Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Club Chinois

We were just a street away from Orchard Parade Hotel after my gown-fitting session. My hub suggested having lunch at Club Chinois and to use the $70+ credit we have in our Tung Lok First card.

We decided to order the set menu at 28+++ per person.



Type
Chinese

Taste
Appetizer - Achar (8/10)




Both of us looked at the waitress with a lot of question marks on our face when she served us this. I, for a moment, wondered if this is the first course and all subsequent courses will come in this pathetically small portion. She smiled at us and said it's Achar. Hee... we looked like two mountain tortoises back then.

Just when I was about to bring the spoon into my mouth, I saw my hub using a chopstick to pick up the food from the spoon. Not too sure what is the usual way of eating this, but he did look more poised doing that. So I followed suit. Geez... I am just a country pumpkin lor. >_< Dim Sum Trio (9/10)



Did I mention that I didn't like those Dumpling thingy? But this trio thing is such a treat! I took the scallop dumpling (I thought it's a vegetable dumpling) first because I thought the others would taste better (I always save the best for the last). But it was exceptionally good. The prawn in the prawn dumpling was fresh and the skin, thin. The chicken siew mai was good too, just as expected. Yums!

Dried scallop dumplings in consomme (5/10)



Ok, I have to say I didn't like this dish. Not that it's not nice, but it's just not my type of 'soup'. There were too many ingredients inside. Scallops la, prawn? la, crab meat? la. Ok, I heard people calling me crazy. For most people, these are the 'good stuff' (Hanyupinyin: hao liao hokkien: ho leow). But I really don't like it lor, no matter how expensive these stuff are. The soup is not too bad though.

Pan-seared Spring Chicken Drumstick with Boletus Mushroom Jus (9/10)



I guess it must be the special sauce. I have hardly eaten anything like this. :P

Four words: Jin Jia Ho Jiak!
Three words: 赞的啦! (copy onthebeat2. Hee!)
Two words: Simply delicious!
One word: Oishii!

Stir-Fried Jasmine Rice with Seafood and Preserved Vegetables (8/10)



The fried rice (notice how I simplify the dish name? :P) was good but a tad too dry. Oh ya, that's a very special bowl isn't it? It's skewed at an angle to the back. I guess it is to allow easy scooping of the rice. Interesting. :)

Chilled Aloe Vera topped diced mangoes (6/10)



I don't take aloe vera (though I heard it's beneficial to the face). Not mangoes either. Seldom take strawberry too. Put them together and you'd think I will take it? Of course! The presentation is so nice, I had to take a few spoons, no? In any case, this is a good dessert to top off the good meal I had today. Here's a close up.



Ambience

The restaurant looked pretty much different from the last time we came. The chairs were more classy. About 8 chairs have their backing so high up, I thought it came from the Shrek's Father-in-law's dining room. :P The deco are classy and more functional after the minor revamp. Heard from the manager that they can remove some of the dividers easily whenever a function calls for that.

Service
üüüüü
Service is commendable, with the staff attentively serving to our needs with friendly smile. :) I think they waited for our discussion with the manager to finish, even though we have gone past their working hours. We really didn't mean to keep them behind. We were just too engrossed in our discussion. :P

Price
$$$$$
$80+ Piece of advice. Never, ever buy the drinks. My hub's mango juice costs $8 and my watermelon juice, shockingly, costs even more - $10! The next time we come, I will definitely ask for iced water. -_- Without the drinks, the set meal itself is value for money.

Place
Orchard Parade Hotel
Level 2

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