Peach Blossoms @ Marina Mandarin

I've been wanting to visit Peach Blossoms again after a really impressive CNY lunch I had earlier this year. I made my booking 2 weeks in advance..that's how popular Peach Blossoms is! Backed by veteran chef, Eric Yeo who has 27 years of experience upped the expectations! Had the privilege of trying the dimsum ala-carte buffet lunch and here goes;

Marina Mandarin has a very impressive layout to begin with, birds chirping merrily in the cages, open concept of all the rooms, super high ceiling kind of set the mood of an "atas" lunch. Enter Peach Blossoms, it's akin to entering China, complete with the intricate wood designs on the rosewood partitions, ladies clad in high slit cheongsams and tables arranged so exquisitely; yes, the napkins have peach blossoms embroidered on them...enter the land of all things intricate.

The appetizers on the table were tasteful, not your usual boring boiled peanuts or worst still, oily peanuts, it's stewed curd skin with steamed peanuts. Delicious.

Note that all drinks apart from ice/warm water are chargeable, definitely not part of the buffet. We had chrysanthenum tea, low sugar. Such details were taken note of, see the handle of the pot; tagged with the flavour of tea. And kept warm. Thoughtful indeed.

The buffet menu comprises of a 4 pages..of which 1 is dessert...bringing the total savoury items to 31. We tried our best to sample all items at least once...if not twice...or even thrice! ;)

SOUP

Soup of the day -- water cress soup with pork (Left)
I actually loved this! Surprise, surprise! For a cantonese, and a soup lover...(actually only my mom's soups), I hardly take "non-home cooked" soups..and boy, Peach Blossoms actually had me taking two portions of this! Flavourful soup, well marinated pork.

Sweet Corn Soup with minced chicken (Right)
I didn't mind this that much...more like a chinese cream soup.

Wanton Soup with Laver

Normal wanton soup with seaweed. Did not come across as stunning.

Porridge

Porridge with century egg and lean pork

Pathetic meat and egg bits in the congee...

Porridge with fish fillet

I liked this!! Fresh fish chunks in the congee...yummy, two bowls!

Porridge with shredded chicken

Did not fancy this hugely.

Only the fish and lean pork with century egg porridge came with crunchy bits, delicious.

Dim Sum

Har gao (Steamed prawn dumpling with preserved vegetable)

Siew mai (Steamed pork dumpling with fish roe)
A must-eat at every dimsum place. Both certainly did not disappoint in terms of quality of ingredients or taste. We had reorders of this. :)

Steamed Xiao Long Bao with minced pork

The minced pork was not fantastic, the skin of the xiao long bao was thin enough, somehow Crystal Jade's ones are slightly better.

Steamed Barbeque Pork Bun

I found this a tad too sweet for my liking.

Steamed Dumpling with Honshimeiji Mushroom and prawn paste

First impression; struck me as a colourful crystal dumpling wrapped like a money bag. I found the skin too thick.

Steamed Dumpling with Luffa Melon, Black Fungus and Mock Ham

This has a really cute name in chinese " Feng Che Jiao" literally meaning wind car or basically those spinning childhood toys and it really resembled it! A lil salty but I liked the combination of melon, crunchy black fungus and ham.

Steamed Beancurd Skin Roll in Abalone Sauce

Liked this, the beancurd skin was chewy and nice but the abalone sauce tasted just like your usual oyster sauce.

Steamed Yam cake with chinese sausage

Prettifully done, in flower shapes and drizzled generously with sauce. I could taste the diced yam bits and mushroom, delicious.

Steamed Glutinous Rice with minced chicken wrapped in lotus leaf

I've yet to find glutinous rice that wows, and Peach Blossoms kind of disappointed me. Not much of a flavour, just soft sticky rice with chicken and egg.

Steamed Pork Spare Ribs in XO Chilli Sauce

This is a silent killer. Looks so plain and ordinary, tastes SO good. The pork spare ribs are well flavoured and not oily, not too fatty, meaty enough, one word: JANG! (literal cantonese translation: superb!)

Steamed Chicken Feet in Black Bean Sauce

Looked normal and probably tasted normal to me, I didn't dare eat this.

Poached Shrimp and Water Chestnut Wonton with Vinaigrette Chilli Sauce

This presentation was meant to impress, came in a glass...filled with wontons and the vinaigrette sauce. I actually liked it, the sour-spicy flavours that blended really well with the wonton.

Steamed Cheong Fun with Char Siew/ Prawns

Cheong Fun had a good texture, not too chewy nor thin, just right actually. The prawn version was better, between the two.

Fried Carrot Cake in XO Sauce

Not your usual street fried char tao kuay, came with bean sprouts, egg and choy bow (some preserved veg). I did not mind this.

Deep Fried crab meat roll with prawn, dried scallops and onion

Not much of a distinct taste, being so deep fried.

Deep Fried crispy mango and prawn roll

I'd say, the flavours do not really complement each other.

Deep Fried crispy banana and red bean roll

I believe the kitchen made a boo-boo with this, what was placed on the table was... crispy banana and red bean AND prawn roll. Imagine my reaction when I placed this seemingly sweet item into my mouth and I ended up tasting savoury. Really funny taste.

Deep Fried wanton in sweet and sour sauce

Normal...

Deep Fried pastry with prawn and cheese

This curry puff looking pastry bore no hint of cheese, just a salted prawn nested in the mass of pastry.

Baked Egg Tart

Classic cantonese delight, finger licking good! The pastry's flaky, the custard's perfect...hou sek! (meaning yummy!)

DESSERT (Only one per person allowed)

Chilled Puree of Mango with Sago and Lime Sherbet

I tried it over CNY, and this time..it did not disappoint again! Came in a glass orb-like bowl with dry ice, adding that "magical" touch to it. One zesty dessert. The lime sherbet's the bomb. Again and again I'd try if only they did not have a limit per person. :(

Chilled Puree of Pumpkin with Black Glutinous Rice

Suprisingly gooood. The pumpkin hinted of a slight sweet taste, blended in really well with the black glutinous rice.

Chilled Red Bean Cake and Coconut milk

Another dessert surprise from the kitchen! Looked and tasted somewhat like your nyonya kuehs BUT, the red bean layer is mashed red bean, which made it all the more delicious. Hardly you have desserts that are close to its natural form.

Seasonal Fresh Fruits

The presentation was...pretty enough. A platter of strawberries/honeydew/dragonfruit.

Chilled Black Glutinous Rice and icecream

Nothing much to shout about.

Overall, very satisfying with occasional dishes being on the salty end...Refined dimsum is what Peach Blossoms is, rather chinese food with a refined touch. Portions are just right bite-size and not too huge (my main grouse of buffets is, they chuck you normal huge portions and expect you to finish every bit of it...it's a buffet for pete's sake!) PLUS they actually take the initiative to ensure all dishes come in exact quantities that your table; i.e. 4 in a table, 4 of every item.. Brownie points for that!

Presentation was neat and meant to wow, unlike your usual dimsum buffet where presentation's normally slipshod, messy and meant to just stuff in your mouth and next dish! Peach Blossoms takes the effort to present, thumbs up for that! Pity the waiting time in between dishes are a tad too long, makes you feel full rather quickly. And, the waitress totally forgot my list of dishes. :/ Well, that being said..at least the waiters more than made up for the slack service of that particular waitress "P". Generally most waiters/waitresses were smiley and courteous...a service treat!

A minor incident that I brushed aside as..."lack of education" on the part of the management; we requested for "mustard", in all of the dimsum places I've ever eaten they normally provide it correctly, thick chinese mustard. Peach Blossoms is the only place that provided ENGLISH MUSTARD (you did not read it wrongly), english mustard with chinese cuisine, specifically cantonese. I'm not quite sure if I should laugh or cry.

I did a dimsum-count of the dishes we stomached, a grand total of 39. Amazing feat. I'm definitely not complaining! It's been a gastronomical delight, not sure if I wanna repeat the feat anytime soon but I'll be back for the main dishes next! Their wasabi prawns are...divine~

Dim Sum Ala Carte Buffet

1130am -230pm

$26.80++/ pax

Sat/Sun/Public Holiday

Reservations are a must!

Peach Blossoms

Marina Mandarin Hotel

Level 5