Juniper
The last time I dined at one of the Chulan Square restaurants was years ago, can’t even remember how long but it was at Eden. My first Chinese New Year this year was at Gu Yue Tian which is a non-halal Chinese restaurant. As you enter, you have to ascend a flight of stairs to get to the restaurant so some exercise before you feast.
The first course is naturally the “yee sang” which in this case is Norwegian salmon salad “yee sang”, quite different from the usual “yee sang”. Most restaurants serve “yee sang’ with lots of preserved vegetables, shredded carrots, pomelo, pickled red ginger, shredded green and white radish. Gu Yue Tian’s version has a proliferation of lettuce and slivers of pear which give this a very fruity sweet flavor. Generous slices of salmon adorn the plate and it doesn’t have the strong and sour plum sauce taste which many of us have come to associate with “yee sang” platters.
Next up is the shark’s fin soup with crab roe, not everyone’s favourite as we are much more environmentally conscious now. When the buying stops, the killing can too. However, it remains very much a staple at Chinese dinners but the more conscientious diners will decline, not me yet though. This one is thick and not too starchy.
The abalone vegetable dish went down well, I thought the oyster sauce used was of superior quality. This dish looks luxurious.
My favourite dish at this dinner (and the majority of the other guests) was the deep fried cod fish served in individual portions. This is a good idea rather than an entire big fish served on the Lazy Susan. The accompanying sauce was a delectable accompaniment to the chunk of fish.
The famous Hakka dish “poon choi” came in a huge metal/wooden tub and there was stewed duck, chicken, mushrooms, pork and beancurd. The “poon choi” at our table was average (although later I found out from a guest at another table that theirs was much better than ours) because the meat was dry and seemed overcooked while the mushroom was so bland/tasteless. This must be the most expensive dish on our CNY menu, what a pity!
The fried rice with waxed meat was surprisingly not oily and although I have only one serving (at most) of this dish at Chinese dinners, I was filling up my bowl with a second helping of this. I liked the taste a lot as it was aromatic and not too salty.
I forgot to take photos of the desserts (Chilled Mango Cream and “Nian Gao”) since I was in a hurry to leave. I liked the Chilled Mango Cream as it was so refreshing and great for winding down after such a heavy meal. By the time all the dishes were served, it was way past 10pm and traffic was chaotic that night. It was the night of the heavy rain and landslide on a major thoroughfare obstructing traffic in the city. I’d already endured one hour getting to Gu Yue Tien but it was worth it for this dinner.
Looks really nice and generous portions! That night traffic was really bad, I totally agree….