Food Bytes: "Touch the Heart" for a great price! (Hua Ting, Orchard Cafe)

I find it quite surprising that a business hotel tucked in the rather dodgy end of Orchard Road, would have such good restaurants. Although the address gives it as being along Orchard Road, Orchard Hotel is unfortunately situated a good 15min walk from the MRT station, and behind a rather infamous shopping center. Nevertheless, don't let that stop you from trying out the eating places here.

Orchard Cafe on the ground floor, is quite well known for its buffets. It's quite a cheesy place (don't expect anything romantic for your date), but it boasts a very good selection of seafood (oysters!), western and local buffet menu for sub-$60. In addition, what I absolutely love about the place is its selection of cakes.

When I attended a 2 day conference there some time ago and ate at the cafe for lunch, they had this super embarassing introduction of their new cakes by getting their male staff to do a catwalk in with the cakes, complete with dimmed lights and cheesy music. Of course most of the business crowd ignored the poor emcee's pleas for applause, but when the staff/models went around offering a taste of the cakes to the customers, they were greeted warmly with high praise for the cakes.

Anyway, we were at Orchard Hotel ordering the CNY takeaway menu from the chinese restaurant there, and decided that we might as well sit down and enjoy a dim sum lunch. Let me start by saying that I was very very impressed. Hua Ting is known for its fantastic Cantonese cuisine, but what struck me most was that for a very good 7 course dim sum lunch for 2 pax, not only did we have enough leftovers to take away for one person's dinner, all that was for less than $40! (discounts with UOB credit card)

The restaurant is on the second floor of the hotel, and has many small private functions rooms suitable for business lunches. We spotted no less than a well known permenant secretary having lunch there too.

They served us with a dried beancurd starter, that for the first few seconds after you put it into your mouth, deceives you into thinking it is bak kwa. It was not too tough and made quite an interesting dish to snack on while waiting for your dim sum.

We decided to order the slightly different, non-traditional types of dim sum. We both loved the "Baked roasted pork belly polo bun ($4.20)", which in addition to the melt-in-your-mouth crispy top, also had 2 large pieces of roasted pork insides.

Unfortunately we were very disappointed with the "Pan fried US prime beef bun ($4.20)". I was expecting a large (or at least medium!) slab of beef, but instead there were only very very small little chopped up bits of beef and tendon hiding inside a thick pao.

I liked the fried items slightly more than *Shinta did. The "Deep fried scallop pastry with onion and garlic ($4.50)" was very unusual, with tons of garlic inside, while the "Deep fried bean skin roll with prawn ($4.80)" was very very crispy and filled with big juicy prawns. What impressed me the most was that the little strip of seaweed around the middle was very very fresh.

*Shinta liked the "Pan fried carrot cake with conpoy ($3.90)" which was much less oily than other versions sold elsewhere.

I didn't get to try the "Steamed glutinous rice with abalone ($5.20)" because *Shinta finished one of them without offering me a bite (cross!), and I was way too full to start on the other one.

I had accidentally ordered the "Steamed bun stuffed with lotus paste and salted egg yolk ($3.90)", thinking it was the oozing-custard kind. What came tasted more like a mooncake without the usual bread-like exterior. It was not too sweet and nicely ended off the meal.

Another reason why I'm pleased with the restaurant, is that they give out carpark coupons to their customers. That's probably the least of the reasons why to come back here again, but still the little things impress me!

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Hua Ting, Orchard Cafe
442 Orchard Road, Orchard Hotel Singapore, S(238879)
Tel: 67396666
Hours: 11.30am-2.30pm, 6.30pm-10.30pm
www.millenniumhotels.com.sg/orchardhotelsingapore/index.html
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