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Singapore, August 14, 2010 Xin Cuisine It hasn't got the most exciting menu in town, nor the spiffiest set-up. But what Xin Cuisine lacks in flash it makes up for with something worth all the designer chairs in town: refined, dependable Cantonese fare. In the time the restaurant has been around though, much of that fare was conjured up by celebrity chef Daniel Koh, who helmed Xin Cuisine for more than 11 years out of its 20. He left it last May to pursue another venture at Iluma, and in February this year, a new chef took his place. So what does that mean for fans and foodies? Well, the good news is that the food here remains just as yummy under the direction of chef Kwan Yiu Han, who hails from Guangdong in China and has 36 years of culinary experience under his toque. Fresh off the stoves at Makati Shangri-La Manila, he has also cooked in Hong Kong and Singapore, in both independent restaurants and hotels. Kwan says that what he tries to achieve with his cuisine are the four key components of Cantonese food, namely "good presentation, taste, aroma, and a harmonious marriage of those individual elements". "Freshness of the produce used is also important," he emphasises. All of which is evident in the first a la carte menu the chef has done for Xin Cuisine, which was launched last month. (The restaurant also offers separate menus for its business and dim sum lunches, as well as one with a more gastronomic slant for private-room diners.) Comprising mainly classical Cantonese recipes to which Kwan has added his own twist, the new a la carte list includes dishes such as barbecued suckling pig ($30), where thin slices of pork and paper-thin crackly skin are layered with goose liver and yam and finished off with refreshing Japanese cucumber. Then there’s what the chef calls "yin yang soup" ($20), which is really tender poached white cabbage cooked table-side over which a tasty duo of dressings – one of dried scallop and the other chock-full of crab meat – has been poured in a yin yang pattern. Another signature dish is the combination platter of roast duck and sauteed chicken with celery ($22) – the thinly sliced, juicy duck is rimmed with just the right amount of fat and a sliver of crisp skin; and the chicken, cut into strips, has been cooked in chef Kwan’s own special egg white mixture that renders it fork-tender. In keeping with Xin Cuisine’s standards, nearly everything is reliably well-cooked and tasty. And while those after a radically different Chinese dining experience won’t find it here, when it comes down to the quality of the food, it’s hard to imagine anyone will be disappointed. Xin Cuisine
Level 4, Holiday Inn Atrium
Level 4, Holiday Inn Atrium
317 Outram Road
Singapore 169075
Tel: 67317173
