Hua Ting @ Orchard Hotel is famous for its fine dining Chinese cuisine, having multiple culinary awards under its name. My party of four decided to patronise Hua Ting due to its relative fame but also due to its 20% discount off the total bill (includes the price of the tea and starters). I called the restaurant about a week in advance to make a reservation for the coming Sunday and wanted a table at 12:30. However, the restaurant could only offer me a 1:45pm slot or an early 11 am table (of which we "had" to vacate by 12:30pm). I was surprised that they were that busy, but could possibly be due to belated Father's Day meals and the attractive 20% off promotion.
Note: Hua Ting's seating capacity is not very big and majority of the tables seat more than 6 people. So do make a reservation to avoid being turned away (or worse hearing crap excuses).
Anyway, my party of 4 ordered
1) BBQ Combo (Consist of Char Siew, Braised Duck, Jellyfish) - $32
2) 2 x Servings of Pork Ribs ($10 each), 2 x Servings of Beef ($12 each)
3) Fish fillets with two different sauces (was not ordered from the menu)
4) Mung Bean Noodles (was labeled under the vegetarian and vegetable section) -$18
5) Noodles & Fish Paste with XO sauce -$20
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| BBQ Combo (Char Siew, Duck, Jelly Fish) |
BBQ Combo (Char Siew, Duck, Jelly Fish) - $32
I'll declare first that I'm not particularly fond of Char Siew and duck, but the char siew is definitely tender, a lot better than the usual dry ones you get outside. Duck was surprisingly not overpowering, so to me was slightly above average. Now the jellyfish was probably the most unique and my favorite, as it was not too chewy but still had a satisfying crunch to it. The spicy sauce complemented it well.
Rating: 7.5/10 (marked it down due to its rather poor price value)
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| Beef (forgot the name) |
The beef that I was served was succulent and tender, and was garnished quite well. However, it was overly salty, making me favor the less strong tasting pork ribs more. (and I normally like beef a lot more than pork). However, the other serving that someone else in my group ordered was lightly seasoned and its saltiness was just right.
Rating: 7.5
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| Pork Ribs |
Pork Ribs- $10
The pork ribs are easily the best part of this meal. The lightly salted seasoning does not overpower the succulent meat and makes this dish a keeper. I would recommend this over the beef dish earlier. Plus it's cheaper.
Rating: 8.5/10
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| Fish fillet with chili |
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| Fish fillet with spinach sauce) |
Two Sea Perch Fish fillets (approximately $16+ each)
Initially I wanted to order a steamed Soon Hock but we were told (quite some time after the order was made) that the smallest Soon Hock that they had was 1kg+. Now that's quite big for a Soon Hock (apparently it was because their daily stock had not arrived, but I believe it's because they didn't want people to benefit too much from the 20% promotion.) Anyway, the waitress recommended the sea perch fish fillets. From the picture you can tell the servings are really small and both dishes are fried. While, the fish fillet with chili is nothing special ,the fillet with the spinach vegetable sauce is quite unique. The light seasoning and texture complements the sea perch flesh (which is similar to that of a cod fish). If you're looking to order the fillet with spinach sauce, it is not on the menu so you'll need to ask the staff.
Rating: 7.5/10 (small serving and nothing too unique, but it's hard to compare price & quality of a whole fish and fillet)
A combination of vegetables (I could only identify celery) and mung bean noodles Anyway on the menu it's labeled as being a vegetarian dish. Bland and not nice to eat.
Price: $18 (serves about 4 pax)
Rating: 5/10 (Go for more common vegetables such as French beans)
Despite being a filler for the meal, this deal is good. The noodles is springy and definitely not soggy. The mild spiciness adds a kick to it. The fish paste itself actually does taste like fish (unlike the yong tau foo stuff you get in hawker centers etc).
Price: $20 (serves about 4 pax)
Rating: 8.5/10
Overall, given the 20% discount off the total bill (and they gave a complimentary parking coupon, saved us $5.50, having parked in the hotel's carpark for approximately 1 and 3rd quarter hours. Hua Ting is a good place to have family meals (eg. meals for parents' days/birthdays.) For couples, you can get by with ordering like the pork ribs plus noodles and a veg, but it's more suitable for older couples who probably enjoy fine dining better.
However, I want to point out my disappointment in Hua Ting not having a smaller Soon Hock fish. In addition, their service falls short of high-end restaurants (eg. taking away our teapot and not returning it - we had to specifically ask where our teapot went.) In addition, the higher ranked waitress who took our order did not repeat the order back to us and conveniently missed out 1 serving of beef despite us emphasising it. (plus, we have 4 people, so 2 servings of pork and 2 servings of beef made sense.) However, if you order the right dishes and lower your expectations of the service, I would recommend this place.
Overall rating:
8/10 (food quality)
7.5 (as a fine dining Chinese restaurant)
