東方美食 🥡 Oriental Menu

The Pan Fried Purple Sweet Potato Rice Cake (S$6.80) was one of the 10 festive menu items that was made available, and I would say this was one dish worth ordering. I liked the fact that the pan-frying gave the rice cake a bit of added crisp and fragrance, not forgetting the pleasant half-mochi half-sweet potato combination.

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I was not sure if the Twist and Shout Ribs sounded like a extremely torturous massage or chiropractor session, but the ribs here (S$78.00 per 500g) was quite a fine dish actually.

Upon serving the dish, the staff would assist with dislodging the rib bones to show that these roasted Iberico pork prime ribs had been slow-cooked to perfection. Next, we were told to put a bit of everything — meat, grilled pineapples, sauce and cucumber wasabi caviar — on to our soup spoons. This mouthful combination was quite fascinating, with the savoury flavours from the pork balancing so well with the sweet-acid from the pineapple and then cleansing the palates with the bursting caviar. Just one or two spoonfuls of these and I was already satisfied at the meat section.

The medium portion of this dish, at S$33.00, was actually the perfect appetiser for sharing among 6 persons, as recommended by the restaurant manager.

While eggplants (or brinjal for that matter) might not be the most pleasant vegetable to many, the restaurant had prepared the dish well such that when they were fried and caramelised, you practically could not catch the acquired texture easily. In fact, at a point in time, one of my fellow diners who hated eggplants was caught nibbling on the caramelised sticks while (she thought) we were not looking. That was probably how well-received this dish was.

It was not far-fetched to complain about 5 pieces of pork dumplings to cost S$10.80, especially if the fillings were mostly made with pork and mushroom. Despite the dumplings were made really plump, I was disappointed with the tough dumpling skin.

That said, I must compliment them for making really crispy fried batter that was not just aesthetically pleasing, but also good for dipping into their black vinegar and the shrimp chilli paste.

An appetiser that was delicious and savoury for mushroom lovers for sure, this Salt & Pepper Oyster Mushroom (S$6.80) was very crispy but did not feel oily at all.

Unlike the photograph in the menu, this dish seemed to have left the oyster mushrooms much in its original form. I was not sure if the intention was to keep the mushrooms moist, but having them in strips might have been more apt if I would want to take my time to savour this dish.

A simple but classic Taiwanese food like Lu Rou Fan could not be better represented with rice and a scoop of diced fatty and lean braised pork.

In terms of flavour, the S$5.80 item was spot on, especially with that right amount of fat lingering in the mouth after a spoonful of this. However, the lean portions felt much overcooked and turned tough, so that chew was not what I would normally expect from Lu Rou Fan.

In one of the quieter corners at the basement of One Raffles Place was where this restaurant could be found. And I picked up a Black Pepper Beef Rougamo (S$5.90) as a pre-lunch snack.

As soon as my teeth landed on the pastry, I was already impressed with its flakiness, and the pastry complemented the fillings very well, especially when it was well-seasoned with black pepper sauce, onions and green bell peppers.

Of course, dining in would be a better option, just in case if the item loses its crisp from getting wrapped up.

I was a little surprised that this Taiwanese food kiosk at Thomson Plaza did not get much attention, for I was certain that I saw it here at least a year ago. However, I supposed the patrons would prefer having a place to sit down and have their meal or to get a snack here to consume while “on the go”.

Anyway, I grabbed their Signature Braised Pork Rice (S$7.50) which also came with some pickled vegetables and a braised egg. While I would not say that the food was bad, I felt that it had deviated from the true taste of Lu Rou Fan, especially when the braised sauce was much more dense and that the diced pork were mostly lean meat.

Despite the slight disappointment, I thought they had quite a comprehensive menu to select from. Maybe there would be something on it that would deserve a return visit?

Chinese brand Yu Ba Fang had these stick-looking Pan-Fried Dumplings (or some call them 鍋貼 or pot stickers) catching my attention along the food kiosks at Basement 1 of Raffles City Shopping Centre.

At 8 pieces for S$10.90, I initially thought it might be a tad pricey. However, when eaten immediately, these Pan-Fried Dumplings were comforting and tasty, with pork and chive fillings going well with the dark vinegar. But perhaps I took my time with the food from start to finish, the last couple of pieces started to stick to each other as they cooled down.

In short, unless one could eat this very quickly upon serving, I would think that the dumplings might be expensive to savour.

A good side dish for sharing, their Homemade Ngor Hiang (S$8.00) could complement their lighter soupy dishes with a little more salty notes.

On the other hand, it might be more than just the sodium that was on the high side. The price might also be a tad wallet-unfriendly, considering the fact that the Ngoh Hiang was not exactly very tightly wrapped. Nevertheless, this Local Delight might be worth ordering via Burpple Beyond, so probably one could get another side dish for the price of one.

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There would always be those days when we crave for a good bowl of soup, and while chicken soup might be easy to boil, it would make more sense to drop by a nearby soup stall or restaurant to order and go.

Lao Jiang prided themselves in boiling individual servings of soup with fresh ingredients. Their Double Boiled Dang Gui Soup with Chicken and Rice (S$11.00) tasted light with mild notes of Dang Gui, but I felt that it was also nourishing especially for those who wanted to enrich blood and modulate the immune system. For those whom do not like rich herbal notes, this soup was a pretty good choice.

This soup was also available as part of Burpple Beyond offers from evening onwards, so do invite a buddy along and share the simple goodness.

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At S$58.00 per adult, and a minimum of 2 pax to admit, Man Fu Yuan’s Weekend Dim Sum Buffet was a 90-minute affair over two seatings (11.30am — 1.00pm and 1.30pm — 3.00pm).

The a la carte buffet featured a wide selection of Dim Sum and main dishes, and I was really excited to taste some of them as I browsed the menu. Though we arrived before the second seating, we only managed to be seated almost at 1.40pm. Thankfully, the restaurant was not rigid about sending us out, so we still had sufficient time to savour the food after the last order, so it wasn’t so bad.

Service was great, by the way. And maybe because it was not full house today, the first round of food came pretty promptly. I liked their Poached Prawns with Chinese Herbal Broth, Chinese Wine (better known as Drunken Prawns), Crispy Prawn Bean Curd Roll with Wasabi Mayonnaise, Baked Mini Egg Tart, Spinach Prawn Dumpling, Braised Cod Fish, Honey-glazed Pork Belly and Chilled Cream of Mango with Sago Pearls, just to name a few of the more impressionable items.