Dragon i - Decent Shanghainese Fare at reasonable prices

The first thought that struck me is the uncanning resemblance to Crystal Jade and Din Tai Fung in it's Concept.
Decked in black, the layout of the restaurant is both modern and chic.

Mr HB and I decided to have (one of) our lunch here during our most recent visit to Sunway Pyramid. We were seated at the full length glass panel over looking sunway lagoon (read: hot). While my daughter was having fun looking at what everyone is doing in the lagoon X metres below us, we were struggling a little under the hot sun rays penetrating thru the glass panels.

After browsing thru the menu, we decided to order 1 entree to share and some dim sum items as it was quite early for lunch (before 12). The reason why we had to eat so early was because my son was sleeping and it is ONLY during his nap time that we can eat in peace. I keep wishing that this period would fast forward itself as eating at odd hours is not exactly fun.

But anyway, we ordered the "lion head" (giant meat ball) claypot noodles, steamed custurd buns, shanghainese pan fried meat bun. Unfortunately, one of my favourite dessert dim sum item - the "gao li duo sha" (red bean paste in some egg/banana bun) that I wanted to order was not available.
We were informed that there is a waiting time of 20min for the "lion head", since we are in no hurry we told her that we are ok with that.
The custurd buns are the first to arrive. Mr HB made the mistake of braking up the buns into half in 1 swift motion as the contents of the custurd buns are in liquid form.

But that did served as a good warning to me as I cautiously poked holes to cool the custurd. The custurd bun was delicious with creamy, sweet and salty fluid flowing into your mouth with every bite. The pan fried meat buns were the next to arrive. It looks quite big but the meat to bun ratio is quite low which drastically reduced the shiok factor.
The last to be served the the "lion head" claypot noodles. Piping hot, the meat ball was indeed huge embedded in a claypot full of yellow noodles and a sea of braised gravy/soup(?). The well marinated meat ball tasted really good and the noodles was smooth. I guess I'll be visiting this eatery again when I can.

Must Tries: Lion head claypot noodles, custurd bun

Mayim - Value for Money Chinese Food

Finally managed to bring my parents out for a meal after talking about it for quite some time.
This time it happens to be lunch at Mayim.
I've always enjoyed eating at Mayim ever since I was first introduced to it by my sister a few years back.
Firstly, they serve decent chinese food with variety and very importantly they are really value-for money.

We got there about 12pm on a weekday lunch and already it is >50% full.
We were seated promptly and given the menu. The ordering process here is very similar to the Cha-chan-tengs where you are given a slip to write down your orders.

We ordered the following
1. Roast duck noodle for dad
2. Porridge for mom
3. Cha siew noodle for yours truly
4. Bo luo bao (2pcs)
5. Chong You Bing (2pcs)

Dad's grub was the first to arrived followed by Mom's porridge. Sadly, Dad's roast duck noodle looked barely impressive with a few "hardly-any-meat" pieces of duck on top of a mattress of tossed noodles. Dad said the noodles was OK on a whole.
Mom's porridge was a different story. With an assortment of colours, it looked appetizing enough for me to take a sample. It was tasty and packed with flavours from the fish and peanut. The little crisp adds crunch to the porridge.
My char siew noodles was the last to arrive but well good things are worth waiting for. See the generous portion of sweet marinated char siew? It was delicious, well charred with bite factor and drizzled with the sweet char siew sauce. My perennial favourite order in Mayim.

The Bo luo bun used to be packed with char siew like those in Crystal Jade's My Bread and oh-so-tasty but now, it's been replaced by custard and peanut as filling instead of char siew. It was good too but I definately prefers my char siew to custard. But nothing beats buns fresh off the oven.
Chong Yu Bing are my mom's favourite. A deep fried little chinese pastry filled with turnip slices. Not really something I look forward to but was pretty tasty as well.

Din Tai Fung - The Usual Good Stuff

Can you believe that movie tix for Kungfu Panda was SOLD OUT on a Wednesday night?!
For a moment I thought my ears were playing a trick on me.

Mr HB and me brought our little princess to J8 in anticipation of fulfilling the sorely missed movie (& popcon) lover in us only to be disappointed.
The princess was calmouring for her "big TV' and went into a mini fit when I told her that we have to change plans.

We then make our ways to Din Tai Fung(DTF) for dinner.

Mr HB and the family have a special fondness for their "xiao cai" which comprises of some sea weed and vermicelli. Looks absolutely unappetizing if you ask me. Tastewise, it is a little spicy and has a tinge sweet and sourness to it. I didn't really take to this dish. Mr HB finished most of this by himself.

We ordered a pork chop fried rice for Mr HB, wanton la mian for me, 6pcs of xiao long bao to share and our perennial favourite dessert bao - seasame bao.

The standard of DTF has always been consistent throughout my numerous visit. The pork shop fried rice has generous portion of egg with every rice grain coated with an even amount of egg on the surface. The pork chop is lean and nicely fried.

The la mian has a good bite factor despite that fact that it is relatively tasteless, wanton is generously packed with veggies and meat. A healthy but satisfying dish.

Xiao long bao(XLB) is one of DTF signature's dish and it has been quite pleasant to eat. What I always do is to first poke a hole at the skin of the XLB and drink up the (fat-laden) soup. Then drown the XLB in lots of vinegar and down it in one mouthful. But do make sure that the temperature of the XLB is OK before doing this.

Last but not least, the sesame baos! My princess loved these. She is a very fussy eater and eats things in small bites (usually not more than 5) when u offer food to her (but not without first smelling to accertain that they have the potential to be good tasting).

So the fact that she can eat 1/2 of these bao all by herself say a lot about the taste. The sesame paste is fragrant and sweet, coupled with the bao skin (which can turn hard if u wait too long) is an absolute delight!

Service in DTF is always prompt from serving the food (usually takes abt 10-15 mins despite peak hours) to topping up your tea and clearing your plates.

Din Tai Fung
Bishan Junction 8
Level 1

Mayim - I'll Be Back!!

One of the restaurants that serves good chinese at a very reasonable price.

I particularly like the Char Siew Dry Noodle (HKG style). The noodle itself is springy and char siew is generous and tasty.

If you happen to go in the afternoon, they also have a variety of dim sum that you can choose from. The Bo Lo pau is my favourite, bursting with flavour with every bite and oozing sweet char siew (as you can see, I am quite a char siew fan).

They also serve pickled vegetables as appetizer which is also quite tasty - sweet and sour in nature to whet your appetite for the main course to come. They are not free but however, you can as for as many refills as you want.

They also serve many different flavours of tea and they serve by the pot even if it is for 1 person.

Definately recommended for everyone. One note of caution though, the restaurant tend to be crowded esp during dinner so be prepared to wait a bit for a table.

Must Tries: Bo Lo Pau, Char siew noodle

Mayim
1 Bukit Batok Central Link, #02-04 West Mall, Singapore

Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant - Nostalgia

I've been to Beng Thin numerous times but this is the first time I am writing a review on this restaurant.

Beng Thin serves Hokkien dishes and I must say they are one of the best in Singapore and on top of that, at a very reasonable price.
Some of the items that are "must eats" includeFish Maw Soup - Thick and generous with ingredients.Ngoh Hiong and popiah (fried) - Served with sweet sauce and fried to perfection. Very very tasty and yummy.
Hokkien noodles - Not too laden with dark soy sauce, so you can still taste the noodles the way they are supposed to be.
Oyster omelette - Sinful but full of oysters and the omelette is done to perfection.
The food is usually served hot and the wait staff are friendly and helpful.

Worth visiting if you are in the mood for Hokkien food.

Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant
65 Chulia Street, #05-02 OCBC Centre, Singapore

Moi Lum restaurant - Disappointing

It's weekend again, which means we have a chance to be creative in our choice of dining (as weekend by default means eating out).

Was feeling adventurous and decided to try out new eating place today and Moi Lum came to mind after reading the review on HGW.

Took us a while circling around Maxwell before we discovered that it is really just across the street from Maxwell market.

The eatery was rather empty with only 2-3 tables occupied. We sat down and started to look at the menu to try and decide what to order (though I already have a few items in mind - courteousy of Michelle_Ling).

We ordered the following
1. Majestic Roast Chicken - this is one of the more decent dishes among our orders last night. The skin is crispy and the meat juicy. But DO NOT dip it into the plum powder provided, it is extremely salty.
2. Claypot Beancurd - just normal claypot beancurd. Nothing special
3. Oyster Duck Roll - Mr HB and my dad says that it's got a fishy taste and smell, probably due to the oyster. Mum didn't like it either.
4. Yam pot with scallop - Yam pot was crispy. This is also one of the acceptable dishes last night.
5. Fish Maw Crab Mean Soup - In 1 word, disappointing. The soup is thin and I could not find much fish maw nor crab meat.
6. Fried Kai Lan - Veggie is veggie, so nothing fantastic here but this fried kai lan fried with nothing else cost $9.00 which I think is expensive.

Chrysanthemum tea cost $1.50 per pax again it expensive in my opinion.

The meal set us back by $100 bucks and we were charged towels which was not given to us. Luckily it was noticed by the vigilant truly else we will end up paying for nothing.

Moi Lum Restaurant
38 Maxwell Road, #01-01 Airview Building, Singapore

Imperial Herbal Resaturant & Tcafe - Chinese New Year Food in 1 Bowl

We were here on a Monday night for dinner with some customers after being told that this is a place that serves good chinese food and soups.

I was rushing into the restaurant as I was running a little behind time. The "hands" (actually chairs in the shape of a palm/hand) immediately caught my attention. Decked in loud colours, the first thought that cross my mind was "Is this a mistake?".
Upon reaching our table, I was relived to see that my customers have yet to arrive. I then take the chance to survey the surrounding in greater details. By now, it is very apparent to me that it's attempt to appear chic and modern has back-fired, the theme is very inconsistent and simply does not elude elegance and class in any sense.

We were told that this current place has 3 times the capacity of the old location in Metropole Hotel.We placed orders while waiting for the arrival of our dinner companions and I secrectly pray that the food be better than their choice of interior decor...

1. Egg white with scallop on potato basket - I was told that this is one of their signature dish. True enough, the egg white with scallop mix was delightful with a sprinkle of pepper. Light yet explosive with taste on a fried potato bowl. I like it!

2. Buddha jump over the wall - this order was placed more to cater to the request of a pregnant woman who is craving for soup. Each bowl cost $38 or so I was told. Each bowl is packed with ingredients that you normally eat only during CNY - sharks fin, abalone, sea cucumber, scallop, bamboo shoot and some others. Each sip of soup is packed with flavour and the ingredients are fresh. Yummy. After this bowl, I am already quite full...

3. Beggar's chicken - I only took a small bite off the chicken as I could not really stomach much more food. Again the chicken is of pretty high standard. This is like the chinese version of chicken stew (cooked with some herbs). The chicken meat simply melts in your mouth not to mention the wonderful taste.

4. Some steamed fish - Hmm...I cannot recall what fish this was but whatever it is, it sure is delicious. The fish is very fresh and is "chewy", exluding sweetness with every bite.

5. Some veggies with Wolfberries - This is just normal...

6. Fried Mee Sua - The mee sua also did not disappoint, tangy and tasty.

7. Dessert - Everyone ordered their individual dessert and it's Aloe Vera jelly with fruits for me! The aloe vera jelly is very refreshing, coupled with fruits to give it some crunch. Not too heavy after a big meal.

All in all, the food is good. Service crew appears to be knowledgeable about the food they serve and keen to please.

Must Tries: Egg white with scallop on potato basket

Imperial Herbal Resaturant & Tcafe
1 Harbourfront Walk,
#03-08 VivoCity,
Singapore

Peach Garden (OCBC Centre) - Fabulous Food with Excellent View

There was a calling for chinese food for a business dinner I was organising and it had to happen during the same period we have hosting the ASEAN submit.

After some thought, I figured it is best to avoid Orchard and Suntec area. But where else can I find good chinese food with condusive environment for biz dinner? Again, zip thru HGW for some ideas and finally decided on peach garden @ OCBC.

And I must say that that was a superb decision. This is the BEST biz dinner I had for this entire year, unless Dec can see us out-doing PG@OCBC.

The orders were not placed by me so I do not the full name of each dish.We started with the cold dish, the presentation is a kinda fusion where we were each presented a small portion of 3 types of food on a long plate - just like the starters at Iggy's. There was some little fried fish which was really crispy and tasted a little like twisties only more flavourful, what tasted to be like fried carrot cake and bean sprouts in a pastry bowl and 2 pcs of roast pork.

We then went on to the roast duck. The duck is very well roasted with tender and juicy meat.Next on is the double boiled shark cartilage soup. The soup has definately been boiled for a very long time, it is extremely delectable with generous ingredients.

We then had the perch fish, which was supposedly the signature dish of the restaurant. The fish is very fresh and juicy and the restaurant mgr told us that they will change the methid of cooking this fish frequently to ensure that customers do not get bored. The taste of this fish is definately something to behold.

After the fish, we had some shell food. I think it's clams of some sort. Fresh, juicy and succulent. The noodles came next. Hmm...How can I describe this? So far this is the most innovative and delicious noodle dish I have had to date. The noodles is presented with 2 tiger prawns in a stock of steamed egg (read: chawanushi) with kai lan. The taste is wonderful and the combination complements each ingredient flawlessly.

We finally rounded things off with royal jelly in coconut which was very refreshing and satifying.In summary, with the exception of the roast duck which was very well done but not extraordinary and the cold dish starter, all the rest of the dishes were excellent.
So much so that I decided to book out CNY dinner with them even b4 seeing their menu....

Must Tries: Perch fish, soup

Peach Garden (OCBC)
65 Chulia Street,
#33-01 OCBC Centre,
Singapore