IT'S barely 2008, but the Chinese New Year spirit seems to be already in the air, judging from the slew of Chinese restaurants that have opened here lately. Considering the dining scene of late has been dominated by contemporary European concepts, this latest crop of eateries goes beyond the norm to offer familiar Chinese food with a modern twist.
Chef Chan's National Museum, 93 Stamford Road.
Tel: 6333 0073
THE National Museum is truly a befitting setting for Chef Chan Chen Hei's eponymous restaurant - in terms of both his marvellous antique collection and also his cuisine. That's if you have really good, natural navigational instincts to manoeuvre your way there with the help of only one modest signboard at the entrance of the museum.
Chef Chan's is located next to Novus, the museum's Western eatery, but its main entrance is actually accessed from outside the building, rather than within. Otherwise, you might just find yourself asking Novus waiters - at Novus' restaurant, then the cafe and even at the bar - how to get to Chef Chan's.
But once you discover the gem of a space, you'd want to linger there, because it feels like you've stepped into a 15th century Chinese courtyard, like the ones you see in old Chinese paintings. Chef Chan was won over by the high-ceilinged space when he was asked to see it last year - although he had planned on taking an indefinite break from the restaurant business.
From the mega-seater at Odeon Towers, Chef Chan has scaled down his restaurant, making it more of a private dining outlet with four private rooms, catering to parties of six, eight and 10, and an "open" dining area - behind antique screen doors - with three tables. That makes it a 46-seater, with set menus for lunch and dinner, and no a-la-carte menus. An eight-course lunch is priced at $60++ per person, and dinner is priced at $88++ per person for a minimum of four persons.
The emphasis is on quality, seasonal produce, and also the chef's flair for unique dishes. Fans will find that Chef Chan's specialities are still served, such as his crispy chicken with its paper-thin, crackly skin and plump flesh, along with his stir-fried diced beef which is now done with a refreshing, tangy twist - the sour-sweet coat giving the beef an irresistible flavour.
The cuisine is excellent, in a very classic, almost imperial, way. Chef Chan doesn't waste time on presentation - it's common-serve platters placed in the centre, with the staff dishing out individual portions - but he spends time instead on the dishes. Melon soup that takes three to four hours of double-boiling, for example, not counting the one-hour salt marination. And then there's the repeated ladling of hot oil over whole chickens - his secret to the crispy skin and moist meat.
He's now making "more" exotic fare (although chef says it's actually very traditional Cantonese fare which Singapore diners aren't familiar with) such as spicy duck's tongue (crunchy and light) (main head picture), and steamed French pigeon with cordyceps (warmly herbal and full of flavour).
A normal set lunch might be rounded up with handground almond soup (a light version made from sweet almonds) but orders can be as luxurious as bird's nest double-boiled in coconut water and infused with a squeeze of coconut milk - a $280 order, or, $70 per person. Diners can customise their menus, of course, or rely on Chef Chan's daily recommendations.
Here is classic Chinese cuisine at its finest, no doubt about it, as Chef Chan has a very balanced hand when it comes to blending spices and marinades.
Now, if only the National Museum could perhaps provide better signage to the restaurant, so that Novus staff don't have to keep on giving directions to Chef Chan's patrons.
By Cheah Ui-Hoon
Yan Ting St. Regis Singapore, 29 Tanglin Road.
Tel: 6506 6888
IT wasn't all that long ago when luxury ingredients in high-end Chinese restaurants were limited to the likes of lobster, abalone, shark's fin and bird's nest. These days, however, it's almost a fashionable requirement for chefs to include non-traditional items like uni (sea urchin) and foie gras on the menu.
Yan Ting in the newly opened St Regis hotel offers a modern culinary take on the traditional Cantonese restaurant - in an atmosphere to match. The elegant and curvy, contemporary second-floor dining space could easily pass off as a posh European eatery, if not for the serving staff attired in Chinese-inspired outfits and a few decorative touches with Oriental accents.
Given that popular sister restaurant Hua Ting in the nearby Orchard Hotel has set the culinary bar at a consistently high level and is routinely rated among the top Chinese restaurants in town, Yan Ting is under perhaps a bit of pressure to achieve similar status, although it would be unreasonable to expect it to deliver an instant knockout punch at this early stage.
A recent tasting offered plenty of potential instead, with each dish precisely cooked and creatively presented. Individual plating is sill in vogue with a certain style of Chinese restaurant and Yan Ting falls into this category - it is perhaps no surprise to discover that executive chef Chan Siu Kong spent more than 10 years with the Tung Lok group, which is known for its more progressive approach to Chinese cuisine.
After an amuse bouche (nothing's off-limits anymore) of quail's egg in jelly, we were served a scallop sandwich of sorts - two whole scallops with a slice of marinated and poached foie gras in between, then baked in a delicate rice net. It's not the sort of dish you find in a Chinese restaurant every day, but Chef Chan says the foie gras adds flavour and value to the dish.
Then there were a couple of more-familiar dishes - double-boiled chicken soup with Chinese herbs and fish maw, and a fillet of steamed garoupa. The stewed pork belly that followed is destined to be a hit item, but be warned that the deep-fried Chinese breadsticks that accompany this dish are pretty addictive. The final savoury dish was a seafood fried rice, while the bird's nest dessert - served plain with rock sugar syrup or in an almond soup - was a classy way to end the meal.
FROM the outset, opening a fancy modern Chinese restaurant inside a cookie-cutter shopping mall in the messy Indoor Stadium area may not seem like a great investment decision. Especially with neighbours that sell bargain-priced sports shoes and budget fashion.
However, first-time restaurateur Raymond Kwok describes it as a case of either swimming with the sharks in town or moving in the deep blue ocean of an unexploited area that's set to boom once the Circle Line and the new National Stadium are in place.
Says the retired insurance professional who was the MD of UOB Life Assurance: "When we were searching for a location we thought this was quite ideal because of the Circle Line that is just in front. We're five minutes from the CBD, and this is also a convenient location for people living in Katong who would otherwise have only one option, which is Parkway Parade."
Huang Jia, which stands out from its neighbours with a commanding but elegant facade, chandelier-covered ceiling and dramatic feature walls and beaded drapes, offers a menu described as "traditional Chinese meets modern innovation". That means individual plating for its creations like Peking duck slices layered with foie gras and crispy toast sweetened with hoisin sauce, or deep fried marble goby sitting in a shallow stream of milky shark's bone soup. Otherwise, traditional favourites like crispy roast chicken or sweet sour pork with lychee are served up on regular serving platters.
If some dishes and the presentation seem familiar, that's because one of the four executive chefs is from Tung Lok, which pioneered the modern Chinese dining concept in Singapore. The other chefs have also been recruited from other fine dining Chinese eateries in town.
The result is food that is decent albeit not outstanding - nothing really catches the eye or palate but you won't go too far wrong with the aforementioned marble goby, crispy yet moist roast chicken and homey sweet sour pork. And if you want to get away from the crowds in town, this is off-the-beaten-track without being too far off. But if a more central location is still imperative, then check out Huang Ting, Mr Kwok's second outlet that will open at, well, The Central (at Clarke Quay) on Jan 9.
By Jaime Ee
Jade Restaurant The Fullerton Hotel, 1 Fullerton Square.
Tel: 6877-8188
AFTER a six-year stint at The Fullerton Hotel, the Tung Lok-run Jade Restaurant has ended its lease and left the building, to be replaced by - the new Jade, operated by the hotel itself but still serving modern Chinese cuisine.
The dining space is currently being refurbished but when it reopens later this month under the watchful eye of chef de cuisine Leong Chee Yeng, it will likely be business as usual for this high-end restaurant. Leong, 41, a well-travelled chef who was previously executive chef at an award-winning Chinese restaurant in Dubai, has also worked at various well-known restaurants here. He has a clear vision of how the new Jade should be.
"We are all chefs, and we are able to cook anything," he says. "The Fullerton is a symbol of Singapore, so I want the restaurant to be a symbol of Singapore fine dining. This is a multi-cultural country, so I want to do a Chinese restaurant that is unique but also representative of Singapore."
Chef Leong has 25 years in the F&B industry under his belt, but he also has an interest in the arts, particularly in creative pursuits such as Chinese painting and pottery. "A lot of chefs are like artists," he says, and both his artistic flair and openness to new ideas are strongly reflected in his cuisine.
At a recent tasting of Jade's new modern Cantonese menu, there was a sense of originality as well as adherence to the basics. There was also no real need for chopsticks - Western cutlery came in handy and every dish was individually plated.
Dishes sampled included an appetiser of prawns with ginger mayonnaise - a welcome variation on the ubiquitous wasabi version - and a slow-cooked lamb dish that had been stewed with turnips overnight and then quickly deep fried to be crispy yet tender. It was accompanied by a soya-and-vinegar-based spicy dipping sauce.
Then there was wok-fried Norwegian salmon and French foie gras - traditional Western ingredients cooked the Chinese way. Then a typical Chinese delicacy - sea cucumber - was presented with a Japanese twist, cooked with miso and served with bonito flakes. Then there was a fried rice dish with black chicken and wolfberries - another unique combination.
Chef Leong has a deft hand and assured culinary touch, and the dishes were both well-balanced and flavourful. The new menu is ready and the new Jade looks to be in good hands.
By Geoffrey Eu
Red House At the Quayside #01-13, 60 Robertson Quay.
Tel: 6735-7666
EATING chilli crabs and crispy baby squid bathed in inky sauce is no longer a scene you associate with open-air restaurants along the East Coast, cooled by balmy sea breezes. Established names like No Signboard Seafood and Long Beach have already made the trek to more upmarket locations like the Esplanade and Dempsey, and Red House Seafood is the latest to make its foray into town, armed with its house specials like chilli crab, custard prawns and spicy seafood combination that has drawn regulars to its original premises in the East Coast.
Red House At the Quayside has been open barely a week, and looks-wise it could not be further from the original. You've got 9000 sq ft of spacious dining space that includes a separate bar area. Giant Big Ass fans (the brand of the fans, rotating blades) circulate the air-conditioning blowing through the open-concept restaurant that's designed more like a chi-chi bistro than a Singapore zhi char (cooked food) joint. A red brick feature wall, curved wooden benches and understated chairs complete the casual-with-flair look.
"We're not trying to be upmarket. We're just taking into account the location we're in and the clientele we hope to draw," says Chang Yee Ling, Red House's director of operations and daughter of the restaurant's owners. "It's a business decision to open in town and grow our market share by offering a nicer ambience to enjoy our food". Naturally, the restaurant hopes to attract the corporate crowd, as well as tourists, and residents in the neighbourhood.
By February, once the teething problems have been sorted out, Ms Chang says a cold seafood counter will be ready, offering different types of sashimi in addition to the geoduck and lobster sashimi that's already on the menu. "Eventually we will add oysters and other shellfish as well," says the former banking professional, who left her job to take on the more challenging role of running the family business. "My parents have been running the restaurant for over 30 years, and I know they would like someone from the family to take over," adds the middle child, who has a brother and sister who are not involved in the restaurant.
The food at the Quayside is similar to the East Coast menu, which means chilli crabs that have been cooked the same way - and by the same chef - since 1976. If you're partial to a sambal belachan-based chilli crab gravy, you might find the sweet-sour orangey gravy here a little on the sharp side, but it's all a question of personal taste. Expect consistent, family-style quality rather than refined cooking here - it harks back to a simpler time when dining out at the East Coast was a treat in a city with few fine dining options. Dishes like steamed fish in soya sauce are commendably done by a Hong Kong-trained chef, and the lobster noodles are not slick but quite tasty.
What you're getting is food from the past, but in surroundings that are so now - and it's a pretty cool combination.
