Been busy with school and been lazy to write, but it's finally time for another Restaurant Week review; this time at Shisen Hanten, a restaurant specialising in Chinese cuisine despite having a Japanese sounding name. The restaurant is located on the 35th floor of Mandarin Hotel, and boasts an uncommon high-ground view of the surrounding landscape. The table my party of 4 got was quite quaint, although our window view was a bit lackluster, as we were facing the wrong side (the Orchard side would probably look a lot better). The night view is supposed to be pretty good, so be sure to make a reservation for a slightly later timing if you're celebrating a special occasion.
The Restaurant Week dinner set was $55++ per person (although the Restaurant Week website listed it as 58++) and drinks was not included. Water, however, was $2++ per pax so watch out for that.
 |
| BBQ Platter (Jellyfish, Roasted Pork, Roasted Duck) |
Portion-size was pretty small, but it was still acceptable for an appetiser. The jellyfish and duck was pretty average. The pork was the best, although the meat turned out pretty cold. (although the skin was still crisp)
 |
| Double-boiled conch in chicken stock |
Quite a tasty soup, although the highlight was the conch. The flesh tastes a lot like abalone, plus it turned out less rubbery. Pretty good.
 |
| Sea Perch Fillet |
The "staple" meat for the set, this sea perch was pretty good. The light soya sauce complemented the fried fillet well. Cod would have suited the style of cooking better, but hey, as a fish-person I give this a thumbs-up.
 |
| Stir Fried Prawns with Chili Sauce |
This was basically prawns with chili crab sauce. Now, I'm not usually a fan of chili crab due to the sauce, but the recipe for this was really good. The sauce was mildly sweet and more savory overall. The prawns were pretty big and definitely fresh and succulent. I surprisingly found this dish more unique than the sea perch.
 |
| Signature Mapo Toufu (wasn't part of the set) |
One of my party members requested for a change of the earlier prawns due to the allergy. The captain kindly replaced it with two portions of their Signature Mapo Tofu along with their Hokkaido Rice (not pictured). This is the signature dish of the restaurant's founder/original chef who was an Iron Chef trained in Japan so as expected, it was pretty good. The tofu was tender and was comfortably spiced and not spicy. The dish was well complemented with the short grain rice.
 |
| Alaskan king crab noodles in superior soup |
The "filler" of the meal, this dish was rather odd as there was a sharp sour taste in the soup. I couldn't identify the exact ingredient but it killed the taste of this otherwise rather light dish.
 |
| Chilled mango puree with sago, pomelo and lime sherbet |
The dessert's portion size was pretty big and the sherbet was particularly refreshing. The mango puree however, could have been slightly thicker but that's probably my preference. Quite a good way to end off the meal.
General comments:
This was a pretty worthwhile Restaurant Week meal at $55++ although tea should be included as well (as seen with other Restaurant Week restaurants such as Cassia). Plus, the $2++ per pax for normal water was too high. The total bill for 4 ppl came up to $268, with complimentary parking ticket ($3 off) was given.
Overall I enjoyed this meal as the food was refined and the portion sizes were satisfactory. However, the ambiance and service made the experience even better. The ambiance of Shisen Hanten is pretty grand, with the many chandeliers dangling from the ceiling (as seen below) and the decent window view (try to get the side facing Orchard Road!). Service was particularly good and I want to commend the captain who offered to replace one person's prawn dish (due to an allergy) with two portions of their Signature Mapo Toufu.
 |
| Ignore the random people in the background and enjoy the chandeliers |
No comments:
Post a Comment