Hai Tien Lo @ Pan Pacific Hotel

This was a Christmas lunch but I sat on this post for a while >_> Hai Tien Lo has quite a lot of lunch sets (on both weekdays and weekends) and a Dim Sum Buffet or Brunch only on weekends. My group of 4 decided to go for the Lily Set as seen below.

Traditional Double-Boiled Soup (type varies)

The soup you get depends on the daily soup and if I'm not wrong, the waitress mentioned this was pumpkin and pork rib soup. The soup was surprisingly savory (wasn't sugary sweet), which was to my liking. The soup was quite light but was rich in flavor. A good start.

Hai Tien Lo Trio of Dim Sum

A very hearty trio in which the first two (from the left) had each a pretty big and succulent prawn. I think the black ball was a vegetarian dumpling which was okay but I preferred the earlier two. Props for the presentation as well.

Steamed Sea Perch with Preserved Veg and Chinese Cabbage

As a fish-lover, this dish did not disappoint. There was a healthy portion of fish despite the actual surface area of the plate being really small. For this meal, I felt that the sea perch's more subtle taste was quite refreshing as compared to cod fish. However, I was not particularly fond of the the preserved veg toppings. I think the seasoning was better off being strictly savory but others may disagree.

 Sauteed Spare Ribs with Onion in Chinese Vinaigrette 

Basically fried ribs in BBQ sauce and onion rings. The taste was quite overpowering and the sweetness of the seasoning was too much for me. The meat however was quite tender, making this dish still okay. If you like sweetish meat, this would probably be to your liking.

Stewed Fried Rice Noodles with Goose Webs and Mushrooms

The noodles was horfun but the highlight of this dish was the goose web (or feet). The skin was soft and  chewy but not overly fat. The sauce was rich and not overly thick, completing and making this a good dish to fill out the tummy. 

Chef's Signature Dessert 

This was a pear, snow fungus and lotus seed dessert. I'm not a dessert person and I was glad that this was not too sweet.

General Comments:

 Hai Tien Lo's ambiance was quite nice especially as my group got a table overlooking the Christmas decor of the hotel lobby. Though the price of the set was quite high at $48++ per person, the quality of the food justified it. Hai Tien Lo balances innovation and tradition well in their style of cooking. Service was pretty good as well.