Grand Mandarin for lunch (Chinese food)

About: Lunch (Chinese food)

When: 14th June 2014
Where: Grand Mandarin 325 New Bridge Road (Walking distant from Outram or Chinatown station)
Deal: 50% off on the a la carte menu (opening special)
Website: www.grandmandarin.com.sg

This is a birthday treat by an old friend of my (it was such a treat for me)
This newly open Chinese restaurant specialize in The Empurau Fish (忘不了) that cost $3000 per fish (which we didn't order, too expensive!). The restaurant occupies 2 levels of the building with open seating on ground level and private dining rooms on the second level.

A live Empurau fish on display.

The chilli is very tasty.

We ordered Crispy Roast Pork Belly ($15) Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Loin ($15) Seafood and Dried Scallop in Bitter Gourd Broth ($12) Tofu with Crab meat and Egg white in Carrot Broth ($24) Rice Noodle with Prawns and Season Green in Carrot Vroth ($28) XO sauce with Lobster meat and Season Green ($62) Chilled Red Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream served in Coconut Shell ($12) and Soy Pudding with black Glutinous Rice served with Ice-cream ($12)

Crispy Roast Pork is crispy otherwise ordinary. The BBQ pork is very tasty, the honey glazed was very nicely done. The meat is very tender and it melts in the mouth.

The soup is filled with seafood!! But it's very salty, the salt over power the seafood thus I can't taste any of the freshness of the seafood used in this dish. There is only a hint of bitterness for the Bitter Gourd Broth.

This dish is totally opposite from the soup. It's very lightly seasoned but as I just taste the soup this dish became tasteless (sad).

Prawn Hor Fun is done very well, the Hor Fun is chewy and I can taste the freshness of the prawns. Good dish!

XO lobster was served last, another salty dish but for this dish the saltiness is from the XO sauce. Not too sure if I like this dish. Maybe it's better with rice.

And lastly the desserts! Both not too sweet. The chilled coconut jelly is made from coconut juice, very refreshing. Like the contrasting texture of black glutinous rice and soy pudding.

Verdict: A once in a blue moon treat. Maybe for families celebrating an event or when they run this special 50% discount again 

Mrs Pho for dinner (Vietnamese food)

About: Dinner (Vietnamese food)

When: 5th June 2014
Where: Mrs Pho 349 Beach Road (Walking distant from Nicoll Highway station)
Deal: Nil
Website: http://www.mrspho.com

Checking out a newly open eatery around the Beach road area. (There are a lot of cafés/restaurants spring up around this area where I work, lucky me ^^ will check out those that interest me in the next few months)

Mrs Pho is a small place with about 12 tables. Very airy and cool inside even on a hot day. The deco looks like streets of Vietnam (very clean version).

Wet tissues is provided on all the tables, seems like free but it's chargeable @ $0.50 per person (not informed to the customers before hand, we only found out when paying). I would prefer just free serviette to be provided.

Very reasonable prices the Mains range from $7 to $8.90

Prawn Crackers was served while we were reading the menu ^^ This make up for the changing of wet tissues (I guess)

We ordered 2 Entrees Fried Pork Spring Roll and Fresh Spring Roll

Both taste normal. At $3 the fried spring roll is $1 a piece for very normal small spring roll, so I will give it a miss next time I visit.

 

We ordered the Mrs Pho classic dish Pho Bo Tai (Sliced Beef Noodle Soup). It's very tasty! Following the menu's instructions we tried "The Traditionalist" which is 2 squirts of Hoi-sin, a dollop of sweet chilli, a teaspoon of fish sauce and a squeeze of lime for a full-bodied broth.

As I like to add lots of herbs to my soup I'm disappointment that bean sprouts and herbs are not serve separated from the soup like it is done traditionally. 

Verdict: Overall it's worth to give it a try if you are in the area but not if you need to travel half the country to get there.