We had a family dinner at this restaurant on the weekend just before Christmas. The place (in fact, the entire Orchard Road area) was crowded and vibrant as expected. The staff was good enough to give us a private room as there were 11 of us.
The 4 appetisers were great. The drunken chicken was tasty and tender. The crispy deep fried eel was crunchy. But neither could match the beef tendon and the vegetarian goose. The vegetarian goose was especially outstanding and it was crispy outside and tasty inside, stuffed with tasty vegetables and mushrooms.
There were the mandatory xiao long pou and guo tie. As usual, up to the group's outstanding standard which has been praised by numerous people.
Winter melon soup was tasty yet not too salty. It was full of ingredients including scallops, prawns and lotus seeds. The lotus seeds were so soft and literally melted in the mouth.
We had 1 roast goose. May not match the best in Hong Kong, but rivals the best I have tasted in Singpaore.
A huge steamed soon hok arrived next with tender meat and tasty gravy.
The timing must have been judged perfectly to produce an ideal end product.
There was a vegetable stirred fried with garlic and the Shanghai stir fried river shrimps. This was followed by stirred fried nian gou. They were good but by then, one's palate was jaded by all the others that have gone before them to be much impressed.
It was a lot of food for us.
Throughout we were well served by the staff. Wine and tea were topped up without being reminded. The staff was always courteous and efficient with the manager popping in on and off to make sure everything was ok. The courses were timed perfectly.
The captain offered complimentary desserts (almond cream) and a fruit platter.
It was a great dinner and was definitely worth fighting the Christmas crowd to come here for.

I have decided that birthday celebrations and feasting should last as long as you're turning a year older! Which technically makes it everyday ;)

A lunch meet up with a friend turned into yet another belated birthday treat *beaming smile*. She suggested dim sum and I was game since its been a while since I had those little hearty treats.

We had a lovely cosy booth seat to begin with and I was immediately boggled by the number of menus I had to read through before I get my food! It was one of those "I'm hungry feed me NOW" days. I didn't have quite the patience to think about what I want and since its my friend's regular haunt, I left my gastronimic fate to her.

She rattled off items off the top of her head and I just agreed to most and suggested 2 other items and we were set:

- Shark's fin dumpling soup
- Salt and pepper squid
- Xiao long bao
- Salted egg yolk prawn
- Char Jiang Mian
- Shrimp Chee Cheong Fun
- Fried sesamee balls for dessert

So all were pretty safe choices and really no orgasmic moment here. I was a tad dissappointed with the 2 things that I picked out though. The salted egg yolk prawn and the salt and pepper squid.

I reckon prawns should ALWAYS be shelled for maximum infusion of flavour..esp with salted egg yolk! Once I peel off the shell, the precious golden flavour all goes to waste! (Anyone knows where to get the perfect salted egg yolk prawn??)

And as for my squid, I prefer it a bit more peppery.

The staff were very attentive and quick with their service. I know I'm probably nit-picking but they change my side plate with every prawn I peel! That makes about 4 plates in an hour. I'm only thinking about the amount of water they wasting to wash those plates!

I'll probably come back again though..just so I could study the rather extensive menu a bit more and try something interesting.

Reviewed inputs from others on the website and decided to give it a go and it was good! We were a bit unsure when approaching the restaurant as it's like a dining room in a shopping mall and it's full of big tables. However, we were escorted to a quiet area with booths so it was quiet and decent. Ambience was cosy and nice. We had the Shanghaiese steamed dumplings and they were good. I am not usually keen on them but tried one and it was good. Hot and sour soup was tasty, thick enough but not gluey. We also had the egg white with dried scallops which was just ok. My husband liked the "Lion's head" with Shanghaiese white cabbage. Overall, it was a good experience and I agreed with others that the quality of the good was far better than Din Tai Fung. Service was excellent from the minute we stepped in, courteous and speedy.

Maybe the ratings I hv given for the food wont be too fair cos I was damn hungry after a day's meeting today =P

Salt Fish Fried rice: 8/10
You can smell the fried salt fish in the rice miles away, let along this place where you are seated pretty close to your neighbour. So I can feel the glances coming from next table while we were savouring the rice.

Egg White/Fish Meat: 8/10
I was nv a lover of vinegar, but they recommended us to add a tweeny weeny bit of vinegar to the dish, so i did.
Very nice, but do not order this if you are only having a dinner for two, you will take ages to finish it...and leave the place feeling bloated haha.
This is something like egg omelete, chinese style, more on the 'wet' side.

Poached Veg wif egg : 7/10
My all time fav at chinese restaurants. This time I was a bit disappointed cos they dun hv the usual veg so they gave us spinach instead. =_=

Xiao Long Bao: 6/10
So so only. Maybe cos I dun really like xiao long bao.

WAnton Chicken and Ham: 7/10
A half chix with a chunk of Jin Hua Huo Tui. Soup was very nice, chix tasted bland liao cos they prob simmer the chix in the soup for some time already.
Comes with ALOT of wantons inside, for 3 pax it was overwhelming. :P

Maybe cos I was too hungry, and we Q-ed for approx 30mins. So I guessed we ordered abit too much food, nonetheless, I did enjoy most of it though.

Service was prompt and they were pretty polite to us. No complains.

Giving the food a 7 (Good) because
- It was tasty, and healthy.
- There's a huge menu.
- But nothing fantastic.
Note that I'm not a big fan of Chinese food.

Ambience gets a 6 (Above average)
- We were seated at a two-people table, quite close to others.
- The restaurant decor was quite nice, but not spectacular.

Value gets 6 (Average)
- For $55, I had noodles, dumplings, fish and vegetables.
- It was too much food, each portion being for two people.
- So I think next time I would spend about $40.
- Ok for a restaurant on Orchard.

Service gets a 5 (Average)
- I was able to place a reservation on Sat night, saving me a half hour wait.
- They told me to be prepared to leave in 1hr 15 min, but this wasn't enforced, and I stayed 2hr.
- Waiter service was present but not fantastic.