Poon Choi (also known as Pen Cai) is a traditional Chinese New Year dish originating from Hong Kong. It has become a popular Chinese New Year Takeaway dish in Singapore during recent years, with most Chinese restaurants and hotels offering Pen Cai and yusheng in their Chinese New Year Dinner menu.

When the waitress opened the cover of the Poon Choi, there were three reactions from the table: Woah, Wow, and OMG! Our Chinese New Year Dinner started with a bang, and we knew we were in for a treat at Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant.

It is easy to understand why the Pen Cai is a popular option for Chinese New Year Takeaway. The pot is filled with items bearing auspicious meanings, and it has a lot of food to feed the whole family. Furthermore, who can resist the lure of Chinese delicacies braised to perfection?

There is something irresistible about one-pot dishes, I love the idea of cooking everything in a pot. Just imagine all the ingredients mingling inside and the essence of the different flavours being fully absorbed into the food.

Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant’s Peng Cai includes: abalone, sea cucumber, shark’s fin, fish maw, oyster, Chinese Sausage, prawn, goose web, dried oyster,  roasted pork, and scallop. There is only one word to describe it — magnificent!

Other than the Pen Chai, Jia Wei Restaurant’s signature Peking Duck was the other outstanding dish of our meal. It was quite entertaining to watch as the staff carved the duck in front of our table. Dipped with sweet sauce, the crispy skin was wrapped in the paper-thin pancakes, and delivered right into our stomach. Delicious!

We rounded up the dinner with Sauteed Fresh Scallops with X.O Sauce, gigantic King Prawns and Double Boiled Hasma with Ginseng and Lily Bulbs.

At Grand Mercure Hotel, Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant has 7 different Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner set menus to cater for every family. The Chinese New Year Dinner promotion is available from 3rd to 17th Feb 2011, so if you are looking for a Chinese restaurant to lo-hei with your friends or colleagues, Jia Wei is the place to go.

Chinese New Year is just another excuse for me to eat more.

Singapore Food Blog
Jia Wei Chinese Restaurant
50 East Coast Road 2F
Grand Mercure Roxy Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6340 5678
Note: This is an invited review.