Monday 3 November 2014

Si Chuan Dou Hua @ TOP of UOB Plaza – Sichuan / Cantonese Cuisine with Fantastic View

The View from the Restaurant

Si Chuan Dou Hua at TOP of UOB Plaza is one of the dining destination in the middle of CBD with a fantastic view of Singapore Skyline. Located on 60th floor of UOB Plaza, it took us some effort and lift changes to get to this restaurant as it is a weekend. During this time, it can be a little eerie to be here, especially it is more like a ghost town, missing the normal office buzz.




The décor of the restaurant is contemporary and classy, fit for the bankers or business associates to entertain their high net worth clients. Their awards are proudly displayed at the entrance of the restaurant. As there are children in our group, LD’s cousin booked a private room.

Sliced Pork in Garlic and Chilli Sauce 

We started the lunch with Appetizer Sliced Pork in Garlic and Chilli Sauce (Medium - $21), Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce (Medium - $21) and Marinated Black Fungus with Chilli Padi (Medium - $12). The appetizer were basically cold dishes, however it packs a lot of heat, thanks to the chilli sauce and chilli padi. The meats were tender and the fungus were crunchy. Good Sichuan-style appetizers.

Sliced Beef and Tripe in Chilli Sauce

Marinated Black Fungus with Chilli Padi

Soup of the day, chicken soup with carrot and radish. The soup is robust, but in typical Sichuan flair, they added quite a bit of pepper. It is acceptable for adults, but the young ones in the group does not like it. Little Devil was not very happy about the soup because it was served luke warm instead of hot.

Soup of The Day

We ordered two type of cod fish ($12 per piece), Baked in Miso Sauce and Steam with Ginger and Soya Sauce (Cantonese Style). For the steamed version it was excellent. The cod fish has a buttery fells and melts in your mouth. Meanwhile, the one baked in miso sauce, looks good, however we find the miso sauce was just too salty that it covered the taste of the fish. I still believe when it come to fish, just keep it simple and use light herbs and seasoning.

Cod Fish Steam with Ginger and Soya Sauce (Cantonese Style)

Cod Fish  Baked in Miso Sauce

Cod Fish  Baked in Miso Sauce (Close up)

Camphor Tea Smoked Duck, served with buns (Whole $56). One of the best dishes of the day. The combination of the smokey flavour, tender and succulent meat is just superb. They served it with mini buns and shredded spring onions, which are good to balance the saltiness of the duck. The fats on the duck were just awesome.

Camphor Tea Smoked Duck

Steam Bun

How to eat it :)

Homemade Bean Curd with Spinach and Dried Scallops (Large - $48). The tofu is soft, velvety and delicious. The best part of course is the sauce which have the dried scallops. It was one of those sauce, where you can polish a bowl of rice without anything else.

Homemade Bean Curd with Spinach and Dried Scallops

Braised Ee-Fu Noodle with Crab Meat (Medium - $38). The stock used for the Ee-Fu noodle was solid and robust. You can taste it in every slurp, and the ee-fu noodle did not get soggy after a while. Unfortunately, the crab meat went missing in action. :(

Braised Ee-Fu Noodle with Crab Meat 
We find the dim sum standard here is very average. The ones that got our pick are the Siew Mai ($5 for 4 pcs) and Xiao Long Bao ($5 for 3pcs). The Siew Mai was meaty, tender and tasty. While the XLB has a good robust stock, but inconsistent. The Har Gau skin was too thin and sticky.

Siew Mai
Xiao Long Bao - XLB

For desserts, of course you must order the homemade beancurd. They offer the regular version and the one with wolfberry. Both life up to their names and they are excellent, smooth and velvety. The wolfberry has a unique sweetness to it and give it a healthier feel about it. If you want something different, try the adorable mini pumpkin.

Homemade Beancurd 

Homemade Beancurd  with Wolfberry

Service on that day was horrible because it was the last day of using the UOB Voucher. The restaurant was packed with people and they were understaffed. They just did not roster the service staff properly although they knew in advanced the restaurant will be fully booked. It took us more than 2.5 hours to finish our lunch. The private room turn out to be a secluded room. We actually need to stand outside by the door to get their attention, and we have to the dishes and get new plates for ourselves. They did waive the pickle and tea charges, however it was still an unpleasant experience, as the food service are causing the children to get hungry and rowdy.

Mini Pumpkin

Overall, the standard of the food here is very good, especially those from their daily ala-carte menu. Combining Sichuan and Cantonese cuisine is definitely a good idea. However standards must be maintain across the board. The dim sum on the other hand is below average. Based on the awards that they won, I can only presume that their normal service standards are so much better compare to today. If the opportunity arises, I don't mind giving this place a try again in the future. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 7.5/10
Value: 6.5/10
Service: 4.5/10
Ambiance:8/10
Budget per Person: $51 - $80

Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant
TOP of UOB Plaza
80 Raffles Place
#60-01. UOB Plaza
Singapore 048624

T: +65 6535 6006
OH:
Daily
Lunch: 11.30 – 14.30
High Tea: 14.30 – 18.00
Dinner: 18.30 – 22.30


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