28 April, 2008

Peach Garden @ 33

... was the venue for our dim sum lunch today. The brainchild of two ladies, Angela Ho and Veronica Tan, this latest outlet resides within the 33rd storey of the Executives’ Club of OCBC Centre at Chulia Street (the flagship being at Novena Gardens and their second outlet at Thomson Plaza), and exudes modern sophistication while preserving an oriental charm vis-à-vis Chinese wooden furnishing, paintings and valued objet d'art.

Diners should also reserve beforehand to grab one of the limited tables beside the windowpane that offers a sight of the central business district and panoramic view of the Singapore River.

Food came fast and furious and before we knew it, our table was filled with the many baskets and plates. The Fried Carrot Cake with XO Sauce ($8.00) was well done – unlike those crispy ones you get from hawker centre, the outside was just slightly crisp and the inside, malleable. The flavour of the XO sauce was also captured nicely in the cake, however it should do better if it came less oily.

Since it should only be eaten when it’s piping hot, I took a bite into the Steamed Yolk Cream Bun ($1.20 each) – be warn though as before I knew it, hot steamy cream from the bun came squirting all over my fingers – another well executed dish! Their bun was definitely much better than the ones I tried at Victor’s Kitchen, however what I found missing was the lacked of bite of the salted egg yolk, which I can find at the latter.

The Steamed Rice Roll with Char Siew ($4.00) was up next but however it was disappointing – the texture of the skin was not as smooth and silky as I thought it should be.

To grade whether a dim sum restaurant is good or not, personally I feel that there are two tests it must pass – the Har Kaw, or Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling ($1.60 each) and the Siew Mai, or Steamed Pork Dumpling ($1.60 each).

While the prawn dumping was above average, the grading for the pork dumplings was disputed – most of us felt that it tasted more of prawn than pork, and it was hard to compare to the many we have sampled before.

The Baked Mini Egg Tart came with the flaky crust – the type I preferred compared to those that are hard and sturdy. However, for $1.30 each, I do not think they are value for money.

However, if you think that was bad, for $3.80 per (small) bowl, what you get is a very salty bowl of Boiled Porridge with Century Egg and Pork (as stated in the menu). Strangely enough, many of us thought that the meat tasted like chicken – not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing though.

Another disappointing item was the Steamed Xiao Long Bao with Dried Scallop ($1.30 each). A couple of us thought the skin were not as thin and smooth as those found in Ding Tai Fung and the soup was not as succulent as well.

The meal was rounded off with the highlight for the day – Baked Spare Rib with BBQ Sauce. For $7.00 each, expectations were high and everyone was looking forward to it. Presentation-wise, it was dished out fine-dining style like a piece of steak. Taste wise – the essence of the BBQ sauce is captured nicely in the meat – and for those who were luckier, where the meat came in fact with the layer of fatty meat, the marbling meat was a joy to behold (despite a step closer to having a heart attack)! However, for such a price, it would probably be a one-off dish I would try.

Overall, I felt that the expectations weren’t matched and Peach Garden is merely just a slightly above-average place for dim sum. Coupled by the fact that they missed out our order of Xiao Long Bao and the Spare Rib and also didn’t served us our additional order of Prawn Dumplings, I would probably not venture this place again unless by the coaxing of my makan buddies.

Rating
Food: 3/5 (Standards vary between items)
Service: 3/5 (Missed out on 2 items and didn't deliver another one)
Ambience: 4.5/5 (Nice ambience + excellent view)
Price: 3/5 (Certain items are not value for money)
Total: 13.5/20
The Executives Club
65 Chulia Street,
#33-01, OCBC Centre
Singapore 049513



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4 comments:

JOjo said...

err...U mean the prawn dumpling is $1.60 each? Meaning a banboo tray of 4 will cost $6.40?
Wah! That's prety ex....

His Food Blog said...

Yep. You are right! It states in my receipt $12.80 for 8.

But if you think that's expensive, Yan Ting @ The St Regis is selling them @ $2 each. Ha! And now you wonder why I value Victor's Kitchen highly.

The Bimbo said...

Wah your pork rib was bigger and had more marbling only cos I gave it to you le! :)

His Food Blog said...

Heh... my gain..your lost... I'm talking about the amount of cholesterol that is... Ha! But it was one hella a good pork I tell you! Thanks~ ;)

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