Time really flies, the last time I was back here it was during Christmas and look, it’s almost Yule soon. Before we start getting emotional and reflect on the activities for the past year, lets have some wine shall we?

The idea of pairing wine with food is not new for western cuisine, and there’s an increasing demand for wine appreciation with our Chinese cuisine too.

We started with the Jia Wei Deluxe combination which consisted of scallop dumpling, smoked duck, wasabi prawn, lobster paste roll and marinated octopus from top left clockwise. The ordinary-looking scallop dumpling was given a make-over with the touch of roe but otherwise it’s pretty much run-of-the-mill. And while I could never say no to smoking duck, I was actually eying the wasabi prawns that I had pleasant memories of, but unfortunately Jia Wei’s take of the famous dish had a choking sensation which I didn’t really take to. And I love the lobster paste roll simply because of the fact that it’s lobster paste roll.

The last time we were here, the superior shark’s fin soup in hot stone pot was fabulous. So I was rather skeptical when the shark’s fin arrived in normal bowl this time round. I mean, hot stone pot is like the best thing to keep the soup warm and nice, so how are you going to beat that? Well, they upped the stakes by throwing in a gigantic crab pincer and I had to admit – it was good. Well personally I would prefer it to be served in a hot stone pot, but stone pot or not, it’s not going to stop me from finishing the Braised Shark’s Fin with crabmeat in golden stock.

My, my, what a gorgeous photo. I’m so glad that the picture does justice to the Steamed cod fish with special sauce. Sometimes I get real irritated when a restaurant or chef says it’s top secret, it’s secret recipe – you know that kind of stuff. I mean even if you tell me what’s the secret ingredient, I wouldn’t be able to replicate it. But anyway, I figured that it’s of no importance to me since I rather enjoyed the food than to crack my brains over what the ingredients are. The special sauce, was all in all, rather special. It’s kind of sticky, yet tangy and sweet, and it actually blended well to give a refreshing change to the cod.

I’m just a pretty face. And I’m superficial. Whatever.

If there’s a dish to describe the line, this would be it. As much as the Broccoli with scallop and dry conpoy in oyster sauce looked pleasing to the eyes, it’s just another pretty face. There wasn’t anything special about it, but still, I appreciated the effort by the chef to make this thing so delicate.

Don’t ever, underestimate this thing you see here. I call this the Upper East side goreng pisang. The fried fritters retained the distinct banana taste, but with the addition of kiwi fruits and scallops – it just gets better and better.

We had five different wines to pair with the different dishes. There was the Famille Castel Sauvignon Blanc to go with the Deluxe platter, with the light acidity of the Sauvignon to enhance the intensity of the dish. And the Bascand Pinot Noir from New Zealand which you see in the picture here goes well with the braised shark’s fin. I was under the impression that in general you will have white wine with fish, but instead we had another red (Les Hauts De Goelane) with the steamed cod. The Terra Andina Cabernet Sauv was recommended for the Broccoli with scallop, and lastly I liked the Bascand Riesling for the fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

I’ll like to thank Keane from Grand Mercure for the invitation to the food tasting session. All the five wines together with a few other selections are available at Jia Wei restaurant, so if you ever want some wine to go along with Chinese food, this will be the place.

Jia Wei Chinese restaurant
Level 2 Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel
50 East Coast road, Roxy Square
(Opp parkway parade)
Tel: 6340 5678