Louhei lunch at Hai Tien Lo 海天楼, Pan Pacific hotel

I usually don't take photos or write blogs about business lunches with vendors as there is lack of opportunities and inconvenient to take photos most of the time. However, this lunch session was different, the vendors themselves couldn't help taking photos of the exquisite dishes served up by this atas restaurant.

We had a party of 20pax and our hosts had reserved the Ruby room which has a gigantic 20 seater table, the largest of the 4 private rooms at Hai Tien Lo. Even the fresh flower center piece was huge!

Their CNY Set lunch menu were priced from $988++ onward. We had an 8 course Cantonese cuisine menu including the Yusheng platter.

Yusheng w/ Norwegian salmon, surf clams & crispy fish skin. The yusheng was served on a dedicated table for convenient louhei, with an impressive presentation.

The yusheng sauce was very delicious, coupled with the fresh premium ingredient used, definitely one of the best I had for the year of Horse.

Double boiled Buddha jumps over the wall 佛跳墙, a luxurious soup with abalone, dried scallops, bamboo pith and pork ribs. This clear soup was powerfully flavored despite its humble looks...slurp.

Steamed Soon Hock in superior soy sauce, fish was fresh and succulent...perfectly executed.

Braised whole abalone 三头鲍 w/ dried oyster & black moss. Another chinese delicacy with a huge 200g whole abalone stewed in oyster sauce. The abalone was cooked just right, very tender and juicy...nice!

Sauteed Hokkaido scallop & prawn w/ sakura shrimps. The plump king prawn and jumbo scallop were a delight to eat, the crispy savory sakura shrimps added a nice bite to the chunky scallop.

Eight treasures herbal chicken, I'm not a fan of herbal anything and couldn't fully appreciate this bitter tasting dish. But judging from the speed this dish was devoured by fellow diners, I figured its good after all..

The highlight of the day, Steamed rice w/ preserved meats in mini pumpkin. Now, usually the carbo dish served near the end of a chinese course meal is not the best dish of the meal even if it was very well cooked. But this one really stand out as the most impressive dish of the day! It scored full marks in terms of presentation, smell and taste...色香味俱全.

I can already smell the fragrance of the lup cheong flavored rice while it was being served to other diners at the table. The presentation was undoubtedly cute with a nicely etched 福 word on the mini pumpkin. The steamed rice was fully infused with flavors from the chinese pork sausage, liver sausage, wax duck meat, chinese mushroom and the sweetness coming from the pumpkin flesh...thumbs up!

Last but not least, the dessert which consists of two portions, Double boiled hashima w/ ginseng roots, white fungus & red dates and Prosperity CNY cakes.

The CNY cakes 年糕 were pretty good...chewy and fragrant without being overly sweet.

However, the luscious Hashima soup was way too sweet for my liking. I ended up scooping out the hashima to eat without drinking the soup. The ginseng roots were very bitter as well. This was perhaps the only disappointment of the day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch at the Hai Tien Lo and would highly recommend this place to all who has a deep pocket. The opulent ambiance, top notch service and premium grade cuisine will be worth every penny you spend here.


Hai Tien Lo 海天楼
Pan Pacific Hotel Singapore, 7 Raffles Boulevard Level 3, S039595
Tel: 6826 8240

Opening Hours:
Mon to Fri: 1200 - 1430h, 1830 - 2200h
Sat, Sun & PH: 1130 - 1430h, 1830 - 2200h

Early lunch at Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐, Tampines mall

Medical appointment ended early at 10am+. It was only 1030am when I reached TM. Most restaurants are not open for biz yet. After checking a few places, I decided to wait for DTF to open at 11am. Meanwhile I browsed around the CNY goodies kiosks at the atrium.

DTF opened at 11am sharp, I was their first customer of the day. I got to choose between window seating and non window seating. I chose to sit away from the afternoon sun.

The usual table settings...

I ordered a soupy main dish and two sides for my brunch. I simply adored DTF's Pork chop noodle 排骨面 $9.50++. Chunky slice of well marinated and tender fried pork chop on top of handmade noodle in clear broth. This is my comfort food.

My all time fave Century egg w/ minced ginger 姜蓉松花蛋 $3.80++, the egg was perfectly prepared with gooey and intensely flavored yolk, plus jelly-like 'egg white'. The ginger sauce is mildly sweet, compliments the egg extremely well.

Luffa & Prawn Xiao Long Bao 丝瓜虾仁小笼包 $7.30++ for 6pcs. Nice and lightly flavored dumplings to go with the more strongly flavored mains. The steamed luffa still retains some crunch and tasted good with the fresh prawns.

Food and service is good as expected from any DTF outlet. I will never stop going back for more lovely dishes from DTF!


Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐
Tampines Mall, Blk 4 Tampines Central 5, #02-01/31, S529510  
Tel: 67870998

Opening Hours:
Mon.-Sun. 11:00-22:00

Dinner at 韓食 Hansik Korean Restaurant

Met up with sista at Kovan Heartland mall who is passing her homemade CNY goodies to me. She suggested dinner at this tiny Korean restaurant located at level 2.

Space between tables are pretty tight, I would not recommend this place for large scale gatherings. This place is more suitable for intimate groups of 2-6pax max. Some of the waiting staffs are Koreans, they speak good english. They have chinese speaking staffs as well.

This place provides complimentary Korean barley tea..

We ordered a Korean Army Stew and 3 smaller dishes to share among 3 persons. First up, the usual serving of assorted homemade appetizers. They were a refreshing start to the meal. I love to eat the Korean bean sprouts, mashed potato and spicy kimchi.

BBQ spicy pork belly $20++, marinated pork belly were prepared by staff and freshly grilled before serving to our table. Probably cos of the space constrain, customers are not required to cook the meats themselves. The freshly grilled pork slices were cut on the spot upon serving. I kinda like this arrangement.

The pork belly weren't exactly very spicy but certainly well marinated and full flavored. They were cooked just right with fragrantly charred exterior and tender juicy center...I enjoyed munching this delicious meat with and without the provided lettuce.

Seafood pancake $12++, pan fried to perfection with crisp edges and soft center, enveloping generous serving of fresh prawn, squid and veggies...wonderful dish!

Kimchi kimbap $7++, this was delish too. The rice was firm and had a nice chew to it, and the spicy kimchi has got the right amount of flavor to spice up the rice rolls...yums.

The main dish, Korean Army Stew Budae Jjigae hotpot $36++. This was cooked on the spot by skillful staff and left to stew for a couple of mins before serving. 

We waited in anticipation...

When the wait was finally over, we dig in and discovered the myriad of ingredients inside this hotpot dish. There were pieces of pork, hotdog, luncheon meat, nian gao, noodles, baked beans, tofu, kimchi and other veggies...so much goodness in a single pot! All the ingredients were fresh and well flavored by the thick and spicy broth. An extremely satisfying dish.


We love dining at Hansik, this tiny eatery has quite a bit to offer for the discerning diners. No wonder meal times are always crowded, they have snaky queue even on weekday evenings. Staffs are all well trained and prompt with attending to diners need. Food is of good quality and reasonably priced. I would recommend this place for all Korean food lovers.


韓食 Hansik Korean Restaurant
205 Hougang Street 21 #02-00 Heartland Mall, S530205
Tel: 6288 2448

Opening Hours:
Mon.-Sun. 11:00–22:00