Hua Ting @ Orchard Hotel

Just as I was lamenting the fact that I haven't had a nice lunch in a while... along comes an invite to lunch at one of the best Chinese restaurants in Singapore - Hua Ting. Thanks V for the lovely lunch!

Hua Ting is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Singapore. And the food is excellent, in terms of execution and freshness. It's traditional Chinese food, served exquisitely in appropriate portions. Service is impeccable. This is the place you would like to take guests to if you wanted to impress.

This was a complimentary amuse bouche - phyllo pastry filled with minced meat and chopped mushrooms. It was tasty, yet light. Quite an interesting starter.

Assorted dim sum. Of course these arrived in lovely bamboo steamers, which I then placed on my plate. From left - chicken pie, prawn roll and carrot cake. The chicken pie was EXCELLENT. The pastry was delicate and slightly sweet. Not flakey, rather it was soft and melted in my mouth. The chicken filling was just right, and contrasted well with the pastry. The carrot cake was delicious, with the perfect ratio of egg and crunchy radish. It was well-fried, with a heavenly aroma of wok hei. The prawn roll was crispy and not oily, with a juicy prawn in the centre.

Roast Goose, one of the restaurant's specialities. It was tender and juicy, with a crisp light skin. Nice.

Roast Pork, another restaurant favourite. It was meaty and crispy, and perfect with the mustard dip.

Home-made spinach tofu - you may not be able to tell from this picture, but the tofu was actually in the shape of a heart. Aww. How cute. It tasted great too. Although I have to add that the tofu was an alarming jade green.

Grilled Honey Garlic Pork Rib - This was the piece de resistance. Wow. Just look at this hunk of protein! A carnivore's dream. It was tender and also quite fatty. There was a strip of fat all around, and the meat itself was also quite marbled with fat. You can imagine how tasty this was, since it was grilled to bring out the fatty meaty juices. Fragrant, delectable, and extremely sinful.

Fried Tung Hoon with crab meat and chives - I like this tung hoon, it was thick and slippery (like the korean tung hoon) and not the thin one which I grew up eating. This was delicious. Simple but totally yummy.

My favouritest dessert in the world - almond cream with glutinuous rice ball. Comforting, warm, sweet.

This was a lovely lunch, with a wonderful bunch. So, when is the next one, I wonder?