never belated. always treasured. :)

Reflected in the menu as squid paste but they probably ran out and we were advised that it would be prawn paste instead. We decided to give it a try anyway and were pleasantly surprised by the taste. Nothing too pungently seafood. The prawn paste was roughly fashioned and had a springy texture with ample bite. The gravy was well absorbed by the beancurd sheets making it a tasty vegetable dish. 

It was a toss up between the beef cubes or the venison of which we were recommended the latter. The wok hei was evident in the ginger and scallions but the venison itself saw either no addition of a tenderizer or that it was overcooked which resulted in a meat texture too tough for my teeth to handle. (Bearing in mind that my teeth are weak individuals, it doesnt mean that it's tough as rubber) :)

Cod never fails. This was a tasty treat! Juicy flakes of fish well marinated with a special sauce that we were advised to be a little sour but worked out sweet. It faintly reminded me of miso marinated cod. And by the way, the charred ends were deliciously sweet like the charred ends of barbecued pork. Now that, should be more than enough reason to order this. :)

The red bean souffle balls did not resemble the picture offerings in the menu. I was expecting dim sum styled deep fried red bean sesame balls but these turned out larger than golf balls. Thankfully though, they were not deep fried to a crisp. The egg taste of the souffle was very evident on my first bite. These were airy and very soft. Almost like sponge cakes. :)

The filling was too little which made the exterior seemed like too much dough. I think it would have been better had their dusting of caster sugar been icing sugar.

But this made for a sweet treat that isn't too heavy on the tummy.

Then of course if you wanted a more traditional chinese dessert, you probably want to choose this taro offering. :)

I didn't see the chinese namesake of this dessert but was intrigued by its unique presentation in a coconut and the fact that I really do like taro. When we made the order and heard that this was orh nee (芋泥) I was pleased as punch!

And when it arrived, piping hot in its shell, I was all too excited to open the coconut cover to reveal a milky mix of mashed taro and almond cream!

ohmyyum!

But this, should definitely be shared. With a few others preferably. I only had one dining partner to share with and she only took one small scoop.

And what's there left for me to do?

EATITALLUP. *licks the spoon clean

Once you pop, you really can't stop.

This was good relief for my cramps but way too heavy for a 930pm dessert option.

Eat first, think of the waistline later. :p

Traditional chinese restaurant settings tucked away in a corner on the second floor of novena square 2. This was a good place for a dinner catch up with it's relative tranquility (till a table of 10 sat at the tables next to us). Haha. This is a good venue for families and even for just friends who feel like doing good quality chinese food once in a while.

I had an awesome dinner with good food and great company.

Thanks SC for taking time off to celebrate my birthday for me year on year.

My spiritual, emotional and physical hunger are very well satisfied and blessed by your friendship. :)

Love,

The Eastern Restaurant @ The Centrepoint

The Eastern Restaurant is obviously a case in point for locality considerations when opening a restaurant.

Tucked into the deep recesses of The Centrepoint at Orchard,

diners would not even walk there to consider it as a possible dining outlet.

It doesn't help matters when there's a chinese restaurant situated nearer to the escalators.

And this hongkong restaurant has a HK chef from Mak's Noodles at its helm.

So yes, all that contributed to its less than stellar diner count everytime I walk pass the restaurant.

Walk pass. Never into.

Till this bloggers tasting fiesta came about.

For a restaurant that's been around for ten years, they are still coming up with new dishes from time to time to add on to the menu.

Hits and misses, I hope the ones that don't see too many orders get removed from the menu after awhile.

The sausage salad lite bites was a miss with a tough breaded crust and terribly boring sausage.

While the tofu dish was a simple but well executed dish.

It didn't conjure up the poetic justice that should have been with its name by its looks but it did have a very pleasant surprise of a fresh shrimp encased within each tofu piece.

Fried noodles with a generous amount of bean sprouts and sliced carrots and spring onions that added the much needed colour to this otherwise brown gravy coated dish.

Solid la mian noodles of a good doneness with generous slices of fish.

It was just too bad that the sauce was a tad too salty, it overpowered everything else.

And no, I couldn't manage to finish it if I wasn't planning on drowning myself in chinese tea to quench my thirst as an aftermath.

The fried rice was a better bet. Fragrant and resplendent with fresh shrimp and ham and a smattering of floss and scallions. This was a makeover for any leftover rice to die for. And that not an exaggeration. This would actually make me choose rice over noodles anytime. At this restaurant anyway. I don't usually take rice if I had a choice. Hmm.

So this dinner was really supposed to be about the xiao long baos.

Just by coincidence, I had din tai feng just the day before for lunch.

I don't know if it's just the branch at Bishan but those had awfully thick skins and it didn't help that the air conditioner was blasting such that our steamer of xlb was cold within moments of arriving at our table.

Suffice to stay, i didn't enjoy it much.

These however, had a thinner skin by comparison but still kept the soup within safe when picked up with chopsticks and hot for a while yet.

While it could do with a bit more soup, it was well flavoured and very enjoyable xlbs indeed! :)

Brand name and fusion cooking aside, if you're looking for the authentic type xlb with nothing more than just the traditional pork filling, this is where it's at.

Then it was time for desserts. The design on these babies brought images of shuttlecocks and golf balls to our minds. But really, they were simply molten salted egg yolk buns. I took a bite and held it out for a picture. It's not flowing! I was disappointed and left it on the plate while I kept the camera away. The next time I checked, it WAS flowing! Not that this flowing thing is a mark of a good liu sha bao but I quickly picked it up and took another bite. This was good! A salty sweet medley that was well balanced for its savoury and sweet notes. While not comparing it with the better ones out there, this was better than the ones at Imperial Treasure at Ngee Ann City. :)

 This is a dessert of choice for me where available. Easily shared and more often than not, a crowd pleaser for most dinners. The proportions were good on this. Ample red bean filling wrapped within a layered filo pastry.

I'd be back for a few of these :)