Prologue:
I've got to be honest here. I've been a regular of this restaurant for over 4 years. I'm a Gen-Xer, so naturally, it was the parents that introduced me to the restaurant. Parents, the Post-War Generation, they don't blog, nor do they bother writing reviews. So this review is dedicated to them - My Parents.
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Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant is firstly a Chinese restaurant. It serves excellent AND CONSISTENT quality Cantonese food. Whether it is your humble "lup mei fun" (Claypot rice with preserved meat) or your "high class" sharksfin soup, they do it very well here.

I've been here for lunch (ala carte dim sum, set menus and ala carte), dinner (set menus and ala carte) and birthday celebrations. The dining experience has always been positive with well-prepared food (=fresh ingredients, cooked properly), good and efficient service and this feeling of "comfort" that most restaurants don't evoke.

In terms, of food, this means that it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that your fish will be served half cooked or that the manager will BS his way out of the situation by claiming that Hongkongers eat their fish that way and thereby, insinuating that the Hongkongers don't know how to eat their fish and that I don't know the difference between a cooked fish and an under-cooked one. For free insults and bad food, you may like to patronise the Chinese restaurant on the 5th floor of Takashimaya, with the fish tanks and escalater outside the outlet.

Here's my opinion on the dishes that I love:

1) Sharks fin Broth - Thick and creamy (not from starch) with huge chunks of sharksfin (not the one string type). The broth has a strong character derived from a well-cooked stock (don't ask me what type of ingredients, I eat...not cook...er....cook that well).

2) Snow Crab Steamed with Egg white - Unlike the Singapore cooking style for crab (yes, I mean the over-rated chilli crab and black pepper crab), the flesh of the snow crab is so sweet that sweetness penetrates the gravy that comes with the steamed egg white. The day I was treated to this wonderful dish, the restaurant had just received it's delivery of the crustacean, that when it was steamed.....waaaaaaaahhhh....it was a real treat for my tastebuds ....(as I'm writing this, the flavours are on my tongue, as if I'm eating it as I write)

3) XO mee pok - Some people may like this, some people won't. Those that don't will find that the noodle has too much alkali or that it's pointless paying $15 a plate (single portion) for mee pok or that it's nothing to rave about. "Other people" aside, those who try and like the XO mee pok will enjoy the taste of the XO and chilli blend that makes the noodle taste so yummy. The texture of the noodle can range from slightly over cooked to cruncy perfection. It's a tiny inconsistency that I tend to overlook because I'd usually be quite stuffed by then to fault them.

4) Almond paste ("Hung Ngun Woo") with Glutinous rice balls stuffed with Sesame Seed paste - Not for those allergic to nuts. This dessert has a smooth texture and is not as sweet as found in most Chinese restaurants. I would say that out of the whole of Singapore - Lei Garden and JPSR - have the best almond paste - respectively

3 reasons to order Set Menus at JPSR:
1) Business meeting over lunch/dinner. You want to get down to talking about golf, shares, cars, business, sign the contract (in sequence), the least you want to do is to fuss over the menu. The set menu will set you back by $50 per person nett but the cost of not looking cheap and looking like you know your food - priceless.
2) Eating with friends. You want to just talk rubbish, enjoy your wine and have good food that matches the wonderful company you are with. You don't want to bother to impress your friends because they already know that you are what you eat.
3) Value for money. Don't worry about spending that $50-60 per person (before corkage) on your business associate, family or friends. It's worth it. They look at long term business, so they aren't about to fleece you with cheap fish on the menu or under-feed you with smaller portions. I've never left that restaurant feeling less than stuffed.

Second, JPSR is your on-site wine purveyor. The most hospitable Manager/Owner of the Restaurant, will be happy to discuss the finer points of wine and if you are a regular, would recommend a wine suited to your tastebuds - in Cantonese. Prices for a bottle is not going to be more expensive than picking a bottle yourself at your favourite bottle shop, but you can be assured, that the restaurant owner/manager is too savvy to risk long term business by introducing an inferior bottle to your table.

Service here is not intimidating and although not perfect (eg waitress sticks her hand across your face to replace a dirty plate 2 seats away), it resonates a feeling of "familiarity" - like they know your name, remember the wine you drank before, the favourite dessert, whether we like red or green chilli with our peanuts. Places like Lei Garden also have the same level of service - this lies with key staff that do "client account management" in addition to "order taking".

JPSR against 2 of Singapore's popular Cantonese restaurants:

JPSR versus Lei Garden (next to California Fitness-Orchard):

Alike: Both serve good set menus and quality food.

Differences: Garden is more marketing savvy with regular promotions on their set menus. Service at JPSR is consistent whether during busy or lull periods whereas you tend to get huge gaps in service consistency when Lei Garden is busy.

JPSR has private rooms - one of which is in the wine cellar - guaranteed to add ambience to the dining experience.

JPSR versus Hua Ting:

Differences: Hua Ting has a rather "upmarket snooty" personality that forces one to focus on the quality of food and "ambience" as opposed to the wholistic experience.

Hua Ting probably has better Peking duck than JPSR. But dollar for dollar, I'd say that Hua Ting charges 20% more than on similar food items/portions.

From a business perspective, if I want to "Wow" my client/biz partner that I've got loads of money and also fine taste in dining...ie I want to show off....I'd take people to Hua Ting.

If I want to portray that I've got heart and I value relationships more than money, I'd go to JPSR.

Savvy????

This place is overall good for family and business gatherings. Take the time to build a relationship with the people here at JPSR, they'll love you back.