Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar has an unbelievable a la carte buffet which features a massive lineup of 38 Chinese delights. It is time for you to unleash your inner beast and feast on endless servings of your favourite Chinese dishes!

As we all know, authentic and high-quality Chinese cuisine does not come cheap. But if you are badly craving some Chinese food and want to avoid spending beyond your budget, Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar’s A La Carte Buffet will be your saving grace.

From 15 May 2017 to 31 July 2017, enjoy 50% off their A La Carte Buffet when you dine in a group of four. You won’t believe it, but it is only S$24++ per adult and S$16++ per child*!

This is one unbelievably incredible promotion, especially with the impressive selection of Chinese delights that include shark’s fin, seafood and meat. Now, you really need to make your reservation at Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar.

SHARK’S FIN/SOUP

Chinese soups have long been recognised for being extremely nourishing. The warm broth never fails to soothe and rejuvenate the tired soul.

Begin your A La Carte buffet with the Double-boiled Baby Superior Shark’s Fin with Cordyceps Flower and Chicken Soup and the Braised Baby Superior Shark’s Fin with Fresh Crab Meat and Egg White. The method of double-boiling achieves the maximum extraction of flavours without compromising the quality of ingredients, which was certainly evident in every spoonful.

Do note that diners will be limited to one order from this section only.

APPETISERS

Amongst all the appetisers, the Chilled Drunken Chicken is one signature that you must try. We thoroughly enjoyed the accents of Chinese wine that layered the finely cut chicken meat; simplicity at its best.

Other must-try appetisers are the Roasted Crispy Pork and Fried Salmon Fish Skin with Salted Egg Yolk. For a cold appetiser, the Chilled Fresh Scallop with Fruit and Fresh Mango would be a good choice.

But ultimately, the Fried Carrot Cake with X.O. Sauce was the winner for us. Huge chunky cubes of radish cake are tossed in the aromatic X.O. sauce and we could even taste a tinge of that distinct wok hei. 

THE SEAFOOD

The seafood selection at Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar’s A La Carte Buffet is a pretty extravagant one considering the amazing price of S$24++ per pax! There are no restrictions on how much you can order and an entire fish will be served upon every order of fish. Mind-blowingly crazy, right?

You must try the Deep-fried Soon Hock Fish with Garlic and Superior Soya Sauce—crunchy on the outside yet soft on the inside.

The Steamed Pa Ting Fish with Minced Garlic in Super Soya Sauce was another classic seafood dish that we enjoyed immensely. The meat was tender and there was no muddy taste that freshwater fish are typically associated with.

A shout-out to all prawn lovers! Three types of prawns are available as part of this a la carte buffet and they include the Deep-fried Fresh Prawn with Jackfruit Sauce, Steamed Live Prawn with Chinese Wine and Herbs and the Deep-fried Fresh Prawn with Wasabi Salad Cream.

Yes, Peach’s Garden famous Deep-fried Fresh Prawn with Wasabi Salad Cream is included in this buffet so it is FREE-FLOW WASABI PRAWNS, GUYS. Astounding in all aspects, our prawns were juicy, the batter was crispy and lastly, the wasabi dip was light and not overpowering. You cannot, and must not leave Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar without a taste of this goodness.

Just think about it, guys. The usual a la carte price of this dish is S$28++. The buffet is S$24++ per person. You know our drift.

THE MEAT

9 different varieties of meat form the lineup of the meat selection at Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar’s A La Carte Buffet. 

We were so pleased with the execution of the Sautéed Kurobuta Pork Cube with Leek and Teriyaki Sauce. Every piece of pork was succulent and tender and the teriyaki sauce added a lovely touch to the dish.

The Sautéed Chicken with Chef’s Special “Mongolia Sauce” is another dish exclusive to Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar that is worth trying.

More meat options in the menu include Braised Pork Belly with “Mui Choy”, Braised Beef Brisket with Radish and the Sautéed Sweet and Sour Pork with “Lychee”.

SEASONAL VEGETABLES / BEANCURD

The Poached Local Spinach with Three Kinds of Egg is a classic Chinese dish. The sauce was not too salty and complemented the young spinach well. Elsewise, you can try the Stir-fried French Bean with Scallop and X.O. Sauce.

NOODLE/RICE

Choose from either the Fried Jasmine Rice with Pork Floss and Dried Scallop or the Stewed Spinach Noodle with Mapo Tofu.

THE DESSERTS

Choose from Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar’s selection of four traditional Chinese desserts to end your feasting.

Go for the Chilled Jelly Royale with Julienne of Coconut, Chilled Fresh Sago with Pomelo or Chilled Coconut Milk Red Bean Pudding. But if you prefer warm desserts, the Warm Black Glutinous Rice will be oh-so-satisfying.

Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar’s A La Carte Buffet 50% Promotion
15 May 2017 to 31 July 2017
Mon to Thu: S$24++/ adult, S$16++/ child
Fri: S$26++/ adult, S$18++/ child
Sat, Sun & PH: S$29++/ adult, S$21++/ child
Minimum 4 to dine

For all dining enquiries and reservations, please call +65 6736 3833 or email miramar@peachgarden.com.sg.

Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar 
Level 3 Hotel Miramar, 401 Havelock Road,
Singapore 169631
Tel: +65 6736 3833
Daily: 11am – 3.30pm, 6pm – 10.30pm
Nearest Station: Clarke Quay/ Chinatown

This post is brought to you by Peach Garden @ Hotel Miramar.

Szdechuan Court is known for serving good Szechuan and Cantonese cuisine, and its location at level three of Fairmont Singapore makes it the perfect place to have a nice meal with family and friends, or to host a business luncheon in an elegant and upmarket setting.

To celebrate Chinese New Year, the chef has specially created several set menus, and we had the good fortune to sample some of his signature dishes.

We started with lo-hei, the tossing of yusheng (raw fish salad which comprise crispy eel, salmon, abalone and lobster), a Chinese New Year ritual in Singapore.

There were classic dishes on the menu including Braised Whole Abalone with mushroom and dried oysters with broccoli, and Sweet and Sour Pork Spare Ribs topped with diced capsicums and pineapples.

The Three Treasures Double Boiled Cordyceps Flower Soup – with mini abalone followed shortly after. It was a simple and comforting soup – the kind which you can have everyday and not get sick of it.

The Crispy Tiger Prawns coated with mild spicy mayonnaise was also very good. In fact, I almost suspected that the chef coated the prawns with heroin, that made them so addictive.

The signature Deep-fried Turbot was the highlight of our meal. The fish, with a superior coriander soy sauce, had a shattering crisp, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We ended our feast with a Pandan Nian Gao topped with coconut flakes.

For Chinese New Year 2013, the chefs at Szechuan Court have specially created a collection of Chinese New Year signatures and seven set menus such as the Gong Xi Fa Cai set ($288++) a 8 course menu for a family of four and the Fortune Set ($888++), a massive 10 course menu for a table of ten.

Szechuan Court & Kitchen
80 Bras Basah Road
Level 3 Fairmont Singapore
Tel: +65 6431 6156
Daily: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Note: This was an invited media tasting.

When I was younger, the de facto meeting place for gatherings was definitely at least a cafe, or a nicer restaurant for a special occasion. While I enjoy going out to fancy restaurants, I also like having a simple dinner at a Zhu Chao stall with my friends.

For one of our gatherings, we decided to meet at Tiong Bahru as everyone is working nearby. Since I’ve been to Sin Hoi San Seafood Restaurant, I asked my friend to recommend another eating place in the area, and she immediately suggested Por Kee Eating House – a very popular Zhu Chao Stall at Seng Poh road opposite Tiong Bahru Market.

Like what I’ve mentioned in my Singapore Must-Eats post, Zi Char (also known as Zhi Char/Cze Char/Tze Char/Zhu Chao) is a Chinese stall (in a coffee shop) that serves a variety of ala carte dishes at affordable prices.

The signature Home-made tofu braised with mushrooms is also highly recommended, and this is coming from a guy who only likes hotplate tofu. We also had the famous Champagne Pork Ribs ($16 for small), and it was really good.

As you all know, I’m on a quest to find the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore. Even though I have been disappointed each time, I still continued to try them. Unfortunately, Por Kee’s Sweet and Sour Pork ($12) was only mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either.

The food at Por Kee Eating House is good, but not great. Furthermore, the prices at Por Kee are slightly higher than the typical Zhu Chao stalls; vegetable dishes start from $9 (small), and the meat dishes are around $12-16 (small).

I wouldn’t go all the way to Tiong Bahru just to eat this, and even if I am in the area, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Where do you usually eat in Tiong Bahru?

Singapore Food Blog Review
Por Kee Eating House
69 Seng Poh Lane #01-02
Tel: +65 6221 0582

Like many others, I love to find nice restaurants that serve good food at affordable prices. Paradise Inn is a casual dining concept by the Paradise Group, with 11 branches in Singapore.

The food is generally good, and most of the items are priced below $15 (for small portion).

Stand-out dishes include the Braised Vermicelli with Pork Trotters ($12 for small) and the Stewed Pork Belly with Lotus Bun ($2.2 per piece), otherwise known as Kong Ba Bao. We also tried Paradise Inn’s Sweet & Sour Pork with lychee ($10 for small) – decent but not life-changing; and Hot Plate Tofu ($10 for small) which came with preserved caixin and minced pork.

Paradise Inn is a nice and affordable Chinese restaurant to have a simple family dinner. Given that Paradise Inn is a restaurant chain in shopping malls, prices are naturally higher than zi char places. That said, I can see myself going back with my family when we are dining out, especially if we are in a shopping mall.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Paradise Inn Restaurant
(11 Branches in Singapore)
23 Serangoon Central
#03-15 NEX Mall
Tel: +65 6634 4228

313 Orchard Road
#B3-39/40 313 @ Somerset
Tel: +65 6733 0348

For more recommendations, read Paradise Dynasty | Seafood Paradise | Taste Paradise

Reading Food Blogs and watching food shows are among my favorite pastimes. Food blogs with delicious photos and intriguing words have the ability to suck me in for hours, while food shows are somewhat more direct – they make me hungry instantly. I’m sure many of you are currently hooked to Sizzling Woks, the popular food show on the best zhi char eating places in Singapore.

I’m not surprised because I get many requests to blog more about cheap and good Zhi Char in Singapore all the time. Today, I will like to share about one of the Zhi Char restaurants in Singapore that my family always go to: B.K Fortune Seafood Steamboat restaurant. They are located just a few steps away from Bar Bar Black Sheep along Bukit Timah road (towards King Albert Park direction after Sixth Avenue).

Unlike some Zi Char Stalls in neighbourhood coffee shops that charged $40/kg for crabs (prices that are comparable to Seafood restaurants), the ones at B.K Fortune Seafood restaurant are only $30/kg and we paid $56 for two huge Salted Egg Yolk Crabs.

Crabs do not really appeal to lazy people like me. It’s a dish that requires a lot of effort, but offers very little return (in terms of meat) – so you can understand why I don’t really like crabs. But when we eat out at Seafood restaurants in Singapore, I will always go for either the famous Singapore Chilli crab, or the Salted Egg Yolk Crab. And if there’s one thing you should know, Fortune Seafood Restaurant’s Salted Egg yolk Crabs are gorgeous! I’m not going into details about how they taste like, but believe me – they are fingers-licking good!

This isn’t a very pretty photo, but Fortune Seafood’s signature Assam Curry Fish Head ($15) is a must-order dish. The flavours hit you in different waves, first the spicy-and-sourish assam gravy, second the smooth and fresh taste of the fish head – I love it! The assam gravy was so good that I filled my bowl of rice with it.

Amongst the other dishes that we had at Fortune Seafood Steamboat Restaurant, the Sweet & Sour Pork ($10) was exceptionally ordinary – there was too much fatty meat and it didn’t have the right bite.

When eating at Zi Char restaurants, we would usually order the crowd-favorite Hot Plate tofu. But this time round, we decided to throw caution out of the window and went for their Mango Sauce Fried Tofu ($8). It was a disaster. The sauce accompanying the tofu was done the Thai-mango-salad way, but the whole dish was just deep fried tofu (bland and slightly dry) with the dressing. Give me hot plate tofu any day please.

If you have difficulty finding the place, they are located directly opposite the old turf city. Otherwise, look out for the former premises of Brewerkz. Now, it’s your turn to share with me a good zhi char stall in Singapore.

// The name of the restaurant is Forture Seafood Restaurant with a ‘R’, but it seems that there is a common spelling mistake online where everyone calls it Fortune Seafood.

Singapore Food Restaurant Review
B.K Fortune Seafood Restaurant
887 Bukit Timah Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6469 5957
Opening hours: 11am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5pm – 11.30pm Daily

Oh our love-hate relationship with cravings. It is almost impossible to ignore them, and they always sneak in and catch us unaware during the middle of the night. Sometimes, we don’t really have a choice but to satisfy it.

I was craving for Chilli Crabs a while back, and decided on Seafood Paradise Restaurant at Singapore Flyer since all of us have never been there before.

The Paradise Group of Restaurants have been doing very well recently. Other than their original Seafood Paradise at Defu Lane, and the fine dining flagship restaurant Taste Paradise, they have added Paradise Inn and with the latest being Paradise Dynasty at Ion Orchard.

You know what is the best part about being a food blogger? I get to decide the place, as well as the dishes to order. If you have been reading my blog for some time, you will know that I’m a big fan of chilli crabs ($4.4/100g). Naturally, I persuaded the rest to avoid the pepper crab and go for the deep fried man tou and chilli gravy instead.

Rule number one when it comes to ordering Chilli crab:

Always, always specify the size of the crab to the waitress. Unfortunately, we were too hungry that night and actually forgot to mention that. The poor crab that arrived on our table was undersized – it was just slightly more than 700g, which was barely enough to satisfy our cravings. But everything was forgiven when we dipped the huge deep fried buns into the gravy. There was silence for a few minutes as everyone focused on the crab (& the mantou with chilli gravy).

Another must-order is the Crisp-fried Crystal Prawns with salted egg yolk ($16/small). The one that we ordered only had 5 small prawns, please go for the medium portion ($24) at least.

Hotplate Tofu ($10/small) is one of my favorite dishes when I dine at Zi Char or seafood restaurants. Don’t we all love the sizzling sound coming from the hotplate? The tofu, the minced meat, and the egg tasted perfect together! The one here had additional preserved cai xin to give it a different twist.

Whenever Sweet & Sour Pork appears during dinner, everyone will always turn their head towards me. It is as though there’s the words ‘sweet and sour pork’ written on my forehead.

Other than the rather small portion, I’d think that Seafood Paradise’s rendition was very close to the one that I have been looking for. In short, it’s one of the best Sweet & Sour Pork in Singapore that I had in recent times. With the pineapple and lychee adding to the sweetness, the pork was extremely crispy yet not too oily. Every bite was so good! I managed to get a few extra helpings while everyone was busy with the crabs.

Looking for a Chinese Seafood restaurant to bring your overseas friends for our famous Singapore Chili Crab? Check out Seafood Paradise Restaurant next time!

Which is your favorite seafood restaurant for Chilli crabs?

Restaurant Review
Seafood Paradise Restaurant
30 Raffles Avenue #01-01
Singapore Flyer Singapore
Tel: +65 6336 5101

91 Defu Lane
10 Swee Hin Building Singapore
Tel: +65 6487 2429

When our dear friend Kenny was in Singapore for work recently, we were having a headache where to bring him for dinner — until someone suggested Cafe De Hong Kong at Balestier.

It’s always good to have a friend in town as it provides us with the perfect excuse to pig-out. It’s also a not-so-regular dinner outing for a group of lazy food bloggers.

Cafe De Hong Kong’s Nan Yu Roasted Crispy Chicken ($17 half chicken, pre-order required) is very different from the usual ones. For one, it wasn’t exceptionally crispy, nor was it extremely tender. But it stood out with the use of fermented bean curd to marinate the chicken, giving it a very different twist. While I didn’t like this dish, the rest of the folks enjoyed it tremendously.

The Pumpkin Paste & Salted Egg Golden Prawns ($22) was excellent. Each of us had a huge prawn that was coated with the rich salted egg yolk sauce. It was succulent, meaty and there was a subtle spiciness hidden within the robust sauce.

I felt that the Braised Lamb Brisket ($20) had a strong gamey taste, but the rest thought that it was acceptable and they went on to finish the whole pot!

The only vegetable that we ordered for dinner was the Braised Long Beans ($10) and it was much better than I expected.

The Fragrant Fish Roe Fried Rice ($10) was listed as one of Cafe De Hong Kong’s signature dishes and I was wondering what’s the big fuss about it. I mean, fried rice is just fried rice, how good can it be?

The porportion of grain – fish roe was evenly matched, and every mouthful of the fried rice was accompanied by the flavorful and crunchy red roe. This is definitely worth a try!

Dear God, or whoever in charge of wishes, I know I haven’t been very faithful when it comes to praying, and it isn’t nice for me to come to you only when I need something. But please, let the Sweet & Sour Pork ($10) be good.

There was a strong vinegar smell lingering in the air when the waitress brought the plate to our table, the appearance of the Sweet & Sour pork looked promising. Everyone stared at me to see my reaction as I was the one who insisted on ordering this dish. I took a piece with the chopsticks and placed it carefully into my mouth.

The first impression was not too bad, but after taking a few more bites, I concluded that it wasn’t what I was looking for.  According to the others, they found the Sweet & Sour Pork too sweet, which wasn’t an issue with me. But it wasn’t crispy nor crunchy enough. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if I am seeking something that does not exist.

I almost fainted when the two French Toast came to our table. It was huge, and sinful! For a second, I was wondering if I should eat it. But I finally succumbed to temptation under peer-pressure. It was very good – definitely one of the best French Toast in Singapore!

Cafe De Hong Kong is somewhat like an upmarket zi-char stall in a Chinese restaurant setting. The restaurant was almost full when we were there on a weekday night, so you can guess how popular they are. While I am not totally convinced with all the raves that they are getting, Cafe De Hong Kong is probably an option to consider for dinner if you are in the Balestier area.

Restaurant Review
Cafe De Hong Kong
586 Balestier Road #01-01 Eastpac Building Singapore
Tel: +65 6255 3865