Finer Chinese eats

Deep fried battered scallops served in egg drop gravy with vermicelli (like mee Sua). The rather decently-sized & freshness of the scallops certainly impressed us. I also appreciate how Empress was generous with the amount of egg in the egg-drop gravy. Spot the chunks of eggs here! (As opposed to thin strips of eggy presence….)

These were our choices of mains from the Imperial set lunch menu. We had a choice in the doneness of the beef and decided on medium. It was well executed, but nothing ‘wow’. They were well marinated in black pepper sauce which I thought was very much similar to those that you can find at tze char restaurants. I guess when it comes to beef, I prefer them served in the form of steaks or burgers.

The halibut fillet would be my preferred protein here! I like how I could see whitish fish flakes within. The halibut fillet was definitely fresh - nothing fishy, chewy nor processed in terms of taste.

Yet again one of the husband’s favourite. The prawn soup was thiccc, resembling collagen based soups from hotpot restaurants. I preferred this over the double boiled soup in coconut. However, the thicker consistency of the prawn soup also meant that it easily fills up one’s stomach. I wouldn’t be able to clear this off on my own! Seafood lovers would love the huge dumpling that was stuffed generously with seafood/prawn goodness too! Aside from seafood, the soup was also served with chunks of tender. Chicken

Soup lovers would enjoy this Chinese-wedding-banquet-ish double boiled soup served in coconut husk. In it were chunks of tender chicken. My husband clearly enjoyed every sip of the double boiled soup. The coconut flesh were infused with the soup. Having been double boiled, the coconut flesh were easily scrapped off the husk. It was light and creamy! Soup was also artistically served with 2 translucent-ish prawns hanging over the husk. My husband calls them the slippery prawns cos they slip out of the chopsticks’ grip rather easily! Eat with care or you’ll find your expensive glass prawns on the ground…

This is a must-order main! Every strand of beehood had thoroughly soaked up the braise and this was served with a generous serving of te-kah. The small portion is good for 2 pax, with additions of sides, drinks and desserts. Having had our meal at the Jalan Besar outlet prior, we had thought the portion size would be similarly on the small side (tried crispy horfun the other time, barely enough for 2!) but were told that the large size feeds 4pax. Great that this small portion was a perfect size for two!

Not your ordinary charsiew with the typical sweet charsiew sauce, or with the typical pork cut. This is... pork cheek. Instead, Chef Joel's rendition came served with chinese peanuts (roasted), Achar and tangy sourish sauce. We loved the balanced layers of fat-meat. On the fats - they're not grossly cloying not hard-to-swallow but sorta melt-in-the-mouth. The fats basically.. burst in the month and 'melt-in-the-month' very soon after! The corners were well charred and extremely fragrant. It's glazed with a sweet sauce - homemade special I guess. It's not the ordinary red, sweet char siew sauce that one would typically expect definitely!

Abalone on top of tofupuff stuffed with prawn paste 😋

Putien’s signature and must-eat! Doesn’t need a lot of introduction, the food speaks for itself. It’s not the most instagrammable dish cos the essence is truly all deep within the hearty broth

Lychee pork ribs! Ordered the recommendation of the bro who hasn’t been the greatest fan of pork when he was younger. ‘Not exactly the healthiest with pork chunks deep fried, coated with luscious sweet sauce and it being highly addictive too!

Herbally prawn soup served in a bamboo container. I think Possibly steamed in the bamboo container too cos bamboo supposedly helps lock-in the taste. It comes with some goji berries and a lil’ hint of chinese wine 🍷

Fall-off-the-bone tender ribs. Super huge slab of fall-off-the-bone tender meat. Each shred of meat is well soaked with gravy that’s slightly sweet to the taste. It’s slightly steep tho! At $6.50/piece and a minimum of 2 must be ordered

Steamed cod fish in spicy sauce - well marinated and extremely well flavoured. Loving how the cod fish is filled with healthy fats. All the omega 3!