Peach Garden 桃苑 (OCBC Centre)

Going there on a weekday lunch and dressing causal since its an off day for us without the need to rush back to office made its a plus point for the day.

Food and service, they are good. 4 of us and they can accommodate 4 pieces of DimSum so each of us have a piece.

Don't expect to have a great view from 33rd floor as these are reserve for their VIP and no one can go in. And even those non-VIP tables near the window, you won't wanna try to go near them as they are having their meals too!!

Thought wanna impress 老婆，婆婆 n 亿婆 but.... So next time I'll try Equinox. Got better view??

Oh ya, UOB credit card got 15% discount too. So go there for your food only.

I've been there for a number of business lunches now. It's always been easiest to go for the set menu. To be honest - the cheapest set menu $32.50++ is as good as the other set menus. And with the ++ the $32.50 ends up at $50, so not that cheap. The food certainly does not improve in line with the increase in price.

In the last few months I have been there between 6-10 times. Service has always been very poor. Forgot us. Forgot dishes. Forgot the desert. Serve the food when they are ready, not when you are ready. Plonk the food in front of you, no finesse. Takes ages to get the bill. Serious - order the bill when they bring you dessert.

Food - set menu is expensive for quantities you get, but at least there are several dishes. Quality is OK, but nothing you would rush back for.

Why go there? Takes the thinking away! Convienient. Looks good when you first walk in. Can be good views (but make sure you reserve table next to window). Can take both senior and junior business people here. Quiet, so can have a conversation. Food is OK, but will not WOW you.

I wanted to impress daddy by wanting to bring him to a 33rd floor restaurant for his birthday. There were 10 of us and we were given a table next to the window. It is indeed the 33th floor but the view was not fantastic due to the facing, I subsequently realised that there is an area designated for members and u get real good view in that area.

We went there for lunch thus we ordered the dim sum and the Peking duck. The service staff assisted us to ensure there were 10 pieces of each dim sum. We ordered the below :
Xiao Long Bao - each XLB was placed in individual spoons which makes consumption easy but as I do not like XLB, i did not try
Har Kow - nothing to shout about
Siew Mai - each siew mai has a prawn sitting on the meat fillings, tasted ok as well
Seaweed beancurd skin - always my favourite among the different dim sum
Sharksfin Dumpling - As it was $9 per bowl, I did not order one for myself. My sis did not raved about it too
Cha Siew Buns - one of my fav din sum, tasted ok
Century Egg Porridge - abit salty
Egg Tarts - these tiny tarts tasted good in comparison to the rest of the dim sum, it is crispy and the custard is not too sweet.
Peking duck - I quite liked the way the duck tasted but daddy thinks that the duck is abit too fatty
Noodles with the duck shredded meat - I liked the ee fu noodles with the duck shredded meat, its yummy
Mango Pomelo - Just average, had better ones else where

The bill come up to $230 after a 15% discount using Citibank Credit Card.

Had a chance to see how the restaurant supervisor / manager (probably a malaysian) trained up their newly hired service staff from China. All I can say is they need to have better training plans as the supervisor / manager was quite "mean" in the way she speaks to the new staff. I do not think she is training but in fact she is putting unncessary pressure on the poor china girl and its all done right infront of the patron's eyes.

Having heard alot about Peach Garden, I decided to try it out for myself. For our first year wedding anniversary, we decided to have lunch with the family at Peach Garden.

I am quite glad that this Peach Garden opens on weekends (Sundays too!) because most food places in the CBD seem to be closed on weekends (for obvious reasons). So one of the plus points is that you don't have to fight the crowds or jostle for parking.

We ordered some dim sum and some dishes to share. Our menu for that Sunday:-
1. Har gow - lovely big prawn in each dumpling

2. Siew mai - I didn't try any but it also had a whole prawn topping the siew mai

3. Prawn cheong fun - I liked it because the skin tasted different, slightly salty. Husband wasn't terribly impressed though.

4. Xiao Long Bao - I didn't have any but it comes served in a basket and each bao on a spoon. Very clever since soup spilled from any tearing of the XLB skin would be captured in the spoon!

5. Cream custard bun - Excellent. One of the few places who get it right, with the custard liquidy and they also use salted duck yolk which gives it a sweet and salty taste. Wonderful :)

6. Char siew bun - Average. Not terribly impressive but of course edible.

7. Peking duck - very nice crispy skin, served with cucumber and spring onion wrapped in the popiah-like skin. The rest of the duck was diced and stir fried, served in a cabbage leaf. Very nice.

8. Seafood mian xian - Also good. Nice identifiable bits of prawn & scallop.

9. Fried asparagus with lily bulb - also very well done. Asparagus was cooked just right.

The wait staff was generally good save for the waitress showing us to our table who lost us along the way. She should have slowed down seeing that we had some elderly folks with us who weren't able to keep up. Other than that, the service was attentive. Regular plate change, water and tea fill up etc.

We also brought the fruit cake from our wedding which we were told to keep for 1 year and have it on our anniversary. When they served the cake they brought out a musical cake knife which we thought was so hilarious and campy. But I would definitely give A for effort and thoughtfulness.

We had a table of 10, whereas the dim sum comes mostly in baskets of 3, the waitress was very clever to say that they can serve the dim sum in the exact number of persons who are at the table. I thought that was smart of her.

We ate quite a lot but the bill came up to quite an affordable sum which impressed us further. Suffice to say that we will definitely be going back again.

I was strongly recommended to partake in the restaurants Nai Huang Bao (Steamed Salted Yolk Custard Bun). For $4.20, three buns will arrive warm and plain looking but bursting with a generous amount of blended salted egg yolk with runny custard. If you are not careful, your first bite will leave you will a explosive drizzle of filling down your shirt.

These Salted Yolk Custard Buns are definitely some of the best I have tasted. A decent, adequate amount of salted egg yolk is mixed together with the custard, leaving an almost savoury sweet yet satisfying taste. Excellent. For the record, after the lunch my mum ordered 21 buns to take away!

For an appetizer, I was recommend the Roasted Pork Cubes ($8). Expect an extremely crispy golden brown skin that leaves a resounding crunch and firm bite that is delectable and pleasing to both the stomach and ears. Unfortunately, my portion carried a slightly strong porky flavour and there was an absence of the smoky aroma that I look forward so much to in delicately roasted belly pork.

Now for something more exquisite that demands a colourful salute. The Sauteed Prawns in Wasabi and Salted Egg Yolk Sauce it definitely a crowd pleaser. Huge prawns that underwent a deep frying treatment for that crisp texture is coated with a mild creamy blend of wasabi sauce. Place delicately on a carved circled watermelon, the taste becomes balanced in a line of freshness and savouriness, portraying a refreshing outlook.

Read the full review at http://j2k3blogs.com/?p=2797

Slogging i mean working at Raffles Place.. It's inevitable to alwaz have business lunches at e few usual haunts of Tower Club, Peach Garden n Si Chuan Dou Hua... There's something about dining at e top of e world.. well top of CBD that makes e bankers and traders real happy! I reckon it's a power thingy.. haha !

(1) Apparently I've had e same set menu as an earlier reviewer which makes things easier for me coz since me aint e one paying.. i've no idea wat e hell we've ordered. Ambience-wise.. it's juz a typical fine-dining Chinese restaurant with a great view..

To start we had e chilled prawns + honeydew mayo salad: i tot this is a very refreshing dish... i lurrve prawns esp with mayo so wat's not to like? e honeydew salad is truly refreshing n i tot it's a good combi with e prawns.. .Next up would b e soup...i'm not too sure wat izzit called but it sld b double boiled sharks fin n sea cucumber? it's milky which took me by surprise at 1st (yup not e usual brown starchy type) but it's delightful to e very last drop! it's surprisingly tasty despite e bland white milky appearance... i likey!

The sauteed scallops with honey peas came along next n it's truly yummy.. e scallops although a bit teeny is fresh n succulent.. e bed of honey peas is real crunchy n e accompanying sauce was very yum... perhaps it's e preserved olive or something tat makes it so tasty. There's veg n seafood so next comes e meat! We had e sauteed deer meat cubes on a bed of spring onions.. e deer meat's very tender n flavourful n it's done with a slight rare which makes it tender so i likey! it's really quite a treat!

The stewed vermicelli with seafood n bittergourd was a tad disappointing though.. i tot it was quite bland n tasteless hence e green chillis to e rescue. The seafood n bittergourd was quite alrite but e noodles were less impressive..Lastly we had e sweet harmony dessert which i gotta agree is quite nicely done.. i'm hardly a dessert person but this is good.. not too sweet but nice level of sweetness.. plus coconuts n jelly? yeah!

Great place to have lunch! business or otherwise!

(2) My recent visit back to peach garden had us trying a new promotion set @ $32++.. It's a peking duck promo set hence.... FREE FLOW peking duck!!! Ha beat that!

The set started with roasted peking duck cubes which i tot was roasted pork cubes until i bit into it n it was kinda tough.. unlike e fatty crispy pork cubes.. duck cubes has less fat hence less juicy so nah..

The peking duck on e other hand is real yummy!!! even better than tower club! e duck skin is very crispy n it's a thick slice of duck meat nicely folded in e wrap.. 3 yummy wraps later i was keen to order more but wait wait.. dun b hasty!

Next is e assorted seafood sharkfins soup with pumpkin puree.. this is delicious! i've never tried sharksfin with pumpkin puree n this is quite lovely.. creamy with bits of prawns n scallops n a big piece of fish maw that absorbed e soup is way yum! i likey!

The chicken chop with red wine sauce is quite a hit as well.. e skin is crisp crisp while e meat is tender.. i'm not a chicken fan but i tot this is good.. n e sauce goes well although they sldn't drenched e chciken that much..

The baked sea perch with crispy mushroom is not for me.. it came like a pastry n i tink e fillings r a tad too little.. e sea perch tasted great but dun really go with e pastry n i couldn't see e mushroom at all..

The crabo dish would b ee fu noodles with duck meat.. i liked ee fu noodles but i dun like duck meat which is a tad too tough so i juz attacked e noodles.. pretty standard..

The dessert is some coconut + jelly + loads of other stuff.. quite nice but a tad too chocked up with ingredients so not much liquid to savour but no big oops..

Generally i tink e meal is really quite worth it n parents would definitely love it! Portion is quite decent n tasted great so do cmon down!

I just made the second call to the restaurant and am hugely disappointed. The lady who answered the phone spoke to me in exasperated and rude tone that she is too busy to fax CNY lunch menu to me. In her words (chinese) ' we are very busy leh, no time to fax to you leh '. And that was after I made the request earlier in the morning for an email for the CNY menu. This was because I could not dl the PDF menu from the internet. Apparently, the link does not work at all.

When I asked her the second time to fax me the menu instead of emailing if it is more convenient, she said ' go to the website, can download leh '. However, I said I can't. And she said 'can, you must know how to enter the website! ' exasperated. And I told her, There is a problem with the link and if I could download, I would not have called her. And she replied 'huh' in disbelief. ( I can't believe she thinks I do not know how to enter the website after being a student using the laptop on a daily basis for 7 years and been working for 2+ years).

I have heard much about Peach Garden way before my family’s visit for Mum’s birthday and everyone was full of praises of the place. And as usual, to prevent any disappointment, I made a reservation one week in advance.

And after hearing so much about ‘feeling as though on top of the world’, I was expecting a table near the windows, such that I could indeed have a good view of Singapore in the evening. But unfortunately, I was very much disappointed. Due to the restaurant’s dining arrangement, tables for small dining group were positioned in the middle of the dining hall, so I was not given my ‘top of the world’ view since my dining group was far from a figure of 10 persons. =(

My parents decided to give the Set Menu a try, rather than the usual A La Carte Menu. For SGD 48.00++, we were served an appetizer/starter, 4 mini main courses and a dessert.

Dinner started off with the appetizer, which was a Chilled Prawn Roll with Honeydew Salad Mayo, which was a cold dish, but it was good. The prawns had its quality and freshness ensured and the honeydew cubes added the cruchiness and sweetness to the dish. The mayonnaise was really fragrant and definitely not overwhelming. YUMMY!!

As for the soup, we had a Double-boiled Shark’s Bone Cartilage Soup with Conpoy and 3 Treasures, which was just just-right, i.e. not too thick (like real shark’s fin soup) nor too thin. And the chef was definitely not sparing with the ingredients as well! Nicely done there!! =)

The so-called vegetable dish was Sautéed Fresh Scallop with Honey Pea and Preserved Olive and man, the scallop was so succulent and fresh!! YUMMY!!! It definitely had that chewy-ness in it!! And though I am not a vegetable lover, I attempted a few of the honey peas and I must say, fresh is the word!! Definitely a good exercise for the jaw muscles due to its crunchiness!! But once again, I love the scallops heaps!!

Instead of having deer meat, my parents opted for a chance so we had Sautéed Diced Chicken ‘Kung Pao’ Style. It was awesome!! The ‘Kung Pao’ sauce was really fragrant and slightly spicy!! Done completely in its authentic way!! And once again, the chef was not sparing with his portions too!! There were much chicken bits around and not from the breast-portion but the drumstick-portion. Exactly how I would love my chicken dishes!!

The carbohydrate-rich dish was finally a Stewed Vermicelli with Seafood and Bitter Gourd in Black Bean Sauce, which appeared to be a small portion but was totally filling and un-small. BUT it was nonetheless good!! I really enjoyed the presence of the bitter gourd, which added a very different taste to the whole dish and dinner. The seafood used was definitely from the fresh catch of the day, coz one could taste the sweetness in the fish etc.

To end off the whole dinner, we had our share of Sweet Harmony Dessert, which was a mixture of Coconut and Ice Jelly. Not too sweet, thus definitely a plus with my parents and the jelly was nicely done, such that it was not too tough, neither was it flaccid. =)

It was really an enjoyable evening and not to mention that we were actually having the dinner to celebrate Mum’s birthday!! The service crew was really nice in selecting the right display plate for the cake and to even supply us with a knife, which played the song ‘Happy Birthday’ upon pressing a button!! This is definitely less embarrassing than having the whole restaurant knows that one is celebrating his birthday, by playing ‘Happy Birthday’ over its audio system!!

One observation worth commending was actually the efficiency of the service crew. There is this walkie-talkie system set up, such that the service crew in the dining hall will inform the kitchen, when to serve up the next dish. And in doing so, it makes sure that patrons can continually enjoy their dishes, warmly served up, rather than wasting some time waiting for the next dish.

For OCBC Platinum cardholders, there is a 15% discount off the A La Carte menu, but this promotion is not applicable for the Set Menu. Nonetheless, I know that some day I will definitely make use of this promotion coz I will definitely be back to try its dim sum collection. Perhaps I will then try to gather a group of at least 10 ppl, so I can finally get my ‘top of the world’ table!! =D

One of my clients gave me and my team a lunch treat at this restaurant.

The first feeling stepping into the restaurant, located on the 33rd storey of OCBC building at Chulia Street, was 'wow'! It is nicely decorated following the traditional chinese theme and design, with a number of paintings, calligraphy and deco items hanging around.

Surprising during lunch hour it was so crowded and almost full. Luckily my client had made a reservation and booked a room for us. I noticed most of the tables were trying their Dim Sum and the first perception was that their Dim Sum should be quite good, which I will put it in my buffet list of restaurant that I will try again some time later.

We ordered the set meals that included the nicely taste roast duck with mushrooms, prawns fried with XO sauce, deer meat (1st time trying), shark fins with crab meat soup and fried rice etc. Overall, the food quality is good and tasty, except that the fried rice is a bit salty (for me).

The dessert was white fugus with logan with red dates. Very refreshing and sweet.

Ambience was great and being able to have a bird eye's view on the skycrappers and island was fantastic. Trust me! That reminded me of my experience at Chatterbox, few weeks ago! You will really feel you at the top of the world and yet enjoying great food!

Service wise. Good. Maybe because we have booked a room and so there was one waitress specially assigned to our room to serve us. Whenever we finished one course, she would clear the plates and change new plates and utensils, quite efficient. The waitress was from China and so it will great if she can speak and understand English as she kept communicating with us in Mandarin though we have no problem with that. Initially, we had waited for quite a while for the first dish to be served, but following that, the serving was quite fast. Then I realised, the serving speed would depend on how fast we have finished the food (because some of my colleagues tend to eat slower), and the serving of food would be one time and for all, which I do not have a problem!

A nice place, great view and good food is my ending conclusion. :)

Peach Garden is the default business lunch venue if one can't be bothered to think of where to go. Afterall, it's got a good ambience, good food, good service and generally offers a failproof underlying formula for an enjoyable meal.

Food: Mixed dim sum platter offers a trio of dim sum items, which I believe vary day to day. Generally not spectacular but decent. The sharks cartilage soup is delicious! The honey baked sea perch is nicely done, as are the wasabi prawns and roast duck. The stir fried pork neck (forgot the exact name) is excellent. The desserts totally kick ass too, heh. ALL OF THEM.

Service: Generally polite and good.

Ambience: Much prefer this to the noisy cramped family friendly joint at Thomson.