Restaurant: Made in China
THERE aren't many places in the world where you can walk past the Ten Courts of Hell en route to a fine Chinese restaurant, so if you can do so at one of Singapore's more under-rated attractions, the wondrous (and some say wacky) Haw Par Villa, it's quite appetite-inducing.
I'm talking about walking up the gentle slope of course, and not through the actual Ten Courts with its depictions of gruesome punishments - remember the pool of filthy blood in the second court of hell; or the chopping board where you see heads and arms hacked off in the ninth court?
Those with delicate uh, stomachs, need not worry since you don't pass through the actual mouth of the dragon to get to Hua Song - a new $7.8 million museum dedicated to the Chinese diaspora. Made in China is the restaurant inside the first hall of the museum, which is part of the theme park.
Helmed by master chef Anthony Khuah, formerly of Tung Lok Restaurant and Summer Pavilion of Ritz Carlton Hotel, the cuisine is contemporary Chinese that's Cantonese-based, while also incorporating traditional dishes from the other dialect groups - Hakka, Teochew, Hokkien, and Sichuan. There's Chicken in Millet Wine under the Hakka category, then Teochew cold crab and stewed goose, along with braised Hokkien Fo Tiao Xiang and Sichuan mapo doufu.
The dining hall is actually located at the main hall when you enter Hua Song, but Singapore Explorer, the company which manages the museum, will also allow corporate functions to be held at eight of the exhibition halls. If you drop by for lunch or dinner, however, you don't need to pay the entry fee to the museum, which is $8 per adult and $5 per child.
The menu includes the ubiquitous dim sum of course, while a sampling revealed dishes done with finesse. The Tan Jia style braised shark's fin with fish maw was rich, and further sweetened by pumpkin which also gave the soup a frothier texture. Chef Khuah also gives the wasabi prawn creation a twist by using lobster instead - a good substitute although his wasabi-mayo mixture could be just a little sharper and sweeter for more oomph.
The Hakka yam abacus dish was an interesting one, with yam shaped into abacus 'beads' and mixed with a stir-fry of minced meat and diced green beans for flavouring and crunch. Dessert was a delicate double-boiled hashima served in a young coconut shell, so that it carried the aroma of coconut. Prices for the dishes are in the $10 to $20 range.
Dining in Made in China - especially if you're in the Chinese Clan Hall or the Grand Food Hall - provides a talking point, as much research and effort has gone into collecting information and reproducing artefacts. The food repros in the Grand Food Hall, I've to say, are very delectably done.
Even as you check out the food, don't give the museum a miss either - it's worth at least one walk around to see interpretations about how the Chinese survived as gold miners in Africa, laundrymen in Australia and railway workers in Canada, besides being traders and coolies in Singapore and Malaysia.
The museum is rather interactive, and children will like the Trailblazer room which is like a play area under the watchful eyes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, peering fiercely from their posters.
You can now drive your car all the way up to park next to Hua Song, but frankly, taking a walk up the statue-lined path - if you haven't been back to Haw Par Villa since you were six - is a novel trip down memory lane.
MADE IN CHINA
Hua Song, Haw Par Villa
262 Pasir Panjang Road (S) 118628,
Tel: 6777 7819
Operating hours: 11.30 am - 3pm; 6pm - 11 pm daily.
Mar 18, 2006
The Business Times
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