Taste Paradise: One of the best in town

December 19, 2009 | 29 Comments

Do you believe in fairytale? I do. The story of the Paradise group isn’t exactly a rise from the rugs to riches one, but it’s close enough. For someone who started off with a cze-char stall in the industrial park Defu lane, to a group of restaurants that includes the fine-dining Taste paradise, seafood restaurant Seafood paradise, and middle-range Paradise inn, doesn’t it sounds like a fairytale ending?

I have wanted to go to taste paradise for a very long time. But their original outlet at Mosque street does not serve dim sum, and so I waited until now for their new branch in Ion that has dim sum for lunch.

Having tried the most expensive xiaolongbao, and also the dirt-cheap-but-good ones in Nanxiang restaurant Shanghai; everything in between seem exceptionally ordinary to me. I know for a matter of fact there are people who love to pop a dozen of xiaolongbao ($3.80 for 4) into their mouth, but not me, one is enough.

Ladies and gentlemen, this, is the one you must try. I will go as far as saying Taste Paradise’s rendition is as good as the best char siew sou ($3.60 for 3) that I’ve so far, Buttery undertone of the flaky pastry, sweet and juicy char siew fillings, honey get your hands off the plate!

My dear, listen to me carefully for this is going to be very important, you need to have three for yourself, uh-uh, no sharing, and maybe that isn’t enough – make it six each!

I was contemplating whether to have the usual Siew mai & har gau ($4.80 for 4), we didn’t fancy having the former, thus only the latter was ordered. It might be a case of having too much dim sum, but the steamed prawn dumpling, unlike the char siew sou or custard bun, is just not sex-citing enough.

We also had the Steamed cheong fun with prawns ($5.20), it was some sort like a go-between, not fantastic, but not all bad either. Increasingly, it’s getting more challenging to get a good cheong fun. The problem lies with me, and me alone. Define what makes a good cheong fun: the rice rolls must not be too thick that it will stick to the teeth, nor can it be too thin that the roll breaks and expose all the ingredients. The fillings of prawn or char siew must be fresh, and the light sauce must be able to make the simple cheong fun taste good.

For someone who do not like yam except for yam cake, I always find myself ordering the Fried Taro puff ($3.60 for 3) when I’m having dim sum. This one was pretty disappointing, the fried crispy exterior was not too bad, but the yam fillings were too mushy for my liking.

I tasted Custard bun for the first time about one and a half years back, since then I only had it on just a few several occasions. I remember very clearly staring at the ordinary-looking bun, the kind of buns that you get from the neighbor coffeeshop, whatever it is, those that taste plain and boring.

Imagine my reaction when I torn apart a small corner of the fluffy-light bun, hot molten custard fillings flowed out like lava from an erupting volcano, I scrambled to save every single drop of the yellow-golden fillings – they are oh-my-god, so good! ‘Yummy…!’

Towards the end, we had a second round of custard buns and were deciding whether to have one more serving of the char siew sou or go for the Baked BBQ Pork Bun ($3.80 for 3). I had fond memories of this dish, but the one here wasn’t what I thought it was, instead of the bo luo bao texture, it tasted more like deep-fried bread. The char siew fillings were great, but I’d rather have the crispy puff pastry than the honey-glazed baked buns.

* * *

I have always insist that my favourite dim sum place is Yanting and Royal China, but now, we have a new addition to the list  for best dim sum – Taste Paradise. There’s a problem though, it’s affordable, and it’s right in the middle of town. I’ll probably forget about all the other dim sum, and just binge on the char siew sou and custard buns – they are that good! See you there!

Taste Paradise
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 Ion Orchard
Tel: 6509 9660

Taste Paradise is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

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Comments

29 Responses to “Taste Paradise: One of the best in town”

  1. jess
    December 19th, 2009 @ 7:45 pm

    hi brad! long time since i last posted. do they allow reservations ?

  2. maureen
    December 19th, 2009 @ 8:17 pm

    haha! so coincidental. i just told u i went for interview right. ahem ahem! haha

  3. dawn
    December 20th, 2009 @ 2:31 am

    oh how I wish I could say ’see you there’ as well. I would love to go here and eat all this and way more.

  4. Tesia
    December 20th, 2009 @ 8:28 am

    Yum yum! I think I wouldn’t mind having more of these!

  5. Angeline
    December 20th, 2009 @ 1:36 pm

    Haha! We just went back there ytd again! 2 plates of char siew sor and custard bun pls! Other dim sum items pretty ordinary. But the puff pastry with chicken and mushroom is pretty good too. Next to try list will be lei garden. Heex

  6. Life for Beginners
    December 20th, 2009 @ 2:03 pm

    A taste of Paradise? Right now, I’d settle for the electricians to finish work at my vacationing friend’s place so I can lock-up, leave and find me some lunch! :P

  7. ladyironchef
    December 20th, 2009 @ 10:19 pm

    Jess: Yeah where have you disappear to? Yep they allow reservation

    maureen: As in you went to taste paradise for interview?

    dawn: Let me know if you ever come to Singapore, I’d bring you to eat all the nice food : )

    Tesia: For sure! Are you treating me to dim sum? hee

    Angeline: AGAIN? how many times already eh? second or third time? Okay i’m so going back soon. You should give yanting a try next

    LFB: words and kenny always go together, you always play with them! hee

  8. maureen
    December 21st, 2009 @ 12:43 am

    nods nods

  9. ladyironchef
    December 21st, 2009 @ 9:05 am

    Maureen: WOW! okay tell me more on Msn later! hee

  10. J2Kfm
    December 21st, 2009 @ 2:33 pm

    Eh, true loh. Sometimes very hard to get good Cheong Fun (or Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun as we call them here) in dim sum outlets.
    Even those famous ones in Ipoh also do not serve good version of the noodles anymore.
    I prefer some random hawker stall’s version in Ipoh.

  11. ladyironchef
    December 22nd, 2009 @ 3:25 pm

    j2kfm: yeah hard to get a good cheong fun, they require real skills!

  12. diva
    December 24th, 2009 @ 1:52 am

    uh oh. i’m a xiaolongbao maniac so i def gotta try this after u’ve so beautifully reviewed this one! :)

  13. ladyironchef
    December 25th, 2009 @ 2:25 am

    diva: xiaolongbao-maniac? i’m sure u are not the only one out there : )

  14. jo
    January 7th, 2010 @ 9:21 pm

    A little on the pricey side but the dim sum sure does look good. Especially the xia long bao, the skin looks really thin. Great clicks as always.

  15. ladyironchef
    January 8th, 2010 @ 1:37 am

    jo: i won’t mind paying a bit more for good quality dim sum, besides it’s not really more pricey, i had more expensive dim sum that’s not as good : )

  16. amy
    January 8th, 2010 @ 3:54 am

    ohmygoodness. i have to have to have to eat dim sum soooon:)

  17. RCE
    January 8th, 2010 @ 7:17 am

    Hi, thanks for the beautiful pictures. For future reference though, Char Xiu Bao does come in a baked form even though the traditional one is steamed. The restaurant did not make a mistake. Next time make sure you order steamed and not baked.

  18. ladyironchef
    January 8th, 2010 @ 10:01 am

    amy: When when? shall we go together? haha

    RCE: Hello there, actually you misunderstood me, i do know char siew bao comes in baked form, and we did order the baked one (over the steamed one), what i meant was, i thought that the texture of the baked one will be something similar to what I had before http://www.ladyironchef.com/2008/08/23/wah-lok-cantonese-restaurant-dim-sum-lunch-with-the-ladies/ the bo luo bao texture, instead of the bread-like texture : )

  19. Peggy
    January 9th, 2010 @ 11:31 pm

    all of the dim sum look so tasty! I think I may go find some for lunch today!

  20. ladyironchef
    January 10th, 2010 @ 10:57 am

    peggy: Oh yea it is. enjoy yr lunch, try the char siew sou and custard bun! let me know how it goes :)

  21. Cecilia
    January 11th, 2010 @ 10:12 pm

    Hi,
    Just chance upon your blog while searching for a reasonable price ala-carte buffet for Chinese reunion dinner. Quite interesting reading. Do you or any of your readers know of any good venue for Chinese ala-carte buffet?

  22. ladyironchef
    January 12th, 2010 @ 10:15 pm

    Cecilia: hello there! I’m not sure if any restaurants will be offering ala carte buffet for reunion dinner, usually on those special occasions they are more likely to have ala carte or set dinners. How much is your budget per head? Why don’t you send me an email to bradleyfk@gmail.com then maybe we can discuss more there : )

  23. misterang
    March 19th, 2010 @ 11:46 pm

    haha, i don know when is the last time i ate dim sum already… i think is on sp birthday?? omg so long already.

  24. eLfs
    July 6th, 2010 @ 11:00 pm

    Freshly served ingredients

    Impress with Service

    I would think its better then Crystal Jade Kitchen!!

    Overall experience *love it! :)

  25. ladyironchef - Singapore Food Blog
    July 9th, 2010 @ 10:58 am

    elfs: I haven tried Crystal Jade Kitchen before! LOL

  26. eLfs
    July 9th, 2010 @ 11:40 pm

    Maybe you shouldn’t? LOL

    Anyway thanks for the recommendation!

  27. rene
    July 10th, 2010 @ 2:29 am

    hi, any idea if dim-sum is available after 6pm on weekends @ Taste paradise? :)

  28. yi jun
    July 10th, 2010 @ 3:17 pm

    their dim sum is available so long its open for service..

  29. ladyironchef - Singapore Food Blog
    July 11th, 2010 @ 12:56 pm

    eLfs: really? haha i just tried imperial treasure recently, it’s not too bad

    rene & yi jun: hello, if i am not wrong dim sum is only available during lunch. Give them a call to confirm before you head down

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