[Event] Dinner at Xin Cuisine Restaurant @ Holiday Inn Atrium (新故乡)

317 Outram Road #04-00 Holiday Inn Atrium Hotel, Singapore 169075

Tel: 6731 7173

Was at Xin Cuisine Restaurant for a food tasting event, a total of 8-course dinner. It is a traditional Chinese restaurant that offers a wide variety of authentic dishes along with some creative, jazzed up fusion dishes to impress. The ambience is cosy and Oriental chic, with well-spaced tables. The service was, at the very best - passable.

Anyway, the dinner was supposed to commence at 7.00pm sharp, but I was held up at work and only got there at 7.30pm. A plate of the Cold Dish items was reserved for me - springy jellyfish, sweet and chewy octapus, scallops, duck meat with crispy skin, and crabmeat omelet that tasted rather bland.

There was a bowl of Soup that looked and tasted suspiciously like shark's fin, but I knew it could not be. True enough, it comprised of crabmeat, scallops and other items that gave the soup a good flavor.

I liked this dish - Wasabi Breaded Prawns.- succulent and bouncy, fresh prawns fried in a thin veil of breaded coating, and dipped lightly in wasabi. The sweetness of the prawns combined with the flavor of wasabi (light enough that the tingy flavor was detectable, but not enough to be spicy) made for a good combination, especially with the crispy coating of the prawns.

There was also teeny weeny bits of strawberries and fruits dotting the dish to further rouse the taste buds.

Next, Soon Hock fish cooked with preserved vegetables. The flavor was light and natural, enhanced by the more sapid flavor of the sweet-sour vegetables (梅菜)

Following the previous dish, we now enjoyed a very tender dish of Roast Chicken with crispy chicken and delicious prawn crackers (keropok).

Now, we got to try the dish of Shiitake mushrooms and abalones nestled on a bed of spinach. The mushrooms were boiled to a delectable softness, so lovely it tore the moment the teeth made contact. The abalones were sweet in a favor most analgous to fresh squid - mild and clear. The spinach was a refreshing change from all the meat items we had been enjoying.

To conclude the savoury portion of the feast, we had the plate of Fried Noodles - looking rather dull without some colorful shreds of cabbage, lettuce or carrots. The flavor was rather nice though, made flavorful by the mushrooms but we thought there were a tad too much beansprouts. I liked how the noodles came with a little gravy / dampness but still maintained its springy texture - not oily, not dry like other fried noodles.

We had a very traditional Chinese-style dessert - something like (or maybe it was!) the Six Taste Soup (六味湯). comprising of red dates, lilybulbs, dried longans, tiny lotus seeds and glutinuous rice balls in a hot, darkand sweet soup base.

Then we had a bottle of red wine over idle chatter about everything and nothing, met up with the Chef, and ended a lovely feast. I heard their dimsum is nice - will come back here to give it a try.