Tim Ho Wan @ Plaza Singapura (4 out of 5)

Tim Ho Wan @ Plaza Singapura (Score: 4 out of 5)

So, it was a Friday night and my good friend Mike is in town. Wifey also left the office a bit early, since it's "Eat with Family Day" and this was a good combination to try out Tim Ho Wan. One of the things you will experience when dining here is waiting in their monstrous queue. For a table of 5, wifey had to wait for 2 hours. Yup 2 hours just to queue. Good thing though is that once you are in, service is prompt and food is served quite fast + the food is rewarding.

The Restaurant

The Sign Outside 

Queuing for Tim

This is the "normal" scene for Tim Ho Wan in Singapore. People here love their dimsum and Tim Ho Wan will make people love it more. Not all of the dishes were superb but the special dishes more than make up for it.

The Order

Rice with Chicken, Sausage, and Mushroom - $6.00

I found this to be good but nothing really special. It had good layers of flavor and who I'm just a sucker for Chinese sausages.

Vermicelli Roll with Beef - $5.50

I agreed with Wifey that this wasn't so good nor was the pig liver version.

Garlic, Mushroom, Spinach Dumpling - $3.80

This can actually go as one of Tim Ho Wan's specialty dishes if you ask me. The skin was thin but not fragile. The filling was very tasty and this is currently on top of my list of best vegetable dumplings.

Pan Fried Carrot(actually Radish) Cake - $4.50

I love carrot cake. I always order this whenever I eat dimsum and Tim Ho Wan just makes it better. You can actually taste the radish and the way they prepare this is just really good. Its not over fried which makes it soft but the brown stuff makes it crunchy which gives it texture.

Steamed Egg Cake (Malay ko) - $3.80

This was very good as well and Wifey really liked it. I think if I wasn't so full, I would have enjoyed this more. 

Prawn Dumpling (Ha Kau) - $5.50

I love Ha Kau and some may say that this is too expensive but trust me this is so worth it. The shrimp is sweet and Tim is quite generous with their shrimps.

Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce - $4.00

I liked this as well. Taste wise I've had the same but I think Tim's version was softer without making the skin break.

Pork Rib with black Bean Sauce - $4.20

Meh... there are other pork rib that is better.

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork - $4.50

I apologize for saying that there are BBQ Pork buns that are better out there. This is the BOMB of BBQ Pork buns. The bun in itself is good add that to a flavorful BBQ pork inside and it just becomes magic in your mouth. Mike said that this is a perfect marriage of Kopi Roti and BBQ pork. Too bad you can only order 1 order (3pc)  per person.

Glutinous Rice Dumpling - $5.00

Fans of glutinous rice will like this but there are better glutinous rice out there. If they can have more fillings inside than just mostly rice, then it would be better.

Price and Value

Everything was around $160 for 5 pax. So that brings it about $32.50 per head. But we did order for about 7 people and had 1 drink each. I think $20 per head should be more than sufficient. Be sure to order the BBQ Pork Buns, Vegetable Dumplings, Ha Kau, Malay Ko and either the Glutinous Rice or Rice topping (Chicken, Mushroom, Sausage)

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 4

Value - 4

Service - 4

Overall 4 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes! If they start their number queuing system

Restaurant details: 

Website: http://www.timhowan.com/

Address: 68 Orchard Road #01-29A, Plaza Singapura, Singapore 238839

No Reservation

Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine @ Ngee Ann City

Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine @ Ngee Ann City (Score: 4 out of 5)

So, I had the in-laws visiting this weekend and as usual we went around Singapore to have good food. First stop was Imperial Treasure. 

This was the second time that I have visited this place and the first time was more than a year ago. I don't really remember what we ate that time but I will never forget this place again. The food was very good with a few hiccups.

Our Orders

Teochew Dumpling - $3.60

Maybe I got to the table a bit late and that is why I didn't enjoy this much as it was a bit cold already. But even if it was hot I don't see myself getting wowed by it. 

 Traditional Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Pork - $4.80

This is a special Glutinous Rice Dumpling only available around this time in Singapore. Wifey likes it very much because of the combination of the braised pork, yellow bean, salted egg, and sticky rice. If this is one of your favorite dishes, I'm sure you'll love this one.

Dried Scallop Dumpling Soup - $7.00

My favorite dish of the day. I really really love this soup. The skin of the wanton is soft enough to cut with a Chinese soup spoon and the balance of the season is spot on. Just add a little of Chinese vinegar to enhance the flavor and you are all set.

Homemade Fried Vermicelli - $14.00

Another mediocre dish which was quite expensive. Nothing really wrong with it but nothing special as well.

Pan-fried Carrot Cake - $4.20

Nothing special here. I wished they can do something different with Carrot Cake in this restaurant.

Chicken feet - $3.60

The simplest of food when done right is impressive. You'd think that different restaurants can cook chicken feet pretty well but I have to admit that Imperial's is one of the best I've had.

Marinated Goose Web - $18.00

Served with some tofu at the bottom, this was a good dish but I'm not a big fan of goose so I'll skip this during the next visit.

BBQ Pork Pastry - $4.20

This is becoming a fast and popular dish in Singapore given that Tim Ho Wan is in town already. Wifey and I are split on this. I think the dough of Tim Ho Wan is better but the BBQ Pork inside is better here. It is still a must have at $4.20.

Soft Malay Cake - $3.50

Malay cake is normally nothing special but this Malay cake was very soft and beats any butter sponge cake that I have tried. If you are a fan of Malay cake, you will definitely like this one.

Steamed Custard Pao - $4.20

Open in the middle, smell the salted egg custard, let cool a little, and enjoy a small piece of heaven. 

Traditional Roasted Pork - $10.00

Very thin layer of fat, nicely layered meat, crunchy skin. Just place a little bit of mustard to give a little bit of heat. Very good in general.

Price and Value

For a party of 4, we paid $157.00 so that is about $40.00 per head. There are some dishes that I think were too expensive and didn't justify the price (goose web and fried vermicelli). But the other dishes more than made up for it especially the Dried Scallop Soup and Chicken Feet which were my two favorite during this visit.

Rating:

Food - 4

Ambiance - 4

Value - 3.5

Service - 3.5

Overall 4 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!

Restaurant details: 

Website: http://www.imperialtreasure.com/en/teochew-cuisine/menus

Address: Ngee Ann City, #04-20A/21, 391 Orchard Road

Fax: +65 6736 2118

Reservation is a must!

Paradise Dynasty @ Ion Orchard

Paradise Dynasty @ Ion Orchard (Score: 4.5 out of 5)

I have to confess one thing. This is our favorite restaurant. I've seen some reviews regarding Paradise Dynasty which aren't so good but I just disagree. Everytime we have guests, we bring them here.

Why is this our favorite? Simple, excellent value, excellent food, relatively good service. I'd have to say though that if there will be one complaint about this place, it's the queue during peak hours (Friday nights can get bad. Just recently we waited I think for 2 hours... I'm still sorry Kathy :). There is also no reservation so first come first serve.). 

Our Orders

Fried Shanghai Pork Buns ($4.50)

Think xiao long bao stuffed inside a nice soft Chinese bun. Then pan fry. If that doesn't stir your appetite then our wavelengths don't match. But this is not the star of the show.

La Mian with Beef Brisket (Spicy) - $12.80

In the XX times that we have gone to Paradise Dynasty, I don't really remember a time where we didn't order this. For us, this is a must have. There was a time that we tried the Shanghai Fried Rice and I still ordered this.

The La Mian is just perfect. Combined with a top grade beef brisket that almost melts in your mouth (ok I may be exaggerating a bit) and freshly pulled La Mian noodles (you can see this through the show kitchen in the entrance) I just can't think of any better place. The bowl above is good for 2 to 3 depending on the order. Last night we just ordered 1 and there was 3 of us.

The spiciness is also just right for me but you may also order a non-spicy version. Eat this hot for the best experience.

Scallion Pastry - ($3.60)

This is one of wifey's favorite as well. The puff pastry is just cooked right and even though it is deep fried, the pastry is not too greasy.

Paradise Dynasty Signature Xiao Long Bao (XLB) - ($14.80)

This is Paradise Dynasty's Signature Mix Xiao Long Bao. Is it the best XLB to order? My recommendation is to try once, remember what you like, then just order that in the future. The flavors are: Garlic (Gray), Ginseng (Green), Truffle (Black), Cheese (Yellow), Szechuan (Red), Foie Gras (Brown), Crab Roe (Orange), and Original (White). We do normally order this for our guests to experience the colorful dish.

I'm not a big fan of the sampler. In fact we've only ordered this once for ourselves. The rest of the time we only either order Original or Garlic which is our favorite flavored XLB. 

Garlic Flavored Xiao Long Bao - ($9.80)

This is our favorite flavored XLB. Just pick up one of these, make a small bite, put the soup in the spoon, slurp the garlic flavored soup, and munch on the remaining XLB..... YUM! Yup this is a must have. Eat it hot as well (that goes for all XLB anywhere).

The other flavors like Truffles and Foie Gras are also available on order but much more pricier at around $18.00 - $20.00 per basket.

Fungus and Pork Stir Fried Noodles - ($10.80)

The stir-fried noodle is also very good. Though the presentation isn't top notch its still a very good dish. It has this almost burnt taste that adds quite a good character to this dish. I find it unique and satisfying at the same time. The noodle is cooked just right though you may ask... where is the pork? 

Poached Chicken in Spicy Sauce - ($8.80)

Don't let the presentation fool you, this is actually a cold chicken appetizer. Its not actually spicy and the addition of the peanuts is a nice combination to add some crunch to the dish. I'll put this on my optional list.

Radish Pastry - ($3.90)

We don't always order this (about 50% of the time) but this place knows how to deep fry. The puff pastry is crunchy outside and the inside is nice and soft. Again surprisingly it is not greasy.

My best suggestion here is try to eat the food while its hot. You will get the best experience if you do this to most of the food. Not in the picture which is a must try is the Chilled Assorted Egg Loaf in Yang Zhou Style. You won't regret ordering this.

Updated... We visited again on May 25... It is our favorite restaurant....

Pickeled Cucumber and Black Fungus Mushroom Appetizer

Though these two dishes are simple, I enjoyed the refreshing feeling of eating cucumber this way. lets see if I can copy this at home. I'm not sure if the mushroom was pickled as well but it was nicely seasoned and had a slight vinegar taste. 

Braised Egg

This is a good interpretation of "Adobo" / "Tea" egg. It had a nice balance of saltiness and eggyness. It was very good that we ordered it again. Sharing it wasn't enough.

La Mian with Wanton in Chili Oil.

We decided not to order La Mian with Spicy Beef Brisket and opted for this. This was just so so. Maybe I got used to the fact that La Mian here is served with soup and this dish was missing something hot and warm. Imperial Treasure Noodle Place serves this with a side of Pork Bone soup, which they should do as well. (We have asked for it, but they said they don't provide) The dumplings was tasty and the "spicy" isn't over powering. 

La Mian with Vegetable Wanton

This had a nice surprising taste to it. I hope that this is purely vegetarian so that if I have a vegetarian friend who'll eat here I can easily recommend this.

La Mian with Double Boiled Chicken Soup

The soup was seasoned very well and didn't have any "medicine" taste to it. Comparing this to the Beef Brisket, i'd say that this is a way way healthier choice.

Yangchow Lion Head with Vegetables Soup

We really wanted to have some soup with our La Mian with Wanton in Chili Oil so we decided to order this soup. The meatball was nice and soft but not mushy. The soup was also nice but nothing special.

Pancake with red bean paste

I was looking for more red bean paste and texture. I'm afraid this is actually disappointing. Jing Hua in Neil Road trumps Paradise Dynasty with this dish.

Price and Value

All-in-all the bill amounted to around $89. So that rounds it about to $30 per person. We were full and actually had some take home as well.


A lot of people may compare this to Din Tai Fung (which has 2 branches in HK with a one Michelin Star). My opinion, Paradise Dynasty is better.

Rating:

Food - 4.5

Ambiance - 4

Value - 4.5

Service - 4

Overall 4.5 of 5

Repeat Factor (No!! No! Yes Yes! Yes!!): 

Yes!!

Restaurant details: http://www.paradisegroup.com.sg/?page_id=358&mn=pd
Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #04-12A ION Orchard, Singapore, 238801
Fax: +65 6509 9117