Zhou's Kitchen 2

Due to our previous good experience, I decided to hold our early reunion dinner with my family at this restaurant. Knowing that it is going to be very crowded on a Sunday, especially when CNY is round the corner, I reserved a table 1 week in advance...

... only to get the table at the entrance, with a lot of traffic flow. We were pretty displeased with our table location because we thought that such tables should be allocated to those walk-in customers, instead of us, who actually made the effort to call, yes? We tried to change the table to a window seat, but they said that a customer has specified that they want that particular seat. Ok, fair enough. But how about the many tables at the other end? I don't think the rest who called to book has indicated that they wanted to sit at the 3rd-table-from-the-window?

Nevertheless, we decided to let the matter rest. The food coming up better be good. :P

Luckily for them, the food did appease us (or at least, me).

Yusheng (9/10)



Yusheng usually tastes the same to me. I don't know what they have added (or what they have not), but it just tasted so much better. The best (and most helpings) I have taken, really!



Oh, please pardon my blurry photos. I accidentally switched my camera into a different mode without realising it, until much later.

While waiting for the dishes to be served, we chatted. My brother told me he just came back from a company trip. There was a delay on the flight.

First, The pilot announced over the PA system that there were some cracks on the wing of the plane.

As if that's not bad enough, an Engineer took over to announce that 'the cracks are more serious than they've thought'. I can already imagine the stunned and worried looks on the passengers' face back then.

The best part is, when they finally announced that it's safe to board the plane, they actually reported how they fixed the crack. With a musking tape, that is! Seriously, I would have backed out if I were in such a situation. Then again, I don't think I would want to take a budget airplane after hearing this!

Back to the food...

Peking Duck - Skin Wrap (9/10)



I think the magic is in the sweet sauce, though the duck skin is not bad too -evenly roasted to a crisp. It would be better though, if I didn't see the fats underlying the duck skin. :P

While I was taking photographs of him cutting the duck, the waiter commented half-jokingly, "You are making me stressed by taking photos because I didn't slice the skin nicely" to which I replied, half-jokingly too, "I take photos of you because you have done a good job in slicing ah!"



I think the stress I induced caused him to forget about adding the whole plate of vegatables. :P



So I had to open the wrap up and DIY for everyone. That's when I saw the fats. The one below is still not that fatt-iest.



The waiter recommended that the duck be cooked with ee-fu noodles, but we asked for the duck to be just chopped and served because my family must have rice for dinner. >.<

Duck Meat (7/10)



On its own, it just doesn't taste as nice. Dipped into the sweet sauce, and it is a completely different delicacy altogether. :)

Fruity Pork Ribs (8/10)
We just had to share this tasty dish with my family.



Prawns with wasabi-mayo sauce (9/10)



Nicee... Even my mother and I (who are not so wasabi-pro) were full of praises for this dish.

Braised beancurd with vegetables and mushrooms (8/10)

There were 5 of us and there are only four pieces of it. My hub and I decided to share. At the same time, my brother also took half a piece only. I was eyeing his 'other-half' for a very long time. I finally decided to declare that I am eating it after everyone had their chopsticks down. There were no violent objections. Hehz...



I still feel that there are room for more food in my tummy, so I decided to influence everyone into having a dessert. All of us had very different preferences, so it was an interesting variety across the table.

Herbal Jelly served with Honey



As usual, my father replied 'Anything' when we asked him what he would like to have. I have a phobia for this word because I always feel very lost when I ask my hub what he wants to have for dinner and this is the response I get. :P So I 'taiji' this responsibility to my brother who chose this herbal jelly thing for my father because 'thats-what-older-generation-like'... hmmm... says who?

Mango Pudding (7/10)



He ordered this for himself. The pudding was nice, but I didn't like the sago that came with it.

Chilled Mango Cream with Sago and Pomelo (9/10)



Chilled Lime sherbet with Ice Jelly (9/10)

There were no Almond Jelly on the list. I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something different. When this dessert arrived, my brother was pretty doubtful that it will turn out nice. I mean, judging from the looks, I can understand why. :P



But we were taught not to judge a book by its cover, and we probably shouldn't. The lime sherbet was nice. I almost brain-freezed myself when I took a slightly bigger mouthful of it. >.<

Service

I guess all the good service comes from the same chap, who will do small talk (while his hands are still working) and ensure that we have everything that we wanted. Some of the rest were either rigid or blur.

Price
$176 for all the above dishes plus 2 cokes

Place
Anchorpoint (oppsite Ikea Alexandra)
Copperdome


Just the same logo (overexposed) taken from the other direction. :P