Thursday, April 11, 2013

Kai Nian Fan 2013

 
Our yearly Kai Nian Fan with the same 4 distinguished guests, lol! We had Kenneth joining us back in 2009 but other than that, it was always the 4 of us. I cant remember who did the organising this year, but a safe bet would be Fionn, since she was the one who put together this lil yearly routine ever since we joined the workforce. Looking back, it has been almost 7 years since we step foot into the corporate world *time flies* Raffles Place has always been my work place since my 1st job and it went through a lot of changes within the area. The landscape kept changing every now and then, with new buildings being constructed in every possible corner. Opps, guess I side-tracked a bit ^^ ... back to our Kai Nian Fan proper :) 
 Sunny day, so we got our shades out :) Loving the new shades that Leecher got, but it has now officially landed at my side of the car, lol!
 
The sky is seldom this blue in Singapore! The last time we came across such clear blue sky was during our honeymoon trip to Paris & Amsterdam. Yeah, I know I have yet to blog about them, haha! Can't promise when, but I'll definitely get it done ^^ 
 
Still very much in CNY mood :) 
 
Off to powder our noses first ... 
 
Our venue this year ~ Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant located @ Park Royal Kitchener Road.
 They have branches in other areas, such as UOB Plaza & Beach Road and they also ventured into KL and Tokyo.
 
with the dearest :)  
 
Though we had a reservation, the place wasn't packed when we arrived. 
 
Someone still feeling sleepy, lol! 
We went for Nostalgic Dim Sum buffet (那些年,我们吃过的点心) With the success of the film 那些年,我们追过的的女孩 (You Are the Apple of My Eye), everything that screams nostalgic has a 那些年 connection to it. The restaurant celebrated it's 1st anniversary opening by introducing the Nostalgic Dim Sum buffet, where the menu was conceptualised by Master Dim Sum Chef Wen Xin Wen that aims to trigger memories of the olden days.
 
Snacks to keep us munching first before the 1st dish arrived.
Marvel at the skills of the Tea Master as he pours hot tea through a long-spout kettle into your tea cup. We scanned through the surrounding perimeter of the tea cup for traces of water droplets & did not find any! A true skilled master indeed :) 
 
With a wide selection of 50 dim sum items, we started with 3 appetizing dishes that are only available at a single serving - Soya Chicken, Crispy Roasted Pork & Roasted Duck. I vividly remembered that was a char siew dish that came along with it as well, but think I could have missed it out during pic-taking :) My personal favourite went to Soya Chicken, as it was so tender, including the breast meat (which is a rare find!)
 
Mummy dearest has spoil me rotten over the years with her home-brewed-absolutely-delicious-soup. Since we are in a Sichuan & Cantonese restaurant, we must give their soups a try (as Cantonese are very fond of soups - from all the HK dramas that I've watched over the years, haha!). We ordered 3 types - 四川酸辣汤, pumpkin soup (I think, but can't really remember) & Pork Rib with Bitter Gourd. It tasted home-cooked and I liked it so much that we went for 3 rounds of this. 
Leecher seemed extremely happy at the wide variety of food they have! He was so happy that he kept ordering to keep the food coming.
One of their cold dish Sliced Pork with Minced Garlic & Chilli Sauce - the chilli was kinda mild (perhaps watered down to suit the local taste) when i expected it to be spicy hot, like Si Chuan hotpot, lol!
Prawn dumpling with coriander - which I didn't try (I hate coriander!) but it was wiped clean by the others.
Siew mai with quail eggs. I like my dim sum, but I was never a fan of siew mai - something about this item that didn't click with me. I can manage 1 or 2, but anything above that is a no-no for me. On the other hand, I love quail eggs & I can easily pop 10s into my mouth, lol! So, this is a combination of something-that-I-don't-like-with-something-that-I-like. If only I could dig out the eggs and eat it on its own, that would be fabulous.
Glutinous rice which came in 1 serving. This buffet is catered for a min of 4 pax (UOB promotion of 4-for-3), thus, the servings mostly came prepared for 4, with the exception of lotus leaf rice. This 1 serving is sufficient for 2, so order 2 servings to share around. Of cuz, I would order 1 to share so as to leave space for more later :)
Some more items off the steamers - their version of custard bun was no-where near a proper custard bun :( Pork ribs were decent while Hakka dumpling with Turnip was a disappointment with its overly-thick skin & not-much-ingredients.  
with Fionn, whom I haven catch up in ages! I love how my girlfriends will always stand on my side and suan Leecher together ^^  We ordered too much and there were still plates of food coming onto the table.
 
 Glass noodles that tasted bland.
Pan-fried carrot cake ~ nothing special to speak of.
We then went on to order their zi char items from the buffet menu, thinking that it will come in small portions, but no - they came in full sized portions and we were caught by surprise as there was way too much food on the table. 
 
Check out the spread on the table! 
We had to resort to playing games in an attempt to reduce food wastage. I think I had filled up my whole day food intake just on a single meal. Thankfully, we managed to cancel some of our orders.
There were more desserts on the table, but these 2 items came earlier while I still had the energy to take pics ... The rest came later on when I felt too bloated to even move an inch, so no pictures for the rest.


Psst ... while the promotion was 4-for-3, each person get slapped with a tea+appetizer fee, which worked out to approx 30+ per pax (all inclusive).
Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant
Park Royal @ Kitchener Road
181 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208533
Tel: 64283170
Opening Hours: 11.30am till 2.30pm (Lunch), 2.30pm till 6pm (High Tea), 6.30pm till 10.30pm (Dinner)



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