A SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS WEBSITE
by Amy Yeong
What happens when you bring your grandfather to a dim sum meal? What happens when this grandfather had been a cook in several hotels, and is Cantonese to boot? (read: extremely picky about food). Although Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental has a reputation for serving fine Cantonese fare, I must confess to a certain degree of trepidation when I brought my grandpa to try their weekend a la carte dim sum buffet. My grandpa can be rather vocal in his views when it comes to food, especially dim sum and Cantonese cuisine, and while I knew he wouldn't make a scene if the dim sum did not live up to his expectations, which granddaughter would want to see her grandparent furrow his brow in displeasure? As it turned out, the two of us had a very pleasant time. My grandfather appreciated the good service, and he liked the taste of most of the dishes. Cherry Garden offers more than 10 varieties of steamed dumplings alone, on top of other dishes, and the ones we sampled were mostly good. The steamed pomegranate dumplings looked so pretty, it seemed like such a waste to eat them. The transparent skin revealed the colourful, diced vegetables within. Grandpa commented that the dumpling had a good bite, while I liked the light, clear taste. However, he preferred the steamed Teochew dumplings, saying that the taste was very good ("not too salty, not too sweet") and praised the dumpling skin ("it's very thin, very good"). In addition to steamed dumplings, Cherry Garden also offers a variety of meats prepared in various ways. The steamed pork ribs in XO sauce were "okay", but my grandfather found the pork a little hard to chew (he is, after all, 83-years-old). As for me, I had no issues with the meat, and I found the taste robust. What we both liked, however, was the toufu skin in the XO sauce - the toufu skin had a smooth texture and it soaked up the savoury sauce well. Grandpa's favourite meat dish of the day was the roast duck - he said that the skin was very fragrant and crisp. Indeed, it was so good, I broke my own rule of not eating duck skin! In fact, I usually avoid duck because I rarely find a place that prepares it well, but the roast duck I tried at Cherry Garden was so tender and juicy I managed to polish half the plate (Grandpa, of course, polished off the other half). Grandpa also liked the champagne-glazed spare ribs, and kept saying how fragrant it was. He was happy that the ribs had plenty of meat on them, and that the meat was soft and easy to chew. As for me, I enjoyed the pan-fried radish cake, which had a full-bodied taste. Grandpa commented that its texture was good - it was neither too hard nor too mushy. It was well complemented by the XO sauce which my grandfather enjoyed, though he did wish that the sauce was more spicy. One of the must-tries on the dim sum menu is the deep-friend beancurd skin with shrimp. The paper-thin toufu skin was fried to crispy perfection, while the generous shrimp filling was succulent and a delight to bite. He found the double-boiled winter melon soup very fragrant, but commented that the taste of scallops was not strong enough for his liking. Personally, I liked the soup as it was light, but I suppose that an older person sometimes wants food to have a stronger flavour. He did comment that the soup seemed to have no MSG, something which he appreciated. He was quite intrigued by the dessert (chilled mango sauce poured over sorbet), even though he found the sorbet a bit too sour. I liked the sorbet, though, and felt that the dessert on the whole was very refreshing and light. It is a most satisfying way to end a scrumptious lunch. Generally, both my grandpa and I enjoyed the experience. The food was tasty, light, had enough variety, and each dumpling was made with a generous amount of filling. In short, if you are a dim sum lover, or have a parent or grandparent you'd like to take out for a treat, Cherry Garden's a la carte dim sum buffet is well worth trying. Cherry Garden
5th level, Mandarin Oriental
5 Raffles Avenue, Marina Square
(S) 039797
Tel: 6885 3538
Weekend A-la-carte Dim Sum Buffet
Saturday & Sunday, from 11am to 3pm (2 seatings, beginning at 11am and 1:30pm)
Price: S$38++ per adult / S$19++ per child (6 to 12 years old)
No charge for children below 6 years old
