Chef Chan

Chef Chan's restaurant, decked in expensive antiques which make up his very own private collection and located within out very own Art Museum, the place screams of taste and posh before you even step into it. And we were there during his anniversary to try out his signature dishes done out in a set menu for 8. Expectations ran high for this chef who touts himself as a top chef in his Chinese namecard, Shen Chu San Jue but is it really that good?

Location: #01-06 Stamford Road Singapore 178897

Contact: 63330073

Website: www.chefchanrestaurant.com.sg/

Price Range: $88-100 per head

Cashew Nuts Coated With Honey

Well, first of all the place is interesting. Not quite what i was expecting with all the bells and whistles and highly provocative name. In fact, the place was quite the opposite, sublime, quiet and very much bare. This is true for the door that greets you to the interior which had a very minimalist approach apart from the gilded plates, jade set ornaments and glaring antiques. Each item within is painstakingly collected by the Chef, Mr Chan Chen Hei over the years and it shows. Simply refer to the pictures to understand.
The cashew nuts were good though. Exceptionally so, i could go for seconds and thirds of those cashew nuts easily. Crunchy with a finely roasted fragrance and honey sweet. Yep, its something i would want right now actually.

Setting

Interior

Partitions

Tower of Wine

Interior 2

Interior 3

Ornaments

Flashy stuff in terms of the decorations i would say. The place is also weird in that each table of guests had their own partitioned room and there were no open tables on the outside. In fact, it felt like an intimate gathering of friends in a mutual friend's place as opposed to a restaurant. Next up, on to the food.

Melon Strips Enlivened With Orange Juice

The first dish to adorn our tables is a rather normal looking item. Cut melon pieces, the difference lay in the color and taste which strangely resembled a crunchy orange. Our guess is that it was soaked in orange juice or extract but wasn't sure how to explain the crunchiness it retained. Still, it was normal when the dust settled.

Prawn Balls Stuffed With Pate and Wine

Prawn Balls Stuffed With Pate and Wine

I was actually looking forward to this particular dish. Pate and prawn and wine. How could it not be a winner? Well, in truth, it wasn't a winner nor was it totally bad. The prawn paste stuffing was springy and fragrant, the wine was minimal but could be tasted while the pate was a really small piece which didn't quite get its taste across due to the multitude of other flavors. The thing about this is that each of us got....1 miserable serving...which is rather miserly if you ask me

Stir Fried Shark's Fin with Eggs, Bean Sprouts And Spring Onion

Served In Lettuce Leaves

This was good. Period. Fragrant, tasty and crunchy. It embodies all the elements within to good effect. The shark's fin actually tasted like vermicelli but it was more fine and lighter. The complaint here is going to follow through for the entire post. There just wasn't enough to go around. One plate is all we got and shared among each other. I would have loved more of this but that didn't happen.

Sauteed Lobster With Garlic

The lobster in garlic is another of those dishes which came a little too little. For the price, i would have expected to be served an entire lobster but i only got half of it. A good half nonetheless. Sweet springy meat in glorious garlic. The taste reminds me of the garlic prawns in Hai Tien Lo but with a little more meat. Good stuff, if there was more.

Steamed Red Garouper in Superior Soy Sauce

To be honest, i don't know much about fish. So i can't differentiate between a red garoupa and from the same species of another color. And i can't tell you the price of this fish as well as the difference between superior soy sauce and normal ones. Having said all that, this fish tasted just like the ones my mother does at home. Slightly salty and juicy with a smooth texture.

Chef Chan's Famous Crispy Roast Chicken

Ah yes, the legendary Chef Chan's crispy roast chicken. I'm happy to report that this at least, lives up to its name. Crispy, well roasted skin with hints of salt and other marinates tantalizes your taste buds while juicy and tender meat sit beneath it just waiting to be tasted. Its definitely something worth trying at least once.

Sauteed Vegetable With Shredded Mushroom

Normal sums it up pretty well. I don't even know how this could have made the list but it disappoints pretty badly. Its not bad per se mind you, just not something i would expect to see on my table during an expensive meal.

Glutinous Rice With Mango and Gui Ling Gao

We gave feed back in the restaurant and we'll give the same feed back here. This combination simply does not work. Not one bit. The glutinous rice is sweet, the mango is sour and the gui ling gao is bitter. Throw them all together and the result is still a bad idea.

White Fungus

This dessert however, was good. Sweet, clear, light and warm. It served to calm the senses a fair bit after the meal.

Bill

The final bill worked out to be $860.15 after a 10% discount. A hefty sum to pay for the meal on display though.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
I expected more from this place. More atmosphere, more variety and most importantly, more food. Sadly, it didn't live up to expectations with the misses in the menu. Service was good overall and the items that were well done, were definitely worth trying. Still, i won't return for a second try anytime soon.

Friends

As mentioned in the post of Country Mana, the other affected post will be this one. The photo corruption for this visit is thankfully less severe and i managed to salvage a few survivors from the wreckage of photographic memory which is my Fuji Finepix. Everything 'should' be back to normal after this post.

Friends is a restaurant i've passed by plenty of times during my tenure in the bank at Serangoon Garden. It always appealed to me but never did entice me to go inside due to the mostly al fresco dining concept which i detested. How wrong i was when i finally tried and went inside for a quiet meal with a friend.

Location: 1 Maju Avenue #01-01A Serangoon Garden Village

Contact: 6289-2600

Website: http://www.friendsfoodandwine.com/

Price Range: $20- 30 per head

Menu

Complimentary Bread

Complimentary bread was served warm and covered in a rather tastily chosen basket with red cloth. The bread itself is normal though.

Interior

The exterior of the place belies the sheer space that adorns the inside of the restaurant. Once inside, i was astonished to see how big spacious the restaurant was and it came with comfortable short legged seats, wine glass and rectangular wooden tables. Lighting was dim and relaxed with a primarily laid back atmosphere to the place. It was also rather quiet that night which thus gave me the impression that no one will chase you away if you chose to have a quiet or rowdy night there with friends.

Tasmanian Apple Wood Smoked Salmon

Tea Smoked Tuna with Fennel Salad

For the above 2 appetisers, i managed to have a fair bit of both as my friend apparently doesn't like anything raw. The apple wood smoked salmon was pretty good, its possible to taste the smoke in the salmon rather strongly and it was quite salty as well. The taste grows on you after awhile but tends to overwhelm pretty soon. The tea smoke tuna was also smoke but to a much lesser extent. The taste was mild and lacked the strength the salmon version had.

South Australian Duo Of Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops

Another Look

The lamb shoulder chops was rather good. Done medium rather and served with garlic, shallots and mint jus, the overall concoction was light and sweet. The meat was tender and slightly bloody as well which was made to my order. Simple yet enjoyable.

The items you do not get to see in photo format this time will be the:
Pan Seared "Sakura" chicken breast stuffed with macadamia
&
Bitter Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry Campote

I had a piece of the chicken breast and it had a honey taste to it along with it being extremely tender and chewy. The bitter chocolate mousse was served with a strawberry and raspberry which turned out to be very sour. The chocolate mousse itself was not truly bitter and had some small chunks in it which was rather different. Not too bad really.

Bill

The meal came up to $47 after gst and service charge and a one for one meal offer. Expect to pay $100 for the above if you came without a Citibank card.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Last Word:
First off, thank you Max for the meal. Its fun catching up. The meal was pretty decent for me on this one but the best thing about it was the one for one offer which cut the bill in half. Upon further examination, i would not pay $39.90 for the meal per person as it strikes me as not value for money. However, for this round where the bill is basically $20++ per head, its good enough to recommend. I repeat, bring a Citibank card. Go at your own peril without it.