Lunch at 大華 Majestic Restaurant @ Majestic Hotel

31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road, Lobby Level, New Majestic Hotel, Singapore 089845

Tel: 6511 4718

Website: http://www.restaurantmajestic.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restaurantmajestic

Majestic Restaurant is the award-winning modern Chinese restaurant owned by internationally-renowned chef Yong Bing Ngen. The interior is simple yet tranquil, with holes in the ceiling where one could watch swimmers wading by overhead, if they wish.  Service was excellent - attentive and polite; even though this was a Chinese fine-dining restaurant, it was utterly non-pretentious and very comfortable to be at.

Food-wise, it is to be modern Cantonese cuisine served on individual plating and all dishes is an extensive collection of chic handmade and customised chinaware.  There's a wine cellar in which you could pair some delicious wine with your Cantonese meals here. Interestingly, the starter-snack was a bowl of Wasabi-flavoured potato chips.

*Sidney and I were here for lunch, and both selected the Set Lunch (SGD$38.00 each), consisting of chilled herbal tea, Majestic trio platter, Chef's special soup of the day, choice of main course and choice of desserts.  The chilled herbal tea was Luo Han Guo (siratia grosvenoli), cooling and sweet; we also had a pot of hot Chrysanthemum Tea to share (separate order).

The Majestic trio platter was magnificent, and beautifully plated. Portions were dainty but very sufficient as appetisers; I did not know which one to start with.

The Wasabi Prawns with deep-fried lotus chip. The plump, fresh prawns were luscious and springy, richly-coated with creamy wasabi sauce that lent it a hint of spiciness. The lotus chip was crispy and sweet.

Chilli Crab Puff was sweet, crusty and filled with delicious chilli crab paste - a combination of saccharine gravy with hotness; it scored points on taste and texture totally.

Then there was the Peking Duck rolled into the thinnest pancake ever, with a small pool of salad and nuts at its side. I loved the tenderness of the duck and how the pancakes melted readily on the tongue.

A bowl of herbal chicken soup was brought the the table next, in a dark broth and served with strands of what looked suspiciously like strands of ee-mian (noodles). The flavour was tasty but not intense, nothing of the heady herbal sort; the chicken was utterly succulent and soft, surprising me. One might also note that even though this was chicken-boiled soup, the level of grease in the soup was minimal.

*Sidney chose the Stewed Mee Sua with Oyster and Crab Roe for his mains. The mee sua was the most springy and smoothest I have ever come across - even the ones I'd tried in Taiwan could not top this; each individual strand was lifted easily without, and slid down the palate wonderfully infused with the delectable broth. The plump oysters were fresh - the tank itself is located somewhere near the kitchen - exploding in a burst of deliciousness in the mouth.

I had Stewed Hor Fun with Sliced Fish in Black Bean Sauce for my main. Equally smooth was the hor-fun stripes, almost ready to slide into the throat. The black bean sauce was thick and strong, but not overly salty; the saccharine, flakey fish held a bounce in the texture that indicated its freshness.

For desserts, *Sidney selected Summer Ice-cream, made up of an assortment of fruits, vanilla ice-cream and lavender ice-cream. I enjoyed the luscious flavours of both the ice-cream, especially the lavender one that was redolent of the flower's natural flavour.  A little on the stronger side - so if you are not a lavender fan, this could be a little overwhelming, or, say *Sidney put it, "tastes like spa".

I was a happy soul with my Chilled Avocado Puree with Vanilla Ice-cream and Gula Malacca. The puree was rich, nectarous and cold, tasting every bit like the buttery fruit it was made of, incredibly satisfying; texture was penetrated with tiny sago pearls giving the rich puree some bites. I was in love with this, easily.

Overall, the dining experience here was very enjoyable, from excellent service to comfortable settings to palatable food not easily forgotten - how could I have missed this hidden gem all these years?