Yan Ting @ St Regis

yan ting

The good thing about CNY is being able to try out various chinese restaurants and having to catch up. Though I have to admit there's a caveat to catching up with the same bunch of people across three consecutive days..by the third, there's almost nothing else to "catch up on". From nails, to dress to bag to when I'm "signing on the dotted line", all topics have been covered quite thoroughly.

So I digress.

Back to the food! Yan Ting at St Regis, reservations are highly recommended if you want to nab a private room. Three rooms are available from groups starting at 5 people.

private room

I suppose this is the largest room they had which can accomodate 19 pax, and it required quite a bit of squeezing to get in and out of those comfy cushy chairs! Loved the grandeur and pomp of this room...makes it look quite like a wedding dinner eh? I liked the layout of the room and size of the table which makes talking easier than speaking across tables.

The relatives were taken aback at its size, even.

table shot

Meant for personal usage, right down to the candied nuts. Yummy crunchy almonds!

laid for tossing

No prizes for guessing its use.

condiments

More of the delicious nuts.

complete works

Large Salmon Yusheng ($78)

The aftermath of getting 17 adults to toss a large yusheng. The humongous table could not accomodate it so we had to huddle in a corner, which was quite unbecoming since the meal began on such a high note.

yusheng

This had a different set of ingredients on its own with straw mushrooms and pomelo included too! Those gave a juicy finish to the usual crunchy salad. Yan Ting's and Royal China's are in the running for best yusheng this year.

The thing to note about their ordering of dimsum is, they insist on multiples of 2 or 3's...depending on the original serving portions.

radish cake

Radish Cake ($3.80, 2 pcs)

Pan-fried to a delicious brown, these were plumped with preserved sausage and scallions.

yam pastry

Yam Croquette ($4.20, 2 pcs)

Fried to such crisp, it was surprisingly there was barely a trace of oil. It had the usual works, minced chicken and yam but it would be better with more yam!

vegetarian dumpling


Chrysanthenum Dumpling ($5, 3 pcs)

Coloured like a traffic light, this was really pretty to look at. Wafer thin translucent skin makes this dumpling exquisite. Tasted really healthy with all the vegetables, a healthy dose of fresh air amidst all the fried and grilled items.

har gao

Ha Kao ($5.40)

Still a fan of the skin, this prawn dumpling was delicious.

siew mai

Siew Mai ($5.40)

Still on the delicious page, though nothing too extraordinary.

DSC_0105

Char Siew Pastry ($4.20, 2 pcs)

Reviews had nothing but raves for this.

char siew pastry cut

I've never been a char siew sou fan and this did not convert me either. Not that it wasn't great...it was! The buttery pastry made this taste like a East meets West pastry...at least the pastry was reminiscent of an awesome chicken pie base. Adore the well marinated char siew filling to bits. Well objectively speaking...I should conclude I am not a char siew sou person, still. For a gauge of how good it is..the char siew sou fan was all toothy smiles.


char siew pau

Char Siew Pau ($3.90, 2 pcs)

char siew pau cut

Now..now, I am a char siew pau fan.Nothing to fault with the same filling but the bread itself was not my thing. Sweet like huat kueh and the fluffiness of one too...it seemed like the wrong pau type for the savoury filling.


peking duck wrap

Peking Duck ($72)

Yan Ting specializes in this so that's why we had it. Each duck makes 20 wraps quite nicely. Wrapped like a flat popiah, simple ingredients like a smear of barbequed sauce, sliver of cucumber and slice of duck skin made this really yummy. Hearing the skin crack upon chewing (as neurotic as it sounds) is quite therapeutic.

duck breast 

The rest of the duck we wanted "chopped up". Two plates of succulent and tender duck breast meat. Yummy, yummy....really yummy! I've yet to try those in Beijing so this is as good as it gets here. 

If you're wondering what happened to the rest of the duck..since a whole duck cannot be reduced to such paltry portions of meat...

YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!

peking duck


The rest of it after we requested for "bones as well". If it shocks you..don't be. The kitchen takes instructions like literally and you have to be that pointblank if you want your full duck...right down to the tailbone. If not, you just end up paying through your nose for skin and breast meat while the rest of it gets cooked with fried rice or noodles or some other specialty and someone gets chopped like a carrot in a separate bill.


Excuse the cynicism but that's the result of paying for too many plates of eefu noodles with duck meat when the meat's actually from some naive consumer's full peking duck.


Anyhow, the rest of the duck was drooliciously yummy too...actually meat with bones have a whole lot more flavour than the breast!


roast chicken

Crispy Roasted Chicken ($48)

I actually liked their rendition of this. Firm chicken meat with the same crispy chicken skin as the peking duck. Does not reek of the usual "chicken smell nor taste" in our Hainanese Chicken Rice..this was wayyyy better.

pineapple fried rice


Pineapple Fried Rice ($16)

Each plate feeds two comfortably. Looked like like sambal fried rice with the orange hue..this packed a mighty punch. Slightly spiced, this had the lovely wok hei of a good fried rice. Throw in sweet pineapple cubes, I was all ready to take on the world post-CNY. Best of all, nary an oily trace either. Mighty loving this though not all loved it the way I did.

lemon marshmellows

Lemon Marshmellows ($3 for 6)

Like cotton candy, this melted in your mouth effortlessly..laced with a lovely lemon tinge to it.

tray of tarts

Egg Tarts ($6, 2 pcs)

Looking at the glistening babies on the tray above makes me drool.

egg tarts

At $3 per piece, it sets the record price for any egg tart (mini or small or whatever size there is) I've ever placed into my mouth. After the first bite, I was completely defeated. Creamy, wobbly and flaky without the oil. The bestest egg tart from any chinese restaurant so far though Tai Cheong and portugese egg tarts are in a different league altogether. This is what I call...pint sized but packs a mighty punch!

Enjoyable meal with some misses but all in, I had a great time. I love how the dishes are not overly doused in oil while maintaining its flavour and taste. One of the better dimsum places around. Service was expectedly faultless.


How about their Sunday Brunch Buffet at $98++ next? I need to befriend someone with an Astor card...first. :)


Yan Ting
St Regis

Comments

  1. You had me at the egg tarts & char siew sou. I'm a crazy fan of char siew sous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. pleeeease go try and see if we're on the same page!!!! :) ive never so highly recommended something before...and their egg tarts has to be IT.

    ReplyDelete

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