Showing posts with label cantonese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cantonese. Show all posts
Full of Luck Restaurant: Gone with the Fortune Cat
Labels:
cantonese,
chinese,
circle line,
family friendly,
holland village,
restaurants,
roast
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It's 2pm on a Saturday. Full of Luck restaurant in Holland Village is far from doing a roaring trade. Perhaps it's due to the lack of knowledge that the restaurant has opened its doors once again, after recently pulling up the hoardings to mask renovation works. Gone are the heavy doors, sensible automated doors put in place; the second floor ditching its kitschy hipster image in favour of a more serious Chinese restaurant. Change isn't just physical, the menu has been overhauled with more traditional dishes reinstated and the voguish Baos displaced together with the expulsion of the word 'club' from its name.
Full of Luck Club: What's Newer and Hotter.
Labels:
cantonese,
cocktails,
family friendly,
fusion,
hidden finds,
holland village,
modern,
restaurants,
sharing,
will return
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Since my last visit to Full of Luck Club last year (read here), the joint has taken measures to reinvent the menu, pushing new-fangled offerings to match their stalwart menu items that have received a sort of cult status amongst the tipple-cravers.. think Braised Pork Bao and Golden Sand Corn washed down with ice cold beer. Yes, it does feel a little more like Friday doesn't it?
[UOB Dining] Royal Pavilion: Good Cantonese fare at the fringe of the city
Labels:
business lunch,
cantonese,
chinatown singapore,
chinese food,
hidden finds,
large groups,
roast,
roast duck,
uob dining
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Settling in to certain opulent and grandeur settings in Royal Pavilion's main dining room may be a bit intimidating. But the solid and stalwart service standards immediately fixes that and put us at ease. In line with their modern Cantonese out take, courses are dished out in individual portions, each presented with finesse and looking just a little too pretty to eat.
Lucky Bar: Asian Inspired Libations in the heart of Holland Village
Labels:
barfood,
cantonese,
chinese food,
cocktails,
hidden finds,
holland village,
might return,
romantic
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Seasoned observers who have visited the dining room of Full of Luck Club's sprawling 2nd storey complex would have noticed the little space in the back with the words 借酒消愁 splashed on it's grey washed walls. This is to become Lucky Bar which has recently rolled out proper operations as the neighbourhood cocktail bar or watering hole, a role that's in dire need of filling since it's haydays as a expat region shrouded in cheap beer towers and shisha smoke. This may just be the perfect solution to anyone looking for a late night hang in Holland Village without the guilty calories of a chocolate mud pie or ice cream sundae.
Borrowing the tricks of a successful genre, Lucky Bar offers an Asian-inspired cocktail program deployed with the additional arsenal of a full fledged Cantonese kitchen to provide the creative muscle in the food department.
Little Bastard 臭小子: Discreet Adults-only Bar worth scouting out
Labels:
adult only,
cantonese,
chinese food,
cocktails,
fusion,
hidden finds,
modern,
must go,
sharing,
small plates,
special occasion,
will return
·
With a perplexed look plastered to my face, I navigated the insides of a bustling Refinery in search of the mysterious Little Bastard, the latest concept conceived by the same folks. Greeting me with a mischievous smile, the waiter led me to the dingiest corner of the restaurant, cloaked in shadows, pulled open a plastered wall to reveal a poorly-lit spiral staircase. With no fear of consequence whatsoever, I navigated the staircase with fierce ambition, mostly because I was beginning to fear my compatriots having sneaking suspicion that I had taken an alcoholic diversion from dinner time. Not that that was needed of course since Little Bastard has the functionality of a well-stocked bar. My first sweep of room caused me to have bated breath and a throbbing heart, especially so with the stripped down minimalistic look complete with painted oil drums and mahjong tables making me feel very much at home.
You may think it's all awfully contrived to this point, but when the food starts appearing at the tables, your Cantonese affair is authenticated. Conceived out of a passion for culinary experimentation, the dishes are clever, with names woven around local linguistics. My admiration for the thought process behind this joint multiplying with a noticeable success to puns employed.
Lan Ting: for Crackin' Dim Sum this festive season
Labels:
cantonese,
chinese,
dim sum,
hidden finds,
large groups,
Siglap,
will go,
will return
·
If the trayfuls of roast meat and leftover turkey are starting to give you the heebie jeebies then look no further than the wealth of dim sum choices at Lan Ting.
The only folks I know to churn our dim sum at 8 am in the morning, you'll be sure to visited by pangs of nostalgia similar to those you get when making your rounds of the Hong Kong dim sum restaurants.
Full of Luck Club: Bringing sexy Cantonese cuisine back
Labels:
cantonese,
chinese food,
circle line,
craft beers,
dim sum,
holland village,
large groups,
must go,
will go
·
So, this is about the reset button, breaking from the proven structured Chinese fine-dining formula that has made Li Bai the darling of Cantonese cuisine lovers.
Full of Luck club 福乐, a brainchild of the same team behind the opulent Li Bai Cantonese restaurant in Sheraton Towers (read about my previous dining experience here) first made their debut at Craft Singapore in March. Pitting themselves against food giants such as Vatos Urban Tacos and Park Bench Deli in a bid to satiate the alcoholic munchies of the beer crowd. I recall vividly being drawn immediately to its hipster-ish graphical menu boards, the bold use of color and the boisterous voices rising out from behind the booths, egging you on to sink your teeth into the Braised Pork Belly bao. And so I did. In fact, I had those 2 days in a row.
Fast forward 2 months later and the physical unit of the contemporary Cantonese joint has now taken shape in the heart of Holland Village, erected in the stilled site where Wendy's used to be. The menu maintains a tight focus on Cantonese cuisine, albeit with a more progressive and contemporary approach - shredding its pish-posh image and dishing out sharing plates and baos amidst other Asian inspired cocktails and craft beers. Then again, knowing that poets work better under the 'inspiration' of alcohol, perhaps this is Li Bai's Jekyll and Hyde moment?
[CNY'16] Mitzo: Prosperity Delights
Labels:
cantonese,
chinese,
chinese food,
CNY,
cocktails,
family friendly,
large groups,
must go,
orchard
·
As earlier mentioned, the first place (in my books) for this year's Lunar New Year menu has been allocated to Szechuan Court in Fairmont Hotel. Coming in a close second is Mitzo's prosperous delights. Well-know for its vibrant decor, plush interiors as well as its progressive Cantonese cuisine, backed with an innovative cocktail program, Mitzo has always been a firm favourite for me when it comes to Asian dining - here, the double-boiled soups are a hit and roast meats are utterly divine. However, Lunar New Year provides some unexpected twists and turns with specialities such as the Pearls of Prosperity Kingfish Yu Sheng and the Superior Lobster Fortune Pot sounding like they are fit for royalty and looking every bit the part.
Mitzo: $100Gourmet Michelin Dining || Swiss harmony.
Labels:
100gourmet,
affordable,
cantonese,
dim sum,
family friendly,
michelin starred,
must go,
orchard,
special occasion
·
You'll probably know Switzerland as one of the world's safest and most neutral nation, possessing some of Europe's most open gun laws. Hence it's no surprise to find Chef Rolf Fliegauf, hailing from 2 Michelin Stars ECCO Ascina and Ecco St. Moritz working in peaceful unanimity with Chef Nicky (previous head chef at Michelin-starred Hakkasan NYC) for the November's edition of $100Gourmet collaboration happening from the 6th to the 9th. The meeting of minds resulting in some visually arresting plates deserving of media attention as well as the congregation of gourmands.
Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant: Har Cheong Gai
Labels:
beer,
cantonese,
chinese,
chinese food,
family,
family friendly,
fried chicken,
no frills,
novena,
wordless wednesdays
·
Wordless Wednesdays unravels at Novena's Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant.
On the hit list, Prawn Paste chicken, Sum Lor Hor Fun, Hotplate Beancurd (MMmmm...) and Stir Fried Sweet Potato Leaves.
These photos nurture a chimera of narratives... but with too many words spoken these day, my lips are sealed today. I'm leaving it to your imagination to draw the deductions.
Okay, I concede defeat, so maybe the food was all sorts of wonderful. Who can refuse the lure of that sweet layer of egg underneath that lusciously thick meat sauce on a sizzling hot plate?.. not me for sure...
Some sort of Wordless Wednesday this is turning out to be...
Read more about my previous experience at the Bedok brunch here.
Hong Kong Street Family Restaurant (Novena)
273 Thomson Rod
Singapore 307644
Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant: the state of opulence
Labels:
cantonese,
chinese food,
dim sum,
food tasting,
media event,
mooncakes,
newton,
restaurants
·
Not so recently, I had the pleasure of attending a Mid-Autumn Media Dinner at Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant located in Sheraton Towers. Haunted by the idea that the dinner would turn out to be a non-stop tekan session of Moon Cake chow down, made possible only by the interspersed sips of free-flow tea in between, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the PR team at Sheraton Towers had actually organised an elaborate dinner feast which would then be drawn to a close with moon cakes as desserts.
Entering one of the private dining rooms of Li Bai, I was intimidated by the restaurant's imposing opulence. Regal aesthetics surround the space and the room was bathed in the reflection of rich tones of gold and silver. I kept my cool, unfettered, spurred on by the warm greetings of my fellow bloggers present at the scene.
We kicked off the night with Deluxe Combination, comprising a twin set of deep fried salted crab claw and scallop with black truffle. The dish was presented with an elegant, meticulous touch; it's immaculate nature going hand in hand with the aesthetics of our surroundings which provoked an emotional response that the dish was to be eaten slowly, appreciatively. I adored the latter of the pair, the juxtaposition of earth to sea flavors; deliberate and extremely intriguing. The crab claw was a tad too salty for me, weaning off the sweetness of the crab meat.
What followed was the Braised Thick Soup of Bird's Nest with Homemade "Pi Pa" Beancurd. With the use of bird's nest being a alternative to shark's fin, I love the social conscious efforts on the restaurant's part. The soup was warm and comforting, every spoonful draped with the richness of the bird nest's which helped to provide that bit of gelatinous texture.
As the compulsory vegetable dish on a chinese menu, we were served a Braised Assorted Vegetables with Bird's Nest. Despite it's simple constitution as medley of vegetables, presentation was tight once more. The crisp vegetables offering our palates a cool refreshing respite, however, I didn't quite make out the birds nest within the dish, what a shame.. perhaps such a luxury item should be better showcased as the highlight of a dish, instead of lack luster efforts to incorporate it into savoury dishes.
the limelight fell mostly on the Baked Fillet of "Kurobuta" in capsicum, each sliver of kurobuta pork, tender, juicy and lined with an unctuous layer of fat.
Visually impressive, our last dish of Crispy Noodles Rolled with Lobster was a hard one to capture given the lobster's long pair of feelers being a chore to fit in the frame. That, eventually came back to bite us the ass, threatening to stab us in the eyes as we leaned over to feast on the dish. In my humble opinion, I found the ratio of crispy noodles to be a tad overwhelming in comparison to the lobster flesh. The sweet tenderness of the crustacean muted and possibly murdered by it's time in the fryer.
Desserts were the representative Snow Skin Moon Cakes from Sheraton Towers current line up. There was the Mini White Lotus Seed Paste with Champagne Truffle, Mini White Lotus Seed Paste with Cranberry and Chrystanthemum Truffle and the Mini Green Tea White Lotus Seed Paste with Raspberry Rum Truffle. I loved the latter the most, the white lotus seed paste carrying the heady aroma of infused green tea. One thing's for sure, the folks over at Sheraton Towers are definitely generous with their alcohol, the rum truffled centers each carrying lethal doses of alcohol that sure brought a devilish smile to my face.
We were each presented with a box of moon cakes on our way out. A lovely gift which I so deftly devoured through the following week.
Thanks to Sheraton Towers for the invite.
Sheraton Towers Hotel
Level 1
39 Scotts Road
Tel: 6839 5623
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