Nanjing Impressions – Impressive Nanjing Cuisine

Jinling Signature Salted Duck @ Nanjing Impressions

Dining at Nanjing Impressions like a time travel experience. Imagine that you are seated at an ancient tea parlour in the late era of the Qing Dynasty, served with traditional food by service staff from that time.

The Entrance

Nanjing Impressions pride themselves with quality original flavours fuelled by coal-fired clay pots and seasonal ingredients. Their trove of recipes has been time tested to delivery the immaculate flavours in front of you.

Items on the Table

Green Plum Marinated with Chinese Wine ($5.80). Crunchy plum with sweet and savoury flavours. A good dish to open up your appetite or to balance the sweetness of Madam Chiang’s Nutritious Beauty Porridge.

Green Plum Marinated with Chinese Wine

Jinling Signature Salted Duck ($16.80 (S), $32(M), $62(L)). Nanjing’s famous salt-water duck. Don’t let this simple looking dish deceive you. To produce this dish, it needs to go through 10 extraneous steps. The result is well-seasoned duck, with tender flesh, bouncy skin and unique deep umami flavour. Yummy!!

Jinling Signature Salted Duck - Small

Jinling Signature Salted Duck - Large

Celestial Roast Duck Dumpling ($5.80 for 3 pcs). This dumpling can easily be mistaken for pork dumpling. The fillings in juicy and bursting with delicious sweet jus.

Celestial Roast Duck Dumpling

Celestial Roast Duck Dumpling

Celestial Roast Duck Dumpling - The Fillings

Chilled Drunken Virgin Red Crayfish (($19.80 (S), $38.80(M), $68.80(L)). Most Chinese Restaurant only served the red crayfish in mala version. When LD saw this version is marinated with wine, she did not hesitate to order this. It takes a bit of work to get to the flesh, but you will be rewarded with sweet, bouncy and delicious flesh. The wine marinated nicely accentuates the sweetness of the prawn. If you like the brain of the prawns and shellfish, there are abundance here for you to savour.

Chilled Drunken Virgin Red Crayfish - Small

Chilled Drunken Virgin Red Crayfish

Chilled Drunken Virgin Red Crayfish

Madam Chiang’s Nutritious Beauty Porridge ($6.80). Made from soya, starch and sugar. It is sticky with a smooth texture, surprisingly tasty and easy to eat. The lily buds and yam provided different texture in this Nanjing version of sweet soya milk porridge.

Madam Chiang’s Nutritious Beauty Porridge 

Jinling Noodles in Light Soy Sauce Broth ($4.80). It looks like plain shoyu ramen. The noodle is springy and bouncy, while the robust is broth infused with the right amount good quality soy sauce.

Jinling Noodles in Light Soy Sauce Broth

Jinling Noodles in Light Soy Sauce Broth

Sesame-scented Beancurd Julienne ($8.80). The julienne beancurd in the soup gives it an impression of the noodle. The milky duck broth is robust, filled with the duck essence and duck meat. The julienne ginger helps to remove any gaminess from the duck and brought up a bit of fiery spark in each bite. Yum Yum.

Sesame-scented Beancurd Julienne

Sesame-scented Beancurd Julienne

Pan-fried Pastry with Minced Meat & Preserved Vegetable Fillings ($5.80). A crispy and fluffy bun filled with “mei cai” (preserved vegetable). It can be better if they are more generous with mei chai fillings, let’s say about 50% more.

Sesame-scented Beancurd Julienne

Sesame-scented Beancurd Julienne

Custard / Steam Egg with Preserved Vegetables ($6.80). Smooth and velvety steam egg topped with mei cai. A simple dish, yet one of the most likeable dishes by the young and old.

Custard / Steam Egg with Preserved Vegetables

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Pork ($12.80). Thinly sliced marinated pork belly, steamed with glutinous rice. The sticky glutinous absorbs the flavour of the pork and braising sauce as well. Surprisingly, the taste is milder than I expected.

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Pork 

Nanjing Special Shredded Duck Fried Noodles ($14.80). A solid rendition of duck fried noodle. It has a strong wok hei aroma, crunchy noodle and succulent duck meat.

Nanjing Special Shredded Duck Fried Noodles

Braised Pork Shank ($28). The meat is firm, tasty, while the skin is chewy and crunchy. The tangy sauce on the side helps to reduce the jelakness from the meat.

Braised Pork Shank

The overall atmosphere in Nanjing Impressions is just superb, just like dining an ancient tea parlour in the late era of the Qing Dynasty. The receptionist greeted us in Qing Dynasty costume and carry Hu / Shaku (flat sceptre of Chinese Origin). He will then escort the guests to their allocated tables. Service staff is friendly and helpful, however, if you are seated in the cubicle, it will be more challenging to get the service staff attention.

View from Outside

Dining Hall

Overall, Nanjing Impressions deliver a traditional Nanjing dining experience. The food standard is very good and the ambiance is just excellent. As a restaurant serve Nanjing cuisine is very rare in Singapore, this place is worth a visit. Cheers!!

Food & Drinks: 8/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 7.5/10

Ambiance: 9/10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25, $26 - $50

Nanjing Impressions

68 Orchard Road

#04-46/51, Plaza Singapura

Singapore 238839

T: +65 6352 7877

W: https://nanjingimpressions.business.site/

F: https://www.facebook.com/nanjingimpressions/

IG: @Nanjing_impressions

OH:

Mon – Fri: 11.30 – 14.30; 17.00 – 22.00

Sat: 11.00 – 22.00

Sun: 11.30 – 22.00

Menu Part 1

Menu Part 2

Menu Part 3

Menu Part 4

[CLOSED] FrapasBar – French Tapas Concept by Saveur [MEDIA INVITE]

Crispy Pork Belly

FrapasBar by Saveur is the latest concept by the passionate and talented people in Saveur. FrapasBar is a combination of French Cuisine with Tapas style of presentation.

FrapasBar

Located in now-defunct Concetto, the Italian concept by Saveur; the group next concept is following the current market trend of pairing small bites with drinks. As the group strength in French cuisine, it is just natural that French style Tapas is the direction they are heading plus showcasing their forte.

Part of Bar & Dining Area

Not an alcohol drinker, I decided to order Frizzy Lemonade ($8). Citrusy, ice-cold and refreshing. Good as thirst cruncher for Singapore hot weather. 

Frizzy Lemonade

We started with Mussels & Cream ($12). Mussels cooked with white wine, cream, shallots and parsley. Creamy and fragrant broth to go with the juicy mussels’ flesh. It is best to squeeze the lemon into the dish as it helps to cuts through the richness of the sauce. As this dish does not come with bread, I suggest you order garlic bread ($3) to polish the sauce.

Mussels & Cream

Crispy Pork Belly ($15). One of the signature dishes in Saveur and I am glad that they bring it over to FrapasBar and revolutionise it.  Served with orange mustard puree, pickled daikon and balsamic baby onion.

The pork is juicy, succulent and almost melts in your mouth. While the skin is crispy and crumbly, almost like the Cantonese version of crispy roast pork. The mustard puree instead of the regular Dijon mustard elevates the presentation and flavour in this dish. While the tangy pickled daikon and balsamic baby onion gave this dish the OMPH factor and cuts through the "jelakness" of the pork. Yum yum.

Crispy Pork Belly

Seafood Bouillabaisse ($16). Mussel, prawn, seabass, squid, fennel, potato. A very robust soup base, filled with bold seafood essence. The medley of seafood provides different texture and flavours, while, the charred garlic bread has a nice smoky aroma and good to absorb the soup.

Seafood Bouillabaisse

Stuffed Squid ($18) with French Onion Rice. Though the presentation looks awesome, the texture of the squid let us down. It is a bit rubbery, even the fragrant French Orion rice unable to help in saving this dish. Will skip this dish next time around.

Stuffed Squid

Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks ($18). The super WOW dish at FrapasBar. The beef cheek is so tender, you can pick it apart with your fork. The braising jus and seasoning well infused into the beef, as you can taste them while it melts in your mouth. Serving this dish with smooth velvety mash potatoes is just so comforting, while the picked red Bombay onion helps balance the richness of this dish. Yum Yum.

Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks

Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks
Hand Model Tiara_Star 

We manage to leave some space for Sticky Date & Pecan Pudding ($10). Crispy externally, followed with a sweet sticky texture internally. The ice cream is generous and the creaminess goes well with the pudding. A must-order for those who enjoy sweet desserts.

Sticky Date & Pecan Pudding
Hand Model Tiara_Star 

The restaurant setting is modern and casual. Surrounded with floor to ceiling glasses, it maximises the use of natural daylight during the day. Good place to take photos.

Part of the Dining Area

Overall, the food in FrapasBar is on par with those served in Saveur. My personal picks are Crispy Pork Belly, Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks and Seafood Bouillabaisse. I look forward to returning to this place to try other dishes. Cheers!!

Thank you Msginginly for jioing and Tiara_Star for sharing the calories.

Food & Drink: 7.25/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 7.25/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50,

FrapasBar by Saveur

2 Handy Road

#01-11/12, The Cathay

Singapore 229233

T: +65 6735 1141

W: https://www.frapasbar.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/FrapasBar/

IG: @Frapasbar

OH:

Sun – Thu: 12.00 – 01.00

Fri & Sat: 12.00 – 02.00

Food Last Order 21.30

Menu available Online

[CLOSED] Montana – V60 Chocolate [MEDIA INVITE]

Montana Singapore

Montana recently introduced their new menu with a new Chef helming the kitchen. Previously everyone was talking about their Freak Cake, I personally feel their Coconut Cold Brew Coffee is a more notable mention. Coconut Cold Brew Coffee is still one of their main features in the new menu.

Complementing their Coconut Cold Brew Coffee, Montana added V60 Chocolate ($6.80) to their drink offering. By pouring heated coconut water over ground cacao nibs to extract the intense chocolate flavour infused with the natural sweetness of coconut water. It comes in three flavours, Original, Mint and Smoky Infusion. My personal pick is Mint, as it has a minty refreshing flavour, the opposite to the nutty chocolate flavour.

V60 Chocolate

Our Entrée was Whitebait with Five Spice Seasoning ($11) and Fried Chicken Wings with Garlic Mirin Sauce ($12). The whitebait is crisp and crunchy. The five spice seasoning is mild, making it a pleasant starter, make sure you squeeze the lemon wedge to add some twang to this dish.

Whitebait with Five Spice Seasoning

The chicken wings here looks yummy at the first sight. It has crispy exterior followed with juicy succulent meat inside. Unfortunately, you will soon be running for your drinks as the seasoning is simply just too much.

Fried Chicken Wings with Garlic Mirin Sauce

[CLOSED] Five Marbles – Craft Beer and Crafted Food [MEDIA INVITE]

Five Marbles

Five Marbles, a new restaurant set up with the idea of building a community of people who love great food and great beers. At any day, there are 12 craft beers on tap sourced from this little red dot, Japan, Australia, USA, UK and New Zealand. The craft beer list will be refresh from time to time, to allow the customer to savour the exciting offerings.

The Craft Beer Menu

Following the theme of the restaurant, the food here is also infused with their craft beers. Don't worry, you won't get drunk from the food, but you can definitely get high from the beers.

Beer Price

We started with Craft Beer Mushroom Soup ($9). Made with four type of mushrooms: shiitake, portobello, white button and oyster. The brownish dark colour soup is robust, creamy and filled with complex mushrooms flavour. Watch out for the hint of beer flavour at the end of each slurp of the soup.

Craft Beer Mushroom Soup

Portobello Chicken Cheese Baked Beer Rice ($16). A flavourful mushroom and chicken rice, topped with cheddar cheese. It is then oven-baked, to melt the cheese and create a crisp texture of the cheese. The rice is al-dente, and you can taste the chicken and mushroom in each bite. A solid baked rice dish.

Portobello Chicken Cheese Baked Beer Rice 

Portobello Chicken Cheese Baked Beer Rice