Hey everyone!
After a sumptuous lunch at Wooloomooloo and a relaxing staycation at Hotel Clover, we’ve finally come to the final part of my birthday celebration, courtesy of my boyfriend’s wonderful parents. This year, they brought me to Tien Court, a reputable restaurant that serves contemporary Cantonese and Szechuan cuisine at Copthorne King’s Hotel. It has been in operation for a long time with Taiwanese Masterchef Ho Tien Tsai at the helm of the kitchen, clinching countless of awards throughout the years for its culinary excellence. It’s a pretty popular choice among Chinese newly-weds to be for holding wedding banquets here in Singapore.
Being a Chinese restaurant, the deco of the restaurant gave a very oriental yet modern vibes. It used auspicious colours like red and white, coupled with black to portray a more contemporary theme. It had a huge collection of antiques and more interestingly, there were even bird cages hanging everywhere!
Featured the white romper I was wearing here!
Me settled down in the restaurant. Love the intricate design of the sleeves by the way!
The restaurant is rather small for grand wedding banquets if you ask me, but it’s perfect for small-scale ones meant only for people you’re really close to (which I would be opting for in the future because I never like the idea of wedding banquets).
Bf’s parents did all the ordering of food while I was at the washroom so I didn’t know what to expect on the dining table! It was great they chose the food because I’m a fussy eater when it comes to Asian cuisine and I’d probably take ages to decide on what to eat. Haha.
First came the starters – an individual bowl of Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup for everyone.
Topped with lotsa pepper and vinegar afterwards.
The Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup is a perfect alternative to Shark’s Fin Soup which I’m really glad is banned in most Chinese restaurants in Singapore. It’s addictive, equally thick and had lots of finely diced Tofu with plenty of mushrooms. And once you add the usual condiments like pepper and vinegar, it tastes almost like Shark’s Fin Soup!
Next, we had Roast Chicken with Spicy Garlic and Almond Flakes.
The skin was roasted to the perfect golden brown – divinely crispy and perfectly dry. I usually eat chicken meat without their skin but this, I couldn’t forgo. The tender and moist chicken meat was given the extra crunch with those almond flakes and spicy garlic. You have to try this when you’re at Tien Court.
A simple stir-fried Asparagus dish with onions and red dates followed.
Asparagus is one of the few vegetables I enjoy eating. This one at Tien Court was fleshy, juicy and soft – an indicator that it was cooked perfectly. It’s delicate, fresh and crunchy and it melts in your mouth. This plate was emptied the fastest!
Then we had Braised Duck.
It had a rather strong herbal essence which I found pleasant and delectable. It added flavour to the succulent duck meat, making it really fragrant and savoury. Bf, on the other hand, thought that the smell was a tad too strong to the point of revolt. I guess if you’re not afraid of the pungent smell of Tea Leaf Eggs (茶叶蛋), this should be a-ok for you!
The final meat dish of the night was Hong Kong Style Steamed Garoupa.
Bf and I love any “Hong Kong Style Steamed” fish because of the sweet and savoury soy sauce that came with it. It has a unique and addictive taste that you cannot find in other fish prepared differently. On top of that, the fish would always come silky smooth and tender, so much so that it’d break apart very easily when you try to cut the fish into smaller portions. The Garoupa dish fitted my description perfectly though. My expectation for this was well met 🙂
Last but not least, what is a birthday celebration without Longevity Noodles?
It bizarrely came last and I vaguely remember that we wanted it to be served in the beginning. I guess the service staff wasn’t paying attention. But because it came so late, we were already full to the brim. I don’t think we even had space for desserts. Haha!
But I still managed to take a few mouthfuls of it to be polite. It was slightly cold and mushy, like it was left at a corner for some time before it was served to our table. It could be better if it was served earlier because the taste was not too bad honestly.
Okay, that’s all for this entry!
Thanks for reading 🙂
Tien Court Restaurant
Copthorne King’s Hotel Singapore
403 Havelock Road
Singapore 169632
Tel: 6733 0011
Fax: 65 6732 5764
Website
fionaseah.com 