Heard about the long queues during weekends, so came here during weekday lunch.
I can never get tired looking at these huge life sized paintings of the various Emperors from different dynasties eras. Though they do look eerie now given that this is the 7th Month.
Our first dish was the XO Carrot Cake (S$7.80). I find it just okay and pretty average.
Fried Spring Rolls (3 for 3.80) - It was unique as it had roasted duck pieces inside, machiam like a deep fried Peking Duck roll. Nice.
Crackling Pork (S$12.80) - I love biting into the crackling crispy roast pork skin with juicy pork. The version here doesn't fail.
Steamed Cod Fish (S$4.20) - I wonder if the served us the wrong thing, but there is nothing "cod fish" in this... can't taste the cod....
Siew Mai (S$4.80) - Very good version. Juicy and plump.
Steamed Beef Balls (S$3.80) - I will avoid ordering beef balls in all restaurants given that all of them loves to add coriander leaves inside.
Char Siew Buns (S$3.90) - Bao skin is thin and fluffy, pork fillings are delicious.
Fried Pork Buns (S$3.80) - One of the few Chinese restaurants in Singapore to serve this crispy and juicy dish...
The meat fillings inside is savoury and juicy, while the outside skin is crispy and slightly charred.
Steamed Custard Buns (S$4.20)
Runny glisttering egg yolk custard flowing out from the white buns.
Chee Cheong Fun with Shrimps (S$5.50) - Pretty ordinary.
Har Gao (S$4.80) - Not sure why this was the last to arrive. But the prawns fillings are pretty sweet and tasty. Skin's thin too.
My verdict is that this is indeed one of the best Dim Sum place in Singapore. Will come back more often.
Taste Paradise
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07
ION Orchard
i haven't tried taste paradise, but royal china serves good dim sum too (http://petitconnoisseur.blogspot.com/2010/08/at-royal-china-with-hungrytrotters.html) (: they have a steamed mango with salted egg yolk custard pau!
ReplyDeleteHi stargirl, I used to go Royal China often, as the dim sum there is nice. However, I never stepped in there since 2008 after an unbelievably bad experience during one dinner. I never been treated so badly before in a restaurant like Royal China did to me. Somemore I'm quite a regular there.
ReplyDeleteThat night I decided to check out the newly renovated Royal China, kinda spontaneous, so just do a walk-in without reservation with my makan kaki. Was not really a busy nite, around 50% filled at the restaurant. Realised that the manager and some of the service staff have changed. Requested for slightly bigger table as I know I tend to over order, and 2 seater will not hold my order well. Was denied. OK, fine...after a bit of waiting and gentle reminders, our tea was served and order was placed.
Waited for a good 45 minutes, nothing happened. Not even the soup was served. Then one ang moh couple came in and was led to sit next to us, a four seater! Hmm...I dun feel good about the differential treatment, but it's ok. Then service staff mysteriously turned blind, and don't bother to fill up our empty tea cups. In 15 min interval, he walked pass our table many times and enthusiastically poured tea for the ang moh couple, with constant small talks eg. "is everything ok?". The feel bad feeling in me escalated a bit more now, still I hold it down.
Then, guess what, ang-moh's food is served ahead of us! We had waited for 1 hr, and a good 45 minutes longer than ang moh. Yet, their food is served and we are still munching away the peanuts. I am not ninja 忍者, I can't hold my anger any longer on the outrageously bias treatment I receieved. Even the ang moh said they feel bad for us seeing the staff totally ignored us. When I demand an explanation, and asked them to cancel all my orders, the manager offered apologies. But the damage is too big to be mended.
I will never ever go back to Royal China and get insulted like that again.
Just to share my experience.
The experience I had wasn't exactly paradise. I must admit, the taste is pretty good. However, the service sucks big time! I wouldn't suggest coming here unless you have no place else to go for expensive Tim sum.
ReplyDeleteBernard : yup...service standard in Taste Paradise @ Ion Orchard is highly inconsistent. On busy day, when they are under-staffed, the service staffs suddenly turn blind and won't be able to see your waving...
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me of the recent announcement of Singapore's Hotel rating by Forbes Travel Guide....even with all the luxurious buildings and expensive interior decor, non of the hotels in Singapore worth 5 star rating. Reason given being only 25% of scoring goes to hardware, 75% goes to services. Inconsistency of service quality was the main reason cited.
Well, for F&B industry, I think if similar rating to be adopted, very few expensive restaurants will even get more than 1 star. Lousy service will simply spoil the entire dining experience. So what if the restaurant can hire Michelin star studded team of chefs if the service remains sub-standard. Sincerely hope the hospitality industry here can do much better in service quality to match up the excellent facilities.