Pine Court @ Meritus Mandarin

That's a steal! Pine Court no less, 35 stories above the bustling Orchard Road. This my friend, is called a step into leisurely life.



Arbitrary shot.



What amuses me to no end is, everything is served on a dish..including pepper.



I dig those huge lights!



Thoughtful gesture, the only way to test the service is 1) request for warm water, 2) see if they'll provide a seat for the arm candies as well.



Condiments, my first attempt at green chinese mustard...yummy! It's got the right level of brain-freeze quotient.



Pork Porridge with Century Egg

Thick porridge very tastily done, generous serving of century egg and pork in true blue cantonese style.



Deepfried Lobster Dumpling

Couldn't discern the lobster.



Poached Steamed Rice with Sliced Fish in 'Teochew' Style

I loved this surprisingly, thick fresh fish chunks and vegetables in delicious broth.



Steamed Mashed Hongkong Black Dace with Asparagus

Not a fan of this bouncy chewy ball with a strong hint of parsley.



Shredded Jelly Fish

Not a fan either.



Deepfried Barbequed Pork Puff with Cheese

Seconds for this light cheesy pastry stuffed with sweet char siew. The pastry's buttery and melts in your mouth, the cheese wasn't obvious however.



Deepfried SpareRib with Chef's Recipe Paste

A pork version of Har Jeong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken), just alright.



Deepfried Golden Roll with Porkfloss

Definitely an overload of porkfloss on top of a fried prawn roll, but I'm not complaining! I polished the pork floss in full gusto.



Steamed Vegetarian Dumpling with Gluten Puff and Spinach

Colourful dimsum balls I say. Thin gooey skin hugging onto a colourful vegetarian combination (mock char siew, chopped spinach and carrots). Was on the bland side.



Steamed Pumpkin Dumpling

Another visual treat, looks more like a sweet than savoury dimsum. Didn't find this extraordinary. Looks better than it tastes, basically filled with diced pumpkin and chives.

Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Asparagus

Ordinary prawn dumpling dyed pink.



Steamed Shrimp Dumpling in Chilli Sauce

This was well executed, the sour-spicy tones nicely balanced with a mouthful of slippery meaty wanton.



Steamed Siewmai with Mushroom

Once again, predictable dimsum.



Panfried Carrot Cake with Chinese Sausages

My main grouse is the radish was leanly spread across the carrot cake, I like my carrotcake spilling over with radish and the cake in loose-kueh form. This was dense and bland.



Deepfried Yam Puff with Venison

An absolute dimsum star! Fried so crsipy, the ball of mashed yam and venison was heavenly! The spicy-sour sauce empowered this dish greatly.



Deepfried Beancurd Skin Roll with Cheese

Interesting dish though I'd have prefered the cheese oozing out, just beancurd skin with prawns and melted cheese.



Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken

Rice is soft and chewy, just ok.



Panfried Vegetarian Dumpling filled with 'Tientsin' Cabbage

I tasted ee-fu noodle in this one which I largely attribute to the 'Tientsin' cabbage used. Not bad!



Steamed Barbeque Pork Bun

Fluffy and soft, I still didn't adore the sweet charsiew filling.



Golden Crispy Pipa Prawn with Juices Sauce

Prawn patty fried till crunchy, pretty ok. The juices sauce didn't go with it, tasted like plum sauce.



Panfried Spicy Crabmeat Bun

The worst of the meal for me. The bun's not bad but I didn't like the filling one bit, some spicy-sour mix and I couldn't taste crabmeat.



Deepfried Rice Puff with Wasabi Mayo

Crispy vermicilli roll with shrimp and turnip topped off generously with wasabi mayo. Yums!



Deepfried Springroll with Assorted Vegetable

Decent but nothing to shout about. Why can't springrolls be left as springrolls filled with vegetables, the assorted vegetable I figure is just turnip and carrot!



Steamed Rice Dumpling with Salted Egg and Preserved Pork (Xiamen Dumpling)

Remember the uber scrumptious dumpling we had for Dumpling Festival? This was also on the menu! Albeit leftover from the festival, I'm surely not complaining! Soft glutinous rice was bland but the plentiful ingredients of pork, salted egg, chestnuts and mushrooms enhanced the taste of this humble dumpling. The dumpling's like a treasure trove, the further in you eat, the more treasures you find. Wish I had space for more but it reaffirmed Pine Court's dumpling artistry.



Deepfried Chicken Wing with Honey and Black Pepper Sauce

Not bad, sweet and crispy on the outside, spicy on the inside.



Steamed Jiangnan Pork Dumpling

I gave up trying to count 18 folds (Din Tai Fung did its education well), the soup was alright, the meat inside reminded me of heavily minced meat.



Deepfried Wantan with Hot Sour Sauce

Can't remember specifically the filling but was just fried.



Baked Chicken Pie with Mushroom and Potato

My other favourite coming from a Chinese restaurant! The thin tart's crunchy, filling are tummy warming. The creamy mushroom soup did much to compliment the pie. Loved it!



Steamed Roasted Duck with Preserved Cabbage

My first attempt at a duck dish that's twice cooked. Interesting that the double cooking didn't cause it to lose any of the flavours, the meat wasn't tough either, to the right tenderness. Preserved cabbage gave this dish an added sourness, delish! Downside, I had to remind the waitress thrice on my order.



Dessert of the day, Chilled Aloe Vera with Lemongrass Jelly ($3++)

We insisted on dessert to round off the meal. Arrived in a small pot, I wouldn't think it's well worth the price (even at $3++), pretty much something you can put together on your own. Lemongrass jelly tasted like sea jelly.

The dishes I passed either due to dietary constraints or pure dislike;

Steamed Mushroom stuffed with Prawn Paste
Steamed Chicken Claw with Black Bean Sauce
Deepfried Crispy Seafood Dumpling
Deepfried Squid in Thai Style

36 dishes later (counting the seconds we had), Pine Court's buffet's one of the more value for money buffets around, it's a secret until discovered by the media. Food is decent and service impeccable. It would have been better if desserts were part of the meal but I'm definitely not complaining given the quality of food. That being said, their dimsum did not fare as well as the non-dimsum items despite it being a "Dimsum" buffet.

Yes, there's a fair share of tai-tais sipping tea and indulging in a bite or two of the delicate dimsum as compared to two hungry and greedy (lethal combination) foodies stuffing ourselves to the brim. The funny part of it is, we barely spoke because the food arrived promptly and there was hardly a moment that the table wasn't full.

$19.80++
12-230pm

Pine Court
Meritus Mandarin
Level 35