GIVING traditional Chinese cuisine a contemporary touch by introducing non-traditional ingredients, jazzing up the food presentation and serving dishes in individual portions is the preferred option for new restaurants these days, and so is dressing up interiors to effect a more generic modern look.
The current trend in fine Chinese restaurants can perhaps be explained by the fact that owners are constantly on the lookout for an edge over the competition. Many of the more popular Chinese restaurants here not only serve similar dishes, they also belong to one of the brand name, multi-venue restaurant chains that dominate the fine dining scene. Diners seeking a certain level of quality and consistency are invariably more comfortable going to a tried and tested restaurant brand.
Neophyte restaurateur Raymond Kwok, who opened his first restaurant Huang Jia at Stadium Walk just six weeks ago, has doubled the potential for culinary pleasure (not to mention the headaches that inevitably accompany the opening of a new restaurant) by opening a second venue earlier this month - Huang Ting at The Central, across the river from Clarke Quay.
The first problem associated with Huang Ting, however, is locating it - tucked away as it is in a less-trafficked fourth-floor corner of The Central, a maze-like building with a layout that is guaranteed to confound first-time visitors. Once you get there, however, the restaurant does offer pleasant views of the Singapore River and Clarke Quay.
Separately, Jia means house and Ting means pavilion but taken together, Jia Ting means home and Mr Kwok is hoping for a similar symbiosis between his two restaurants. He says that Huang Jia is more family oriented with Huang Ting will cater more to the CBD crowd, although several dishes will be available at both restaurants.
Mr Kwok, whose first experience in the F&B business was as a shareholder in Chef Chan's Restaurant when it was at Odeon Towers (it has since moved to the National Museum), recruited key kitchen team members from the more well-known restaurant chains and hotels around town and developed the menus together with his chefs.
'You've got to assume the food is of a certain standard,' he says. 'Then there's the ambiance and the service and finally, whether or not the food gives you value for money.' Huang Ting's dining space is pleasant and bright, with a series of booth-like tables offering nice views but the room's proportions are undermined by the presence of a few too many oversized white armchairs as well as a large structural pillar thinly disguised by mirrored glass.
The menu features many of the traditional Cantonese favourites, including barbecued meats, seafood and delicacies such as shark's fin and bird's nest. Dim sum is available, and so are tasting menus that can be tailored to fit your budget. Meanwhile, signature dishes - also available at Huang Jia - include crispy roast chicken ($16 per half), Peking duck with foie gras ($20 per person) and Nan Tian king prawn ($8 per person), deep fried with a spicy pumpkin sauce.
Other dishes sampled at a recent tasting included roast duck breast with fresh mango ($8), crispy crab claw ($10), steamed cod with spinach soup and steamed egg white ($12) and fried rice with fresh crab meat, egg white and scallops ($8). Various double-boiled soups, such as Pacific clam and winter melon ($8), or seafood soup in young coconut ($12) are also available.
As might be expected of a new establishment, there were moments when the service was a little shaky and not every dish worked either - a dessert of pumpkin pudding was overly heavy and a tad too bland, for example. While no particular dish stood out either, there was evidence enough to suggest that Huang Ting has a chance of making a respectable name for itself among the growing roster of modern Chinese restaurants - and getting diners there to feel right at home too.
Rating: 6.5/10
Huang Ting 6 Eu Tong Sen Street, The Central #04-63.
Tel: 6410-9750
www.huang.com.sg
GIVING traditional Chinese cuisine a contemporary touch by introducing non-traditional ingredients, jazzing up the food presentation and serving dishes in individual portions is the preferred option for new restaurants these days, and so is dressing up interiors to effect a more generic modern look.
Mr Kwok, whose first experience in the F&B business was as a shareholder in Chef Chan's Restaurant when it was at Odeon Towers (it has since moved to the National Museum), recruited key kitchen team members from the more well-known restaurant chains and hotels around town and developed the menus together with his chefs.
