Cherry Garden Revisited @ Mandarin Oriental

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So then sometime after Christmas and before 2019 even began I had lunch at Cherry Garden - you know, just to round up the year with people who matter and over dimsum. Dimsum is my kind of comfort food, bite sized, variety is there and best of all if it ain't a rushed affair.

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Floss and crispy beancurd to whet our appetites.

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Steamed pork siew mai with baby abalone ($9)

The baby abalones were the highlight for sure - I mean, it's abalone dimsum! Not that it really elevated the taste of it, chewy shellfish atop a really juicy pork dimsum.

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Steamed prawn dumpling with black garlic ($9)

 Black garlic gave prawn dumpling a twist, gotta love the skin here but otherwise, nothing too extraordinary.

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Steamed Wagyu beef dumpling with Sha Cha sauce ($8)


I had high hopes for this, maybe because of 'wagyu' but then again...

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What good would minced and steamed wagyu be? You do get the drift in this morsel of mushyness, it was a-okay, curiosity satisfied kinda situation.

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Steamed Iberico pork ribs with black bean sauce ($8)


Iberico pork probably made this fattier than desired, until each piece was fat and not quite what I could appreciate though the kitchen thought otherwise.

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Crispy snow crab puff ($12)

Finally, we had one that we all agreed was exquisitely done. Shaped like a curry puff, the pastry was really light and barely greasy though it was deep fried.


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Decoding it brought me into a creamy world of crabmeat and vegetables. Yum!

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Crispy bean curd skin roll with prawn and lychee ($8)

 Lychees made this juicy and not as oily, strangely!

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Steamed custard bun with yam ($8)

 Anything lava and flowy is right up my alley.


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Throw in orh nee and I'm just sold, sold, sold. I love the consistency of the yum paste and the multi grain bun, so delicious.

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Wok-fried radish cake with XO sauce ($14)


 Clearly gluttony got the better of me when I decided to get this as a last course instead of dessert. Crisp fried radish cakes with a dash of XO sauce, really yummy but I should really have just ordered this upfront. The greasy finish was not the best of all dimsum experiences.

Hits and misses but the ambiance is quite unrivaled - feels like I am dining in a courtyard!

Cherry Garden 
Mandarin Oriental

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