We had the ala carte buffet there recently and were really excited cos had heard so much about this place and the glowing reviews of high quality chinese food.

however, i suppose this might not totally apply to the ala carte buffet. should have expected it. buffet food is never the prime cuts or the best species anyway.

There were 6 of us, so I would say big groups are best at getting a large variety of samplings. We tried all the appetisers, and the Pork Belly was good, and I really loved the soft shell crabs drenched in pork floss. the clams had a strong smell though, and we didn't enjoy it. the salad prawns on fruits were predictable but at least fresh.

The most disappointing dish of the night was the 1.Braised Superior Shark’s Fin with Seafood. The shark's fin tasted like plastic and had a funny smell. so we didn't finish it. the manager did say after the meal that if we had surfaced this earlier he would have cooked a fresh pot for us. but by that time we were already stuffed having reached the end of the meal.

Other highlights that we did enjoy were the Steamed Sea Bass with Coriander Leaves, but it was cooked peranakan style with chili and lady's fingers and tomatos with rich dark gravy. The Deep-fried Soon Hock in Soya Sauce was a tiny tiny fish for so many of us, but it was fresh and tasted good.

Other things we tried included :
Deep-fried Scallop in Japanese Sauce - tempura but a little heavy. some brinjal tempura as well.
Peking Duck - quite normal, a tad disappointing.
Steamed Cod Fish with Chilli Chips - very tasty and flavourful and a large portion.
Stir-fried Crabs in Salted Egg Yolk and Potato - crabs were not the large sri lankan kind, but the salted egg taste was quite interesting.
Deep-fried Pork Ribs with Golden Garlic - sweet cos coated with honey but a little tough and in large chunks.
Crab Meat & Sweet Corn Soup - only one of us had it, but it was so good he ordered a second bowl
Crispy Prawns with Oats Cereal - nothing out of the ordinary
Crispy Chicken Chop in Mango Sauce - very good
Stir-fried Venison with Black Bean Sauce - tasty but average
Seasonal Vegetable & Diced Garlic - xiao bai cai came with only half! the green top leaves were presumably cut off to serve in some other ala carte atas dish.
Stir-fried Vegetable with XO Sauce - some brocolli and snap peas.
Seasonal Fruit Platter - rock melon was over-ripe. watermelon was very sweet though.
Lemon-Grass Ice-Cream - very very yummy dessert. not too pungent and very palate cleansing.

Service was stellar though. At the end, what particularly impressed us was that they laid out wet towels individually, and opened the packets for us! very considerate considering that we had eaten crab and prawns with our hands, and our fingers might have been too oily to easily open the packets.

I get to know of tis restaurant cos my friend had her wedding there!! Was actually very satisfied with their food! Is really fabulous, and everybody there was enjoying the food..

wow. this place is good.

located on the 2nd storey, we were greeted by a lady on the ground floor, who radioed for a table to be ready upstairs before leading us to the lift, seeing that my grandmother was around.

setting is nice, and you have a great view of the river. we ordered the a-la-carte buffet, and we were not disappointed. MUST-TRIES include the cod (absolutely fantastic) and the prawns in curry (well this was strongly recommended by my family, seeing how I totally detest prawns).

you can order as much or as little as you want, and we ordered only small dishes. but each small dish is enough for 4 ppl. there is a minimum of 4 before you can have the buffet, but it is highly advisable to bring a big crowd.

as such, we could not order too much. other fantastic food include the beef and the venison. a pity i could not try their lamb and their beancurd.

the service was impeccable too. ok maybe not everyone there, but at least the senior supervisor who made it a point to make small-talk with all, yes ALL, tables. otherwise, it is what you would expect from a high-class chinese restaurant.

maybe i'll hold my wedding dinner there? they can bring you in by boat!

The Deep Fried Live Prawns with Curry Leaves kinda blew me away. The prawns were relatively huge, succulent and fresh, but the winner was the sauce which had a slight tinge of curry flavouring but was slightly sweet.

The Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Golden Garlic were juicy and tender whilst the sauce was sweet and hinted strongly of garlic with a salty aftertaste. Every individual flavour carried itself very well, which made the dish very easy to appreciate.

I didn't find the Baked Cod Fish with Mango oustanding, but it was still decent. The fish was fresh, nothing less and baked till the exterior turned a hue of brownish red while the flesh remained white and firm. When eaten with the slices of mango, the natural sweetness of the fish blended in well with the sweetness of the mango, creating a delectable dish that didn't come down hard on the palate. But there's certainly room for improvement, given that the mango slices weren't chilled when served, which would definitely have gone down better with the fish.

I lament the fact that good Yang Chow Fried Rice is difficult to find. Peony Jade's rendition isn't too far off though. The rice was homogeneously cooked and had a slight "wok hei" taste. Ingredients were generous but overall I found the dish a little bland. Perhaps a little salt and sugar would be nice.

Desserts kinda slided down the slope. Chestnut with egg white sounded intriguing to me so I ordered it and I regretted it right from the first sip. The chilled syrup tasted awfully weird and had this overpowering egg white taste. I took a few mouths and decided to call it quits, so you can guess how weird it was. According to the waiter, it is more popular with the older folks.