The night we ate ourselves stupid at Jing

On a Monday night, no less ! Be warned that the banquet at Jing comes with enormous portions which left us gasping for breath at the end of the meal. A lot of the meal went wasted, actually. And the food was, well, not GREAT. Good, just not great. Which was a little disappointing, but tells me to stick to the greats like Crystal Jade or Peach Blossom for good Cantonese food.

First dish was what seemed like crumbed and fried foie gras, steamed oyster, wasabi prawn (which I think was the winner) and crab with caviar.  This was followed by an extremely heavy hot and sour soup, followed by an absolutely enormous fried fillet of fish which was actually deliciously light, just huge.  That was followed by smaller (by request) portions of the pepper beef, and then lobster noodle and then dessert.  I think I am still digesting my dinner from last night !

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Best suckling pig. Ever.

Thin and juuuust the right amount of fat under the skin.  Served with a circle of steamed dough, hoisin sauce, spring onion and cucumber.  Absolutely brilliant, at Peach Garden at the top of OCBC Centre.  Rest of the meal was also good but when you serve suckling pig like that as the first course of a banquet, I can’t recall much of the rest…

Peach Garden

#33-01, 65 Chulia Street
Tel: 6252 9833

Min Jiang with family

Really a place for large family get togethers and business meals, this restaurant is the resident Chinese cuisine restaurant at the Goodwood Park Hotel.  I haven’t had a chinese banquet in a looong time (all my friends are already married or don’t celebrate at Chinese restaurants) and gosh I miss them !  But also not having had a banquet for so long, I marvel at just how much they think people can eat in one seating.

Before I continue, why are Chinese restaurants always have the air conditioning set to “sorry, I turned down the thermostat and it got stuck” temperature?  It really spoils the experience and the food gets cold, mighty quick.  And if the courses take a long time in between each course, the patron is left drinking endless cups of hot tea to keep warm, filling up valuable stomach space and making them take frequent trips to the washroom.

After an inordinately long wait for the first course, though, the subsequent courses came quite quickly, and then came, and then came…and then came.  I had to leave after the fourth course (I skipped the sharks fin) and was already at bursting point, and there were still 5 courses to come !

Perhaps having eaten some of the best banquets I can think of, the food at Min Jiang was pretty unimpressive.  The cold meats were a bit all over the place.  Pieces of chicken and duck with char siu slices, cold jellyfish and a marinaded baby octopus that would have fit into a greek salad.  I won’t comment on the sharks fin but third course was pretty fatty duck pancakes (and I like my duck fat), followed by a slightly tough, BIG slice of fish and then what tasted like Singapore chilli prawns with a stale man tou.  I did, however, like the dessert – it was an almond jelly set in a young coconut with longans and the delicate flavours really worked for me.  Normally I steer clear of almond jelly – it’s a bit overpowering for me, but I could just taste the almond and it was as tender and soft as the flesh of the young coconut.

Not sure Min Jiang rates there with the likes of Crystal Jade Golden Palace just around the corner at Paragon, but as my parents were staying at the Goodwood Park Hotel, a convenient reintroduction to the good old Chinese banquet.