New Dishes From Golden Village Gold Class Lounges

It has being ages since I last step into cinema to enjoy a good movie as well as pamper myself  at their Gold Class Lounges. Recently Golden Village (GV) has introduce a new Gold Class menu with a mix of hearty Western delights as well as contemporary local favourites to bring an exclusive and luxurious movie experience within the Golden Village Multiplex. (Gold Class is available at GV VivoCity and GV Grand)

These GV's Gold Class signature dishes are prepared by Executive Chef Chris Foo and Chef de Cuisine Ronnie Ng, backed with almost 50 years of combined culinary experience in French, Continental, Chinese and Singapore cuisines.

Golden Abalone Soup Noodles @ S$18.00

(*New / Exclusive to GV VivoCity) 

If you are looking for something to pamper yourself after a hectic work week while enjoying the movie, perhaps you might want to consider a bowl of this Golden Abalone Soup Noodles. It consists of homemade rich abalone broth served with noodles and accompanied by seafood dumplings, tiger prawn and abalone. And this dish is food for the soul, presenting a hearty yet comfortable option especially for rainy day.

Trio of Desserts @ S$14.00

(*New / Available at both GV VivoCity and GV Grand)

For those who craving for dessert and cannot decide on which to choose; a sugary combination of Cinnamon Praline Mousse, Wild Cherry Almond Tart and Blueberry Pannacotta will be a great choice to delight any sweet tooth.

Diners may also choose to indulge in the 3-course Gold Class Set Menu at S$30.00 / S$33.00 which includes a choice of one appetizer, one main course, and dessert, served with coffee or TWG Tea, or soft drinks of their choice. And all GV Movie Club members also gets to enjoy a 10% off menu prices at Golden Village Gold Class by presenting their card before payment. For more details, you can visit www.gv.com.sg

Crystal Jade Celebrates 20th Anniversary with Culinary Carnival

In celebration of Crystal Jade Culinary Concepts Holding's 20th Anniversary, the home-grown restaurant chain is holding it's very first 3 Days Culinary Carnival at the atrium of NEX shopping mall. This carnival starts from 05 - 07 August 2011 and will feature a wide range of Crystal Jade dishes, cooking demonstrations, quizzes and competitions. Most importantly the profits will be donated to World Vision, an international aid organization.

As part of Crystal Jade's focus on corporate social responsibility, the restaurant chain will donate the event's profits to World Vision whereby 80% of the anticipated 100,000 dollars raised will go to the One Life Fund bursary scheme while the rest will go to World Vision development projects in rural Vietnam.

The Carnival coupon is available for sales at all Crystal Jade outlets, Carnival Hotline @ 6512 0800 and Ticket Booths located at atrium of NEX shopping mall at a value of S$30.00 per booklet including 1 FREE bottle of 500ml Sunbeam Oil while stock last.  Please note coupons purchased are for one "specified" day only and you will get another Extra S$5.00 coupon by using Citibank Credit Card to make payment for the S$30.00 coupon booklets too. More details of the Culinary Carnival, please refer to Crystal Jade website HERE.

The Carnival will have 12 food booths offering a wide range of cuisines, each representing a different Crystal Jade concept. This is also the first time members of the public will be able to sample such a wide range of Crystal Jade dishes all in one location - with selections from its fine-dining outlets to its casual and family restaurants and bakeries.

La Mian Demonstration by Crystal Jade Chef on 3 different types of La Mian, including the fine Dragon Beard Noodles(longxu mian)that can thread those needle. After some impressive demonstration by chef, there is also a La Mian Competition whereby audiences would get a chance to hands-on.

So remember to hop down to the Crystal Jade Culinary Carnival from today onwards till 07 August 2011 to savour a spread of Crystal Jade favourites, and as well contribute your share to the society by purchasing some carnival coupons and be part of the profits given to World Vision to help those who are in needs.

Singapore Food Festival 2011 - Official Opening 15 July 2011

Although it was a raining evening, it did not reduce the number of visitors gathering around Clarke Quay Read Bridge to discover the journey of this year Singapore Food Festival 2011(SFF11) "CURRIES AND SPICES" theme during its Official Opening on Friday, 15 July 2011.

Introducing different types of ground spices for making curries and cuisines near the main entrance.

From the name "SPICE IT UP!" you are able to discover Singapore ethnic curries and cuisines using different kinds of whole or ground spices found in their cuisine which they will showcase it on most of the participating stalls. Example: These are the spices and ingredients used for making Chinese Herbal Mutton Soup from one of the stalls.)

As compared to last year(read more HERE) statistic of 30,000 visitors, this year we have over 35,000 visitors crowding at the stalls on the Clarke Quay Read Bridge during yesterday night official opening.

Before the Guest of Honor arrival at the Singapore Food Festival Village, there is a short 5 minutes band performance where the drummers dressed in chef outfits accompany by two dancers to SPICE up the HEAT for the event.

This year Singapore Food Festival logo is given an updated look to reflect to the theme of SFF11 after 17 years. The brand new logo is a colourful amalgamation of Singapore’s Best-loved Spices in a traditional mortar and pestle. Every member of the launch party will be given a piece of a puzzle to fit onto the “Spice Backdrop”. These 5 pieces of puzzle will form the new SFF Logo when pieced together and at the same time officially launching SFF11.

The order of the pieces of puzzle are:-

~ 1st Piece: Cinnamon Stick (by Ms Le Thi Thanh Thao)
~ 2nd Piece: Chilli (by Chef Milind Sovani & Mr Shanmugam)
~ 3rd Piece: Ginger (by Mr Ng Yong Hwee)
~ 4th Piece: Cardamom (by Ms Melissa Ow)
~ 5th Piece: Coriander Leaf and Star Anise (by Minister S.Iswaran)

After Minster S.Iswaran and the rest of the launch party finished touring the "Curry and Spice Street", they headed to the cooking demonstration area to observe SFF Consultant Chef Milind Sovani prepares a Fish Head Curry dish.

Zalina's Specialties has a good range of local Malay Cuisines where you will indulge with the sambal chilli, rendang, chili prawns and etc. Our set meal consists of :- Turmeric Rice, Rendang Chicken, Sambal Prawns and Egg which cost S$6.50. 

Local favourite Ngoh Hiang that you can have it anytime of the day with a accompany spicy dipping sauce with hint of crashed peanuts.

Spice Sutra offers a range of North Indian food such as Butter Chicken, Assorted Skewers, Mutton Curry and etc.

Other than spicy curries you can also try the Chili Crab from Jumbo Seafood, Claypot Fish Head Curry from Chng Kee, and Fried Carrot Cake from Lim Hai Sheng. But if you keen in trying some Indian food, look up for the stalls occupy by the Indian Restaurants Association Singapore(IRAS) where they offers array of Indian cuisines.

For those who love Ice-Cream there is an Gelato stall that sells a few types of "spiced ice-creams" such as Wasabi, Vanilla Saffron and Chocolate Chilly(where you will get to see real red chili in it) for a single scoop at S$4.00 per cup.

If you are someone who love SPICES and SPICY food, do come down to the Singapore Food Festival Village and experience your journey with all the different types of curries and cuisines are you can find there.

SINGAPORE FOOD FESTIVAL VILLAGE

Date: 15 - 24 July 2011
Time: 4.00pm - 11.00pm(weekdays) / 12.00pm - 11.00pm(weekends)
Venue:Clarke Quay Read Bridge And Along Central River Promenade
Admission: FREE (Pricing of the food starts from S$2.00 onwards)
Website and Details HERE.

Dim Sum Buffet @ Ban Heng Pavilion Restaurant

Ban Heng Pavilion Restaurant - 萬興樓(formerly Dragon Gate Restaurant) most probably offers the cheapest Dim Sum Buffet around Singapore with close to 30 different varieties of steamed and deep-fried dim sum together with porridge, soup and desserts.

Having Dim Sum Buffet for weekday lunch is a total blessing while others are rushing for their quick lunch bite within lunch hour. While waiting for the dim sum to be served, you can help yourself with their smooth and fragrant century egg porridge or some dessert of your choice. (Photo: Lotus root soup, century egg porridge, mango sago, read bean soup and almond jelly with cocktail)

The Steamed Custard Bun (香甜奶皇包) comes in a basket of 4 buns but I was quiet disappointed with their custard fillings which is not those flowing lava type which I had from Victor's Kitchen(read more HERE) sometime back. The custard fillings shown above was rather like paste form which is dried and not really towards my preference.

Look at these puffing Steamed Shrimp Paste Dumpling with Parsley (鲜虾香茜饺) that serves in a basket of 4. Each dumpling is filled with fresh and crunchy prawn but pity the skin and texture was too dry perhaps it had being left aside for quite sometime before serving.

Love their Steamed Meat Dumplings with Crab Roes (蚧璜蒸烧卖) as the texture was very crunchy with sweet juicy filling that leaves you craving for more than 1 serving.

From the Deep-fried category we tried both the savory and sweet dim sum such as Deep Fried Wanton(脆炸云吞) and Deep Fried Shrimp Dumplings(沙律明虾枣) on 1st row follow by Deep Fried Sweet Sesame Ball(香甜芝麻枣) and Deep Fried Water-chestnut Cake(脆皮马蹄条)shown on 2nd row. Out of the 4 items above, we love their Sweet Sesame Ball which has a crispy outer skin and not so sweet fillings, very addicting snacks .

If has to make a choice between the Deep Fried Roll with Chicken and Prawn(风凰卷) and Deep Fried Sweet Potato Roll(水果网中卷) I would vote for the sweet potato roll because I love the texture of the nested wrapped with a layer of sweet mashed potato.

Other than the above, we also tried their Stir-fry Spinach, Fried Noodles with Bean Sprout which we love and Barbecued Pork With Honey, Shrimp Paste Wrapped with Bean Curd Skin and etc.

Before coming for this dim sum buffet I have read up a few recommending sites and some it have rather negative feedback on either their food or the service staffs. For us, we find the quality of their food are still quite acceptable for the price that we are paying and the serving staffs of that days are also very friendly towards most of the customers.

But there is one thing that I would like to bring up, I notice that some of their utensils and plates are not thoroughly wash as there are still some porridge or dessert stains found on some of their serving spoons at the buffet line.

BAN HENG PAVILION RESTAURANT

1 Maritime Square
#04-01 Harbour Front Centre
Singapore 099253
Telephone: 6278 0288
Website: http://www.banhengrestaurant.com/

Opening Hours:-
Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.00pm - 10.00pm

A clear view of their Weekdays Dim Sum Lunch Menu with pricing range from S$12.80++/adult and S$9.80++/child(age 3 -11 years old). For your information their buffet Lunch hours starts from 11.30am - 2.30pm with a minimum of 4 adults. They also provides "Weekends" Dim Sum Buffet at a slightly higher price which you can call their reservation line @ 6278 0288 for more details.

[Value Set Lunch] Nanxiang Steamed Bao Restaurant

Last week I went down to Nanxiang flagship outlet at Plaza Singapura to collect my dinning voucher which I have won from on one of their Facebook event. To be honest, I have not try any items from their 4 outlets even though I am very interested to find out more about their King Size Nanxiang Steamed Soup Bun(蟹黄灌汤包) which comes with a straw for customer to sip the soup broth.

My S$20.00 Nanxiang Voucher from their Chinese New Year Facebook event.(read more HERE)

While collecting my voucher, we were attracted to their Set Lunch promotion menu which comes in two different different category such as Signature Value Set Lunch (S$27.60 for 2 pax) and Superior Value Set Lunch (S$35.60 for 2 pax).

Both of their value set lunch categories have similar items except on the "Steamed Bun and Home Made Style Dish". So after comparing both the menu, we decided to have the Superior Value Set Lunch because I wanted to try their "Salted Egg Yolk Prawns" and "Spicy Crabmeat and Pork Filling Steamed Bun".

Out of the 6 items from the "Shanghai Cold Dish" column we decided to try their recommending "Nanxiang Drunken Chicken(南翔糟鸡)" and leave the "Chilled Tofu with Century Egg" on our next visit. Their Drunken is lightly infused with Chinese wine fragrance that does not overpower the taste of the chilled chicken.
À La Carte Price: S$6.80 per plate

Making a decision between crab roe and crabmeat could be something difficult especially for those who loves to eat crab. Here at their Superior Steamed Bun column, you can either take up the non-spicy "Crab Roe and Pork Filling Steamed Bun(蟹黄小笼)" or be more adventure like us and try their "Spicy Crabmeat And Pork Filling Steamed Bun"(香辣蟹肉小笼).

At first we thought that their "spicy crabmeat" might be something similar to Din Tai Fung's Chili Crab Xiao Bao Long but when we get to taste it, it was totally different. This one at Nanxiang, the soup broth is rather clear with hint of spiciness from the spices used which makes it taste like a bit overdo for the combination.
À La Carte Price: S$11.80 per basket of 6 steamed buns

For Dim Sum pastries usually I would prefer something sweet rather than savoury. But for this round I am attracted to this "Salt and Pepper Cashew Nut Pastry(椒盐腰果酥)" which I am curious about it's taste. Overall this little treat taste great with bites of chopped cashew nut that mixed with their tasty seasoning which wrapped in layers of crispy dough pastry.
À La Carte Price: S$3.30 per plate



This "Salted Egg Yolk Prawn(黄金虾仁)" is the main reason why I choose their Superior Value Set Lunch(S$35.60++ for 2 pax) rather then the Signature Set (S$27.60++ for 2 pax). Each prawn is shelled for your convenient, coated with flour batter, deep fried till golden and crispy before coating with a luxury layer of salted egg yolk sauce. Thumb up for this!
À La Carte Price: S$12.80 per plate

To complete the value set, you can choose any 2 items from the Fried Rice/Noodles category. From the menu, we picked this "Shanghai Vegetable Rice(上海菜饭)" which might look plain but the taste is definitely better than some other fried rice that I recent tried in another Hong Kong cafe.
À La Carte Price: S$7.00 per plate

Other than Fried Rice we also try one of their noodle item which is the "Nanxiang Dumplings with Noodle Soup(南翔小馄饨汤面)". Sad to say although the texture of the noodle is springy and good but their dumplings were just average in taste, nothing fancy. 
À La Carte Price: S$8.00 per plate

Other then those dishes from the Superior Set Lunch above, we also order this Must Try "King Size Nanxiang Steamed Soup Bun(蟹黄灌汤包)" it will be serve with a straw to drink the soup broth.
À La Carte Price: S$6.80 each

The rich broth is being concealed in the thick layer of bun skin together with generous amount of crabmeat and roes. Each sip leaves you with that warm and sweet taste release from the ingredients used, but I find the taste a bit too strong to my liking.  And for your information those bun skin is rather hard for consuming as it is especially made to hold the soup broth but by all means you can still tear it open to enjoy the remaining pieces of crabmeat and roe after you have done with the soup.


If you are interested to try out their any of their steamed bun or Shanghai dishes, Nanxiang has 3 restaurant outlets(detail HERE) in Singapore whereby their new flagship outlet is situated at level 2, Plaza Singapura. And there is also a Nanxiang Express takeaway Xiao Long Bao, pastries and etc at NEX Mall, Serangoon Central. You can also take a look at their ONLINE MENU that comes with photo and price list HERE.

Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant(南翔馒头店)

68 Orchard Road
#02-01 Plaza Singapura
Singapore 238839
Contact: 6337 7446
Website: http://www.nanxiang.com.sg/index.php
Facebook Page : Click HERE

Operation Hours:
Monday to Friday:  Lunch 11.30am - 3.00pm,  Dinner 6.00pm - 10.00pm
Saturday, Sunday and PH: 11.00am to 10.00pm

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner - Part I

Traditionally most Chinese families would gather together for a feast a few days or just before the start of Chinese Lunar New Year. And eventually this meal is known as “Tuan Yuan Fan(团 圆 饭) or Reunion Dinner which is eaten with all immediate family members as a symbol of strength and unity in the family. And during the reunion dinner there is always plenty of food on the table and also by having an excess of food would also symbolizes good fortune for the New Year too.

For the past few years my mum has being joining us together with my in-laws to have Reunion Dinner since she is alone after my dad passed away. And this round is our 2nd year having pre Chinese New Year dinner at "Jing Long Seafood Restaurant" which is located at Bedok North Ave 2.

We reached the place around 5.40pm and almost 3/4 of the restaurant is full of customers either waiting for the food to be served or at least already eaten the 1st dish which is "Yu Sheng". By 6pm the restaurant is fully packed with customers and the serving staffs also seems to be a bit slow and forgetful as they didn't even serve us any drink after 30 minutes upon our arrival.

Finally after another 10 minutes, our "Salmon Yu Sheng(三文鱼鱼生)" arrived and the waitress starts to mumbling all those auspicious words while adding in the ingredients.

Second dish is "Braised Shark Fins with Bean Sprout(银芽扣珍珠翅)". Out of all the dishes in the menu, we find this is actually abit below average taste as the stock is so thick and gluey that reminds me of the "Tau Suan(spilt green bean soup)".

When comes to fish, do you prefer steam or deep-fried? I think most of the people would prefer "Steam" rather than "Deep-fried" if the fish is fresh. But surprisingly our "Deep-fried Soon Hock Fish in Special Sauce(特味顺壳鱼)" on that day was quite impressive with their special sauce and also some "Papadum(an Indian cracker)" instead of usual prawn crackers around it.

Does this "Braised Mushroom with Dried Oyster(花菇耗士生菜)" look Familiar to you? Yes! If you have follow my Chinese New Year dishes, you would have read up the post on how we prepared a similar dish at home. (read more HERE)

Instead of the usual Crispy Cereal Prawns that my sister-in-law loves, this year we are having "Spicy Butter Prawn(奶辣脆皮虾)". And according to New Year myth, eating prawns will bring happiness and well-being because in Mandarin and Cantonese "Xia" and "Ha" mean laughter.

You can find this popular "Lotus Leaf Rice with Chinese Sausage(腊味荷叶饭)" dish in most of the Chinese New Year set menu from various restaurants. It is believes that these rice grain symbolise "silver and gold" that is being wrapped in a money bag.

Lastly for dessert we have something different this year which is the "Assorted Mochi(四季麻薯)" instead of their signature Mango Cream with Pomelo.

This is Part I of our Reunion Dinner on Sunday, 30 January 2010 at Jing Long Seafood Restaurant. Personally I think dine-out during Chinese New Year in any restaurants is actually very rush and the food might not be as good in quality compare to normal days. Although Jing Long serves quite good quality of food but from my past experience on eating reunion dinner in restaurants, I find that with the price that we are paying is actually goes to the staffs OT pay during festive season instead of the quality of the food.

Hope next year everyone can agreed to have something simple at home rather than eat out which is too costly and not worth paying for the price and quality of food we had.

JING LONG SEAFOOD RESTARUANT
Block 412 Bedok North Ave 2
#01-152
Singapore 460412
Reservation: (65)6442 9398
Website: http://www.jinglongseafood.com/

Daily Business Hours:
Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm(last order 2.15pm);
Dinner: 5.30pm - 10.30pm(last order 10.30pm)