Hua Ting Pt 2

Hua Ting was one of the first few places where i had my little adventure with food begin. I went back again after one year to relive the extremely tasty fish paste noodles. You may view my previous visit here. To sum it up, it's still as good as ever but the surprise is lost.

Address: 2nd Floor Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Road

Contact: 67396666 or 67343872

Price Range: $35-40 per head (lunch and dim sum only)

The fabled double boiled soup fish paste noodles with seafood ($28)

This was the only reason i returned to this place. The noodles previously left a great impression but i was too stuffed to really appreciate it. This time, we made sure there was space for the meal. To be honest, it didn't disappoint, a thick, milky double boiled seafood broth with 2 medium sized scallops and 2 medium sized prawns with assorted mushrooms and fish paste noodles. The noodles maintain the same chewy texture and fragrance i remembered but sadly, i found the broth not hot enough. This dish should be served piping hot for the best effect but it was not to be. My other gripe is the portion of seafood which was rather miserly compared to my previous visit and finally, the broth itself was rather saltier then before. Nitpicking i suppose but it did fare better in my previous visit for sure.

Abalone Dumplings ($5.40 for 3)

We also ordered an assortment of dim sum to start the meal and the abalone dumplings were a start. The abalone was small but fragrant and chewy along with the chives in the dumplings. Its reminiscent of Crystal dumplings in terms of the skin but a little thinner and more tender.

Prawn dumplings ($4.50 for 3)

I'm a sucker for prawns and this was one of those excellently sweet and crunchy prawn dim sums i'd easily fall for. It helps that the specialty is how its wrapped in fragrant vegetables (I forgot what kind) which gave it its delectable color.

Custard Buns ($3.90 for 3)

Inside look

Overall, this was a disappointment. Custard buns, to me at least, are supposed to be slightly molten and flow out of the bun when one bites into it. This version was pasty and rather solid. Taste wise, the custard was balanced, which means its not too sweet but not something i would praise otherwise.

Fish Siew Mai ($4.80)

Another prawn filled dish with crunchy sweet prawns. I'm very biased towards these so you know what kind of verdict i would give for it. On the flipside, i found the skin too elastic and difficult to tear through though.

Beef Fillet Tenderloin ($9 per piece)

Another look

The beef tenderloin is tender, fragrant and tasted strangely sweet with the coating of sauce and ground nuts. The coating could be likened to sweet and sour pork's tomato base but with more sourish taste in it. I liked it but can't say the same for my gf.

The bill

The final bill came to $77.76 for a moderately satisfying meal.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
Sorry about the extremely late post but i'm struggling to find time for posting these days. On this meal, i'd say the experience is rather monotone with nothing truly exceptional for me to report. The standard of food is average but could be better.

Bi Feng Tang

Cheap cantonese cuisine is few and far between but Bi Feng Tang seeks to change that. The Century Square outlet opened in December 2004 and has been there ever since, offering Hong Kong style food at semi affordable prices. This is not my first visit here but is my first official blogging visit, does its standard hold up after 3 years? Thats what we are going to find out.

Location: #B1-10,11 Century Square

Contact: 67839720

Price Range: $15 per head

Simple Signboard

Cosy and bright interiors

Menu

The Set Menu

Random Shot

Pickles ($1)

Well, pickles are never free it seems. Not that there's much to complain for a $1 charge on compulsory pickles, but some choice would be appreciated. That said, the pickles are suitably sour but my gf tasted some detergent in them? Either way, it served its purpose of given me a growling tummy for the dishes to follow.

Sze Chuan Spicy Beef ($4)

I actually expected alot more than what was served but i've never tried enough Sze Chuan Spicy Beef enough to know if the dish was a failure or a success. Found in the appetizer section of the menu, i should have realized it would come in small portions and it did. Six slices in all, it was not much to look at and tasted weird. Spicy, sour and extremely salty, this is not what i can recommend. Add the fact that you can't taste the beef and you have something ingrained in your mind never to order again.

Fried Rice With Crab Meat and Roasted Pork (Set menu for 2, $28.80)

Do not be deceived by the way the shot looks, the rice is actually very nicely done. Soft, fragrant and packed with ingredients, this is better then the one i had in Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao. This only complaint i have for the rice is how tasteless the crab meat really is, other then that, this fried rice is simply tasty enough for a second visit.

Pineapple Fried With Pork Rib

Honestly, not very well done. The meat was tough and sour due to either the meat being not fresh or the overuse of pineapple, which does not mask the refrigerated taste in the end. Its also overly sweet and oily which just doesn't do it for me.

Braised Tofu With Seafood and Quail Egg

I really liked this tofu, though not comparable to gourmet tofu's like Hai Tien Lo or even Hua Ting, this is decent. What really got me going for it was the generous braised seafood and the nicely done quail eggs and stock. Overall, this goes well with rice or any other accompaniment. Something i can have again when i visit.

Mixed Roast Meat

For this dish, you are given a choice of having duck, Char Siew or San Chen Rou. We selected the Char Siew and Duck meat for more variety and balance. The good news is, we got the balance. The bad news is, the char siew was supremely hard for some reason and the duck meat had a very thick layer of fats under the skin. Suffice to say this is not what i had in mind.

Herbal Chicken

Generous servings of chicken and the option to ask for more herbal soup make this a clear winner. The chicken meat did come across as a tad tough though and the herbal soup a little to light on my palates but otherwise, a simple and good dish that is easily enjoyed.

Sesame and peanut paste

Sesame mixed with peanut in paste form as a dessert is totally new for me. The taste is somewhat familiar yet foreign as you can taste both the items in the mixture. The result is interesting but not something i would try again.

Bill

The bill for 3 came up to $37.13 for me, my gf and her mother. I'm the only big eater there though so take your chances if you want to try replicating the feat.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
Not too expensive and serving decent cantonese food. The set meal surprised me by being good value for money and actually served 3 people instead of 2. The variety it came with was decent as well though there were still a few hits and misses. For the price though, its difficult to find the same offering elsewhere. Decent, not outstanding but always worth a try.

Golden Peony

Golden Peony is a rather small cozy restaurant located on the third floor of Conrad Centennial Singapore. Its supposedly one of the best restaurants in Singapore in terms of its Cantonese food offerings and this is where my foodie friends and i gathered for our monthly binge session.

Address: 3rd Floor Conrad Centennial Singapore

Contact: 64327488

Price Range: $70 per head

Anderson's Ice Cream

Relaxing in one corner with a nice ice cream cone while i waited for the arrival of my friends. Thus, i whipped out my new, improved and totally unused camera. All shots you see here are made using the new camera, which is why the pictures may look kinda wierd at present. Do forgive me. Anderson's make great ice cream by the way.

Pan Pacific Hotel

This is Pan Pacific hotel, inside is Zambuca, Hai Tien Lou and Global Kitchen where i spent quite a fortune on already. Some worth it, some not. And Hai Tien Lou is that round little thing you see up there, which is one of the better Chinese food restaurants so far. A review can be found here.

Conrad Hotel

Yep, this is where we will be having dinner today. Huge isn't it?

Golden Peony Signboard (Not too flattering i might add)


Walkway


The Wall of Culinary Awards (Impressive no?)

Now this part reminds me of Hua TIng quite a bit i must say.

The Crowd (@9pm)


Our Table and the menu

Everything here looks and feels pretty nice. The lights were rather dim despite how the pictures look, so i had to struggle to find a good light source to get my photos done.

Peking Duck ($52)

First part of the peking duck is obviously its skin. I must say that the portion here is very miserly. 3 really small skins in crepes and it doesn't allow you to get additional items should you have a different preference. I found the skin very normal and not as fragrant as Hai Tien Lou. Still decent though, just not great.

Peking Duck Continued

The second part of the Peking duck was served sliced and diced in lettuce wrap. Taking the meat by itself would have proven too salty but the lettuce wrap did serve to moderate the taste pretty well. However, i simply do not see a the duck here in our 6 portions which is quite a disappointment. If i pay for a duck, i expect to see a duck, and that doesn't seem to be what i'm given.

Salted Yolk Prawns ($39)

This one i found pretty much to my liking. The salted yolk batter was not too thick and i liked it less salty. The prawns were also of a reasonably big size and freshness which made the dish very palatable. The portions were small again though and everyone ended up with 2 prawns max.

Homemade Beancurd with Asparagus & XO sauce ($48 for 6 portions)

I found the beancurd simple and not really fantastic. Texture wise, it doesn't reach the softness and smoothness of good japanese beancurd and the egg taste didn't win it any points with me. After learning further that the beancurd was sold by the grams didn't improve my impression of it one bit. The accompanying sauce was decent but i couldn't taste the XO sauce in this anywhere.

Tea Marinated Pork Ribs ($90 for 6 portions)

This came across as a pretty good item when it reach our table. It was quite a size and i love meat, albeit not pork. The ribs were tender and juicy though and the fatty layer was minimal. However, i wouldn't have known this was 'tea marinate' if i didn't see the receipt. Still, it was rather good and well done if not for its rather exorbitant price.

Lobster Noodles ($120 for 6 portions)

This was $20 a portion and was it worth it? I honestly have to say a resounding No! The noodles taste like almost anything you could find outside and the baby lobster simply didn't come with enough meat nor taste to make it feel like anything except a scam.

Tao Huay ($24 for 6 portions)

Things just keep spiralling downwards i suppose. This tao huay has nothing special i could rant about and it costs $4 a portion. Simply not worth the time nor effort.

Bill: The total bill for this came up to $472.90. Which is a total rip off and simply left me wondering how it was possible for all those prizes displayed on its corridor.

Score:

Ambience: 6.5/10
Food : 5.5/10
Value for Money: 5/10
Portion Size: 5.5/ 10
Service : 6.5/10

Overall: 5.8/10


Last Word:

I honestly expected a whole lot more from this place given its reputation and the number of prizes it won to stand testament to its achievements. Yet, i left the place unsatisfied and feeling more then a little sour at blowing a bomb on a place totally not worth the money. I won't be back and i don't think anyone should either, at least until they get a new chef and modus operandi that doesn't make their customers feel ripped off.

Hua Ting

Hua Ting. An authentic cantonese cuisine restuarant located on the second floor of Orchard Hotel. Getting to the location doesn't prove to be a problem but finding and entering its extremly small carpark does bring a sneer onto my face. This was my 3rd monthly meal with a bunch of people i eventually got to know with each successive meal outing. And to say the least, i had fun for this one.

Address: 2nd Floor Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Road

Contact: 67396666 or 67343872

Price Range: $60-75 per head

(Author's note: Please forgive the rather dark pictures at this point. This was still done with my rather old and dying Sony camera. A few more posts and we'll be up to speed with good
pictures. Patience is a virtue my friends. =) As is a normality in this blog, some pictures are taken from FatPig.

The Signboard

Entrance



The Utensils


Interior



Table Setting

The simple and somewhat grand chinese theme of the restuarant says it all. Its all about cooking and they have the prizes to show it off. Headed by Master Chef Chan Kwok, the moment we stepped in, we did not expect to leave unsatisfied, but did it live up to its name and numerous prizes? Read on to find out.

Rose Tea

Given the choice of what to drink, everyone opted for something different on this and my choice is the less adventurous and more simple rose tea. It was fragrant but tasted bland and the lack of a filter really started to irk me after about 2 sips because you can't get any tea in without leaves accompanying it. Great presentation, bad execution.

Hua Ting Deluxe Platter

This serving for 5 came with char siew (roasted honey pork), fried silverfish, jellyfish, soy chicken and prawn wrapped in beancurd. I found it decent though not outstanding. The prawn was fresh and crunchy and i enjoyed the small but surprisingly tasty fried silverfish. However, it does get to taste too salty after a while. The roasted pork was normal, as is the soy chicken and jellyfish.

Crispy Homemade Beancurd with Seasonal Greens Topped with Assorted Eggs

This wierd looking tofu is made simply of egg tofu and egg. It looks out of this world but taste wise, i can't really find anything special about it. The spinach was simple and tasted a little like Hai Tien Lou's three egg spinach combincation. Otherwise, it doesn't warrant much attention apart from looks.

Crispy Roasted Duck

Crispy roasted duck. It more or less a staple for us to have this dish in any chinese restuarant we step into to compare the quality of the restaurant offerings. This one was more or less a must order dish for anyone who visited Hua Ting. The skin was crispy and lightly sweet from the gravy while the meat was tender and had a slightly salty aftertaste. Compared to Hai Tien Lou's rendition, i felt the former tasted better but it seems even Hua Ting has a good enough rendition to recommend. So do try it.

Sautéed Dried Cod Fish with Egg White

This dish looked interesting from the outset and certainly is a different way of cooking the precious fish its based upon. I personally found this dish decent while the rest of my friends shunned it due to the tasteless blending of egg white and cod fish. The end result is a rather tasteless dish that tastes too much like eggs and covers the freshness and sweetness of the cod. I do have to comment that the cod melts in your mouth and since no one else would have more of it, I had the privilege of finishing most of this dish.

Deep Fried Scallop Bacon Roll topped with Conpoy

This dish again had mixed reactions as some found it too salty for their liking. Maybe they weren't eating it right because i found that mixing a bite of the bacon with the Conpoy served to lessen the salty taste and allowed me to enjoy the sweetness of the scallop as well. I'd even go so far as to say i enjoyed the dish for as long as the veg lasted. After it however, its a different story. The bacon and sauce was simply too salty a combination to enjoy.

Fish Paste Noodle Soup with Seafood

Fish paste noodles was awesome. If we had more space this would have been the perfect ending dish which sadly, we did not have. The scallops and prawn were simply huge and very fresh. The soup base was actually really good, tasting nether salty nor oily and the noodles served to fill you up real quick. We did manage to get one bowl of noodle and all the prawn and scallop down but never managed to finish this sadly. I believe this could have been a meal all on its own. I recommend having it before anything else.

Bill

In the end, the above cost the 5 of us $370 which is pretty absurd as it didn't feel justified given the quality of the food.

Score:

Ambience: 7.5/10
Food : 7/10
Value for Money: 6.75/10
Service : 7.25/10
Overall: 7.25/10

Last Word:
It was honestly quite a decent meal but i suppose its understandable that paying an amount as steep as this. Decent is not what we should be getting. It was excellent or bust and from my point of view. This will not bring me back for a second try. Service was attentive and good but the food needed some work to justify its price. Try it for the duck and fish paste noodle alone.