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Red Star Restaurant

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This is an authentic Cantonese restaurant jointly opened by four of Singapore's top chefs in the 1970s. It offers a wide range of dim sum served from traditional pushcarts, from the palatable Big Bun to other traditional stuff like Char Siew Bao and Spare Ribs. Don't forget its popular egg tarts, which are said to be hot sellers, too!

Blk 54 Chin Swee Rd, #07-23
Tel: 6532 5266

Shalimar Palace Restaurant

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If you have a thing for curry fish head, don't miss this outlet's famous speciality. Cooked with Angoli fish and an assortment of herbs and spices to give it a heady taste, this dish is delectably rich and tangy. While you tuck in, don't forget to look out of the window for the panoramic view around the iconic Singapore Flyer.

No. 30 Raffles Ave, #02-02, Singapore Flyer
Tel: 6336 7758

Shanghai delicacies at Yanqing's eateries

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Yanqing Shanghai Kitchen, Bukit Timah

This cosy 60-seater offers many exquisitely prepared items including the Ningbo drunken raw crab and sesame-covered pancake with meat floss.

In particular, check out the Shanghai Fish Soup. Prepared with preserved vegetables, fish stock, flour skin made from green bean powder, and black fungus, this delectable dish will definitely impress you.

371 Bt Timah Rd (off Sixth Ave)
Tel: 9628 5152

Yanqing Shanghai Kitchen, Chijmes

The story: China-born Jenny Zou and two friends wanted to open a Shanghainese restaurant so they could savour some hometown fare.

That materialised in their first restaurant, Yanqing’s Shanghai Kitchen – named after one of the friends, former TV host Wang Yanqing (inset) – which opened early last year.

A second outlet sprouted late last year. Zou, a former systems analyst who arrived in Singapore 17 years ago, has been running both restaurants full-time as director.

Traditional Shanghainese cuisine, she says, is oily, salty and sweet. While the chefs keep the food close to the original by importing some condiments and sauces from China, they also go easy on oil, salt, sugar and MSG in their updated, health-conscious version. In fact, there is “completely no MSG” in the food, she says.

The food: The signature dish is traditional stewed pork in an earthern pot which has meltingly tender meat to be eaten with fluffy buns.

Yanqing's Shanghai Kitchen
01-19/20 Chijmes, 30 Victoria Street, Tel: 6338-6484, Opening hours: 11.30am to
3pm, 6pm to 12.30am daily; and 791 Bukit Timah Road, 01-01, Tel:6463-2989,
Opening hours: 11am to 3pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm daily, closed for lunch on
Mondays

Chong Qing No. 1 Steamboat

Craving an authentic Sichuan-style hotpot meal? This semi-spicy buffet will surely delight you. Boasting more than 90 ingredients, including meat, greens and seafood, the buffet also offers four soup bases made from 38 types of herbs and spices. Adults pay $15.80, and children $9.80 each.

54 Smith St
Tel: 6323 2696

The Eastern Restaurant

Served in a bamboo basket, the soup dumplings here are made from lean-and-fatty-tiered pork. Tenderly wrapped in smooth wanton-like flour skins, the minced portions are steamed for serveral minutes to aromatic perfection. You'll surely fall in love with the accompanying sauce, which encapsulates the flavoursome essence of the marinated meat.

176 Orchard Rd, #01-57, Centrepoint
Tel: 6736 2636

Whampoa Food Street (Keng) Fish Head Steamboat Eating House

This joint prides itself on its top-quality fish head steamboat, with a wide array of ingredients to choose from. The soup is brewed using chicken and fish bone stock, ikan bilis, ginger, yellow bean, sugarcane and myriad Chinese herbs, so you can be assued of a rich, sweet taste that's typical of a wholesome broth.

116/118 Rangoon Rd
Tel: 9023 2854