Taste Paradise is the latest kid on the block to up the hip quotient in Chinese cuisine, following in the footsteps of places like Xi Yan and Majestic Restaurant.
Located at Mosque Street in the heart of Chinatown, Taste Paradise stands out from the rest of the eateries with its contemporary look set off by sleek, dark wooden furniture which one can see through clear glass panels as you walk along the five-foot way. No ornate Chinese motifs nor furniture is around, giving the place a modern feel.
Taste Paradise is opened by a 29-year-old man called Eldwin Chua, who had previously opened an eatery called Seafood Paradise in Defun Lane. This is his second restaurant. Managing the restaurant is Melvin Fan, 30, formerly from Pine Court in Meritus Mandarin Hotel. Apparently, he’s the one who trained all the wait staff. I must say he has done an excellent job as the service is fantastic–attentive without being intrusive, alert, and prompt with refilling of the tea. Apparently, there’s even a valet service.
Modern Chinese cuisine is what they call their food. And the menu comprising of original dishes is created by Hong Kong-born chef Fun Chi Keung who was also formerly from Pine Court.
We started our meal with the spare ribs with wine sauce. The manager was very professional when he advised us to order only one portion first to see if we liked it. He told us that some people might not like it as it’s quite fatty. I liked that he wasn’t out to get us to order as much as possible. When it came, the single spare rib that sat on the white plate was glistening in a reddish-brown sauce, the inch-thick fat on one side of it clearly visible. But boy did it look good. We attacked it right away and the meat just melted in our mouths. It was so tender and the sauce with its slightly sweet taste was so good.
Then based on Wong Ah Yoke’s recommendation, I ordered the baked lamb rack in red wine sauce. The lamb rack came on a small bed of baby cai xin, tomatoes, and lily bulb slices. The lamb was very tender and the sauce had hints of black pepper. Very tasty as well.
Next came the baked cod fillet with fish roe drizzled with what tasted like hoi sin sauce. The cod was fresh, tasty and nicely flavoured.
For some carbohydrates, we went for the braised vermicelli topped with simmered crabmeat. The vermicelli was covered with crabmeat, mushrooms and bits of fish. It also soaked up all the broth which was extremely rich and flavoursome.
Next on the menu was the avocado cream with walnut ice cream which we had for dessert. This was pureed avocado with a tiny scoop of walnut ice cream in it. The ice cream was delicious as it had a rich taste of walnut in it. We also had the Hong Kong dessert, Yong Zhi Kam Luk (mango with pomelo and sago), which tasted very ordinary.
My only gripe about the place is that they should have a greater variety of Chinese tea. I wanted 菊普 (JuPu) which is a mixture of 菊花 (chrysanthemum) and 普洱 (Pu’er) tea. But I was told they only had Jasmine, Osmanthus, and Oolong. I had wanted a stronger tea as I had anticipated the dishes to be a little on the heavy side with a lot of oil coming from the spare ribs, lamb rack and cod fish. So the next best was the Oolong–the half-fermented tea.
Overall, I liked the place a lot as the food and service were good. Without any of the expensive stuff like foie gras (yes, they have it too!), shark’s fin, live fish and alcohol, prepare to spend about $50-$60 per person.
48 – 49 Mosque Street
Tel: 6226 2958