. I loved ee-fu noodles but I realised that my family members preferred fried rice to noodles when it comes to staple food. I thought the noodles was good, just a little oily. Sis had half the portion to herself and it made me raise my eyebrows even higher. Her petite build was just a disguise.

Total bill was $400+. With OCBC credit card entitles a 15% discount and our bill was $346+ for the 6 dishes we had. Food was good but too expensive.

Peony Jade Restaurant

Clarke Quay

Blk 3A Clarke Quay #02-02

193. Genting Highlands - Ming Ren

The Chinese decorations with coloured glass vases lined the entrance of the entrance. I was welcomed by the friendly manager. It was bright inside but it gave a warm feeling. It was like dining in an arts museum.

A Chinese restaurant with an unusual twist, Ming Ren offers a dynamic fusion of Cantonese culinary methods with Xinjiang’s traditional seasonings. It brought me back to the days I resided in Shanghai. The long cold winter days.....

It's not hard to find Xinjiang cuisine in Shanghai. The representative ingredient of the Xinjiang cuisine is none other than lamb meat. Very common seen on the streets of Shanghai is the lamb skewer. See not the appearance but the bite that tells you everything. Ming Ren is renowned for its lamb dishes and of course, half the menu consists of lamb meat. How good is it....the bite tells everything.....

Roasted peanuts was served with a lash of black vinegar. I didn't know it could be done this way. It was nice!

Yi Xian Tian @RM12 (SGD4.80)

Missus, cuppa hot tea please. It was wet and misty. In fact, it was raining. A type of rain that was so light that you can hardly see with naked eyes but in no less than 10 minutes, it got you wet. The outdoor temperature fall to a low 20 degrees. I bought the ticket to the theme park but was unfortunately barred from the rides as they were closed. So, this made time for lunch @Ming Ren.

Despite being a tea-lover, I have no idea what yi xian tian was. It was a floral tea. I was curious when the waitress told me that the flower will bloom when the water boils. Unbothered by the taste, I gave the nod.

It appeared on a candle warmer. As time progresses, the dark greenish flower which I thought was ugly blossomed; an extension strand of yellow floral stem. The water turned golden yellow in colour. The tea has a nice fragrance even though its flower is ugly. Inner beauty counts, huh? Like camomile but a tad lighter in taste. A very relaxing tea.....

Beancurd with mushrooms @RM14 (SGD 5.60)

This is one of their signature beancurd dishes. Said to braised with their secret sauce. It looked simple but it was hook-inducing! Must try! No doubt, credit goes to the sauce. It was with a hint of sweetness. It was a dish that could make one eat it with a few bowls of plain rice.

Yam and Papaya soup @RM14 (SGD 5.60)

It was a soothing soup which I felt was good for constipation and complexion. Consisted of vegetables and papaya fruit, it's a ladies soup!

Lamb cooked in 3 styles @RM62 (SGD24.80)

The waitress recommended this lamb dish cooked in 3 different ways. Fried lamb meat, lamb meat stew and stir-fried lamb meat. I loved the fried lamb meat the most. Marinated with spices and herbs, I felt it was a more authentic way to represent the Xinjiang style.

Dipping sauce was black vinegar with chili oil and chopped spring onions. The sour vinegar coupled with the fried lamb meat was a thumbs up. A small flaw was the lamb meat was a little dry. No fats. Slaughter the lamb in winter with the fats! Never mind me with the psychotic thought. A lighter version would be the stir-fried lamb meat with a handful of onions. Onions to get rid off the lamb stench. I thought it was rather plain.

Noodles in lamb soup @RM20.70 (SGD8.30)

Flat noodles, not the egg noodles type. Cooked in a soup base which I felt was like the soy bean. Appearance does looked like so. It was rather plain, not so well-flavoured. Chili powder and some spices such as cumin and fennel, the 2 most commonly used spice in Xinjiang cuisine was served to flavour our noodles.

Ice-cream @RM11.50

I felt it was rather cool to find ice-cream on their menu and the waitress told me something which made my jaws dropped. This ice-cream you are seeing above was made with lamb meat and pistachio ice-cream. COOL! Intrigued by the taste, it's a YES, please give me 1 plate.

It was quite unique. Sweet. Frankly speaking, I couldn't taste of any lamb meat or even the stench. However, the ice-cream had a coarse texture. It was like eating the moist and chilled version of the soft nougat. Topped with the toasted melon seeds and mango puree at the base, it was overall a new encounter.

Ginseng Aloe Vera Jelly @RM9.20 (SGD3.70)

It was the BEST! Must-try! It was like eating jelly with bird nest drink. Very soothing. The ginseng didn't make the dessert bitter. It's also so CHEAP! Where else can I get a dessert at this price and taste.

Overall bill was RM143.40 for 2 pax. The prices stated above were inclusive of taxes. Overall, I felt the food were above average. Other than the lamb dishes which were higher priced, the rest were pretty cheap. Service was very good. Waiters and waitresses poured our tea cups and refilled it when it was neared the bottom.

189. Swee Kee (Ka-Soh) Fish Head Noodle House

Ka-Soh....it was very crowded on weekdays, very hard to get a table especially at lunch times. Surprisingly, it was not crowded on a Sunday.

I thought it was pickles but it wasn't. I was amazed. Those were the fried pork lard. It was the first time I came across having fried pork lard served together with the pickles. Then....my parents started their long ago stories where people only ate rice with fried pork lard bla bla bla. I'm pretty disgusted by how one could have eaten that thing with rice. Some ate the pork lard (in dense liquid form) drizzled over rice. Yucks!

Fried chicken in prawn paste (Har Jiong Gai) @$11.80

I smelt of the pungent prawn paste even before this dish was served on the table. The prawn paste was so strong. I thought this dish should have been a thumbs-up but it wasn't. Pretty disappointed. It came like fried chicken left untouched for some time. I know some restaurants had their fried chicken added with red colouring to make them look more appetizing. But, I must say I'm all against colour additives. I find the chicken pretty tasteless. Not so well-flavoured.

Salt & Pepper Prawns @$18.80

Prawns was big and the meat was firm. It was mediocre. It didn't really make me wow-ed.

Buckwheat Vegetables @$6.50

This was my favourite dish. A plate of greens. I like buckwheat vegetables. This type of vegetable is very crunchy and though didn't look appetizing at all is very tasty. Simply fried with garlic, it tasted better than any other dish.

Braised Tofu @$8.50

Egg tofu was cut in long strips instead of the usual coin size. It was braised with chye-po, minced meat and mushrooms. It was delicious and went very well with plain rice. However, it was very oily. What remained in the plate was a pool of oil and I, for an instant, was annoyed by that sight.

Fish Slices Hor Fun @$13

It wasn't as good as I have expected it to be. I had thought it should be very tasty since they are the expert in this dish besides the fish head noodles. The thinly sliced fish slices were very fresh but overall the hor fun lacked the oomph. Also, it was oily. It was far-fetched than Hong Kong Street's version.

Overall, the bill was $74.45 for 5 pax. I felt it was slightly expensive for the dishes we had and the dishes were pretty oily.

Swee Kee(Ka-Soh)

96 Amoy Street

95. Macau - Guia Hotel

* This was taken in Macau during 21-25 Feb 2008.

Asparagus and dried scallop fried rice. Must-try! It was very good. It was very fragrant. The rice grains were those "bui bui" type, not the usual thai rice (skinny) Singaporeans often eat.
This is the roasted pigeon. It was much bigger than the one I had in Shanghai (second pic)but the taste wise was not comparable. It was quite salty and dry.
This is another must-try! The noodles were fried till it was very crispy and the ingredients was cooked in black pepper gravy dripped over the crispy noodles. Very delicious. The chicken used was also tangy.


This is the chay po egg. Macau's rendition. Nothing much special, just that it was presented like in pizza slices stacked up. Haha.



Bill was MOP179.30 (SGD 44.80). Pretty reasonable price.

76. Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

Pickles - tofu and peanuts @$3 Custard buns @$4

Mini egg tarts @$3.20
Century egg porridge @$3
Char siew buns @$3.20
Chicken feet @$3
Glutinous rice rolls (Chee Chong Fun) @$5.40
Seafood roll @$7
Char Siew @$8

Sio-bak (roasted pork) @$10

Fried Mango Ice-cream @$6

Hashima with red dates @$9/serving

Carpark redemption

Not just Macdonald for breakfast on sundays. Wah Lok is a cantonese restaurant. The cantonese love eating dimsum and yum cha (sip tea). Many of us love dimsum as much as the cantonese. If you want to eat dimsum at Wah Lok, please remember to make your reservations, else join the queue. The dimsum degustation begins......

The pickles (tofu and peanuts) were nice, not just a usual plate of peanuts served at many restaurants. The custard buns were not those with just the egg custard fillings but egg custard with coconut shreds. It was quite nice. The mini egg tarts with its fluffy crust were pretty good too. It was in bite size. I think the size was just right. If the egg tarts were of normal size we usually get at those bakeries, 1 egg tart would have half-fill the ladies' stomach.

The century egg porridge was good. It had salted egg, some ham bits, meat chunks and century egg. I didn't like the meat chunks. I would not have mind so much if they were made into bits. The char siew buns, all-time favourite. The chicken feet was good and cheap. The chee chong fun, I ordered the ones with scallops. I have expected a better one since it was Wah Lok, but it was just so-so. I guess the chee chong fun wasn't the best dumsim there.

The seafood roll was filled with shreds of cucumber, crab meat and some other ingredients mixed with mayonnaise. It was delicious. The char siew, I would say it was above average. Why? Though it may not be on the top few dishes of the list for many, it was near the top on my list. They used lean meat for the char siew. It was a much healthier choice. My brother agreed too.

The sio-bak was the best! Die die must try! I didn't know the sio-bak could go well with the mustard sauce. The mustard sauce had a pretty choking taste, could have been the american wild mustard type. The auntie with the trolley said sio-bak was always fast swiped off her trolley. The dishes on her trolley were the sunday's specials. They only made certain dishes that were off the menu on every sundays. I wanted to eat the yolk buns. But she said they didn't have it today. Aiya.....

Desserts were the fried mango ice-cream and hot hashima with red dates. The hashima was pretty expensive because there were not much hashima in the bowl. The fried ice-cream, it was a craze a few years back. The fried layer was thin and I think with the mango ice-cream, it was good. 1 serving at $6 was expensive though. I think it was not worthwhile to have desserts at Wah Lok.

Overall, I would say the dimsum I had at Wah Lok was pretty above the average. Compared to Yum Cha Restaurant, Wah Lok is better. The service at Wah Lok was really commendable. They will keep changing new plates for you and fill your teapots. What is more attractive, the carpark fee per entry on sundays is $6, but Wah Lok gives you free redemption for your car! Good deal!

Wah Lok Restaurant

Carlton Hotel 2nd Storey

76 Bras Basah Road

Singapore 189558

Lunch : 11:30am – 2:30pm (Mondays to Saturdays)
(Sundays & Public Holidays)11:00am – 2:30pm

Dinner6.30pm – 10pm (Daily)

Tel: 6311 8188/9