Taste Paradise.

Chinese Cuisine with a Difference is Taste Paradise's tagline. Curious about how different this might be, Bobo and 4 other friends dropped by for a cosy dinner last Friday.

It was pretty easy to locate the place, however parking wasn't that easy. In front of the restaurant there're some parallel parking spots but as you would guess too few for every one. Trying to look for parking in the area isn't too easy as they are all one-way streets. So do plan where you want to park before you go. Hong Lim or Chinatown Point would be two good places.
The restaurant is tastefully decorated with a long passage right up front. It's mainly in reds and blacks and the lighting is a little dim but still bright enough for Bobo to see what she's eating.

They were greeted politely at the door and led to their seats in one of the rooms. After some observation, they noticed that one of the walls was actually made of panels which could be removed to make the room bigger for functions.

Bobo couldn't bear to analyse the menu like her companions did for it didn't have any pictures. It was just filled with words. There were curly Chinese characters and descriptions in English but it was still pretty difficult to read.

One little interesting thing was that there were 3 prices for the same bowl of Shark's Fin - $38, $58 and $68. $39 was the regular serving, $59 had more shark's fin in it and $69 was fin of high quality.... the staff patiently explained when they asked.

Food ordered:

Carrot Cake

Which Bobo forgot to take down the description of. She loved it. The serving was enough for two people and it was really tasty. It wasn't too oily and she could have gobbled this up without help if she wasn't worried about saving space for other stuff.

Pan-seared Foie gras, wasabi mayonnaise prawn and sliced Beijing duck with condiments - $18 per person

Their starter for the day was this great combination! The foie gras was crisp on the outside and pretty smooth on the inside. It was quite sizeable, any bigger and Bobo would be worried about her heart. The wasabi prawn was alright. The wasabi taste wasn't too strong which is good and it was quite a big one. It was served on top of a watermelon which was suppose to compliment the taste of the prawn. But she couldn't be bothered to eat it. Bobo liked the Beijing Duck slice. It was pre-prepared with the skin and sauce and wasn't too sweet. Just right.

Double boiled superior shark's fin with dried conpoy in traditional Beijing broth accompanied with bacon onion roll - $38 per person

The presentation of this dish was impressive! It was served in a grey bowl, the sort people used to mash belachan in, with the bacon wrap on top. It was bubbling when it came and bubbled for a long time whilst they drank it. There was plenty of fin and the broth was not too starchy like at some places. But it did smell of vinegar though she didn't find it too sourish. The bacon onion roll was a nice touch though she did find it a little troublesome to eat.

Braised homemade Beancurd with shredded scallop and Japanese Mushroom - $16

This was the one dish which Bobo found a little disappointing. The skin of the beancurd was a little too tough and hard to tear. The taste was ok and the texture of the inside was smooth. The sauce it came with wasn't too salty as she had tasted in other places and the scallop was a nice accompaniment. Just the skin bothered her.

Szechuan Style roasted Chicken with homemade crispy crumbs - Half $16

By the time they got to this dish she was pretty full but she still picked up a few pieces to munch. Her companions were commenting about it being spicy but she found it barely so. It was quite tasty and the meat didn't taste as dry as it looked. She liked the texture of the meat but she's the sort who likes chicken breast meat so if you aren't like her... well.

Stirfried Spinach with garlic - price unknown

Bobo was too full to have any of this. But it looked just like your regular vege to her.

Mashed Taro with almond cream served in fresh coconut - $6.50

Bobo wanted to order this but she was in a mood for something cooler so she was happy to get a taste of it. It was served in a tiny REAL coconut! SO COOL! She was more fascinated with the coconut bowl than anything else. She thought that the Orh Nee tasted very nice. It wasn't too sweet, not overly flavoured. It had a hint of almond (or maybe she didn't scoop so much almond) which gave it a nice twist.

Chilled Mango Puree with Sago and Pomelo served with coconut ice cream - $4.50

This was Bobo's dessert of the day!! She was worried about the coconut ice cream as she's not a fan of coconut actually. But everything's worth trying right? So try she did and she enjoyed this dessert very much. Served cold and sweet (just right).

Chilled Pumpkin Puree served with coconut ice cream (Chef's Special) - $4.50

Sadly she didn't get a taste of this.... but no complaints. Her companion seemed to enjoy it...

Chilled Aloe Vera in refreshing calamansi juice - $4.50

Neither did she try this...

They got the 3 chilled desserts free, they were on the house which was a nice surprise.
The service was very good throughout the meal. Their tea was constantly topped up and Desmond, the assistant manager was jovial and sincere when serving them. When the 2 servings of the shark's fin were late, he took the initiative to inform them, which Bobo thinks is a show of good service.

Each of them paid $93.50 for their share of food. It does seem quite a lot doesn't it? But she guesses with foie gras and shark's fin on the list, she finds it pretty acceptable. Minus those two, it would be more reasonable.

Taste Paradise

48 Mosque Street

Tel: +65 6226 2959