Located at the Shangri-La Hotel in Orange Grove Road just off Orchard, Shang Palace is a fine-dining restaurant specialising in Chinese cuisine. Note to anybody driving here, be sure to get a complimentary parking coupon or else face the hefty parking fees ($6 for first hour and $4 for subsequent hours). Shang Palace was also having a 15% discount for making a reservation online.
Dishes for 4 pax:
1) Whole Peking Duck with 2nd dish - $78
2) Spare ribs with garlic - $30
3) Roasted chicken with beancurd sauce -$28
4) Mushroom with mixed vegetables - $26 (not pictured)
5) Tai-O Vermicelli with Pork - $22 (not pictured)
) Lemon Jelly with Aloe Vera -$11
6) Avocado Sago with Icecream - $11
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| Peking Duck |
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| Peking duck, 2nd dish, fried with chili |
An average Peking Duck. We were given the option of making the pancakes ourselves but we decided to let the waitress do it for us. In the end, there was too much sweet sauce to my liking.The skin was moderately crispy but had quite a lot of fat attached to it. The pancake was one of the thicker ones I've had. An average peking duck.
Rating: 7/10
If the peking duck was average, this dish is above average. The duck meat was tender and the more bland seasoning made this dish rather refreshing. How others in my party would have liked this to be saltier, I felt that this dish was pretty good as it is.
Rating: 8/10
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| Spare ribs with garlic |
Spare Ribs with Garlic
Not what you would expect from a spare ribs dish, this had very few bones but that did not negatively affect the texture. It was tender enough and was a better tasting fillet. However given its $30 price, this is an average dish.
Rating: 7.5/10
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| Roasted chicken with beancurd sauce (placed separately) |
Roasted Chicken with Beancurd Sauce
An average dish that was inconsistently seasoned. The signature beancurd sauce that this came with was too sugary sweet. In addition, some parts were salted too heavily while others lacked salt. However, the texture and crispiness of the meat and skin respectively was okay. Price was decent.
Rating: 7/10
Tai-O Vermicilli with Pork (no picture)
Easily one of the best dishes, this noodle dish serves 4 pax and is subtle yet savoury enough to make this a must have. Though not in the description, the dish came with whole prawns. Unfortunately, the prawns were not fresh. Still highly recommended.
Rating: 8.5/10
Mushroom with mixed veg (no picture)
A mediocre vegetable dish that was too gooey. Not recommended.
Rating: 6.5/10
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| Lemon Jelly & Avocado (right) |
The better of the two desserts, the sharp lime sherbet complemented the more subtle aloe vera which almost melted in my mouth.
Rating: 8/10
Avocado Sago with Icecream
An awkward combination of generic ice cream mixed with overly liquid avocado and sago.
Rating: 7/10
Misc cost such as $2 per pax for tea and $5 for nuts was on the high side but overall compensated by decent quality.While Shang Palace may not have spectacular food, the service is one of the best I've experienced. From the constant tea pouring to the waitress giving us advice that we over-ordered and asking us whether we drove to the hotel (and accordingly giving us the parking coupon), the service was good. The staff could converse fluently in both English and Mandarin. With the 15% discount and the restaurant's cozy ambience, this was a good dining experience. Able to compete with Hua Ting (though slightly behind).
Rating: 8/10
