Taste Paradise

Do you often go beyond ground level for ion orchard? As far as I know, not many do that. Taste paradise is on the fourth floor of ion orchard, and many people(like me) will actually think that unless they have quite a fair bit of extra moolah, they will not really go up.

Taste paradise offers Chinese cuisines including dim sum, this time round I'm here for the dim sum lunch. Dim sum ordering is ala carte, so I asked the manager what are the noteworthy items. To my surprise, he said ordering  dim sum is common sense(What?), and then went ahead and ticked a few items on the menu that are frequently ordered. I decided to show some uncommon sense by choosing a few which he did not ticked. He could have meant that all of them are pretty tasty, but he could have used some better words.






Enough about that, the interior of the restaurant is very very dim, and lucky me was brought to a room with a large glass window overlooking Shaw Lido building and . The dining furnitures are classy Chinese looking (duh) chairs which does not compromise on comfort.

Ordered


Nothing

The appetisers are these sticks of yellow crunchy and gleefully sour veggie/fruit. Upon asking, I found out that it is actually pickled white carrot/radish. This radish whets your appetite up just fine and is quite refreshing. Beware of the chili, it is VERY HOT.

Char Siew Soh  (aka Baked BBQ Honey Pork Pastry)

Oo~la la~

These little triangles, are SUPER delicious. This is arguably one of the best Char Siew Soh I've ate. Fragrant and light pastry that does not leave an oily taste in your mouth, together with juicy char siew and the sauce flowing out from each of them. If you're only going to order one dim sum here, this is it.

Score: 4.5/5.0



Baked BBQ Honey Pork Bun aka Purple Wheat Snowy Mountain Bun

Wow, what a flamboyant name. Asked the manager what exactly is it, and he told me that it is like Char Siew Soh, difference in that this is baked ( so is the Char Siew Soh) making the surface crispy(so is the Char Siew Soh :S)

aka Polo Bun look-alike

-.-" He could have said it's like Polo bun and I would understand. His description is apt, but, I was expecting something different. The innards is the same as the Char Siew Soh. But the top is crunchy with a light hint and taste of milk.

It still pales in comparison to the char siew soh. So people, unless you love mino polo bun, take the Char Siew Soh instead.

Score: 4.0/5.0   

Char Siew Cheong Fun

This is the final chapter of my char siew trilogy. And I'm sorely disappointed. The light and sweet soy sauce is paired with a soggy skin and average char siew(which weirdly tastes super nice in the above 2 items) Further spoiling it, the tiny bits of parsley inside turns the taste of the whole thing topsy turvy.

Score: 3.0/5.0

Cheong Fan with prawns

Same disappointing skin, I am expecting a firmer skin but this is just too soggy for my liking.

The prawn variant fares slightly better than the other with full prawns inside that is fresh. Seems like Chee Cheong Fan is not Taste Paradise's forte.

Score: 3.25/5.0

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken Wrapped in Lotus Leaf

This is a dish you can rarely screw up and screw up they did not. Soft glutinous rice with juicy bits of chicken chunks, prawn bits and mushrooms.

You can still see the sauce separated from the rice and sticking on the chicken, and there is no overpowering mushroom smell from this but a nice fusion of the ingredients. Each order comes with 2 wrapped servings, so order 1 or more basket/tray if it's a shared session to prevent any fallout between family and friends.

Score: 4.25/5.0

Siew Mai

One of the poster boy of Dim Sum, this siew mai is a tightly bundled ball of pork, shrimps and mushrooms. This is one of the best siew mai that I ate. Sprinkled on top of the siew mais are crunchy crunchy fish roe. Absolutely delightful.

Score : 4.5/5.0

Custard Bun

Soft little steamed buns with sweet and salty custard filling makes for a wonderful treat. 

Cute ain't it?

The custard oozes out of the bun after I tear it, and it does "swealty" just right, deliciously sweet with a light hint of saltiness.
The custard buns here will definitely be acceptable for those who can't handle sweet stuff. The texture is akin to that of a salted egg yolk. The custard bun is another must have if you do come here. I'm thinking of having them again as I'm typing this.

Score : 4.5/5.0

Overall

One weird thing is that you cannot choose to have some of your items later (eg: custard bun) when I asked for it. So if you choose 10 items, they'll try and overcrowd your table with all 10. This is something I cannot fathom, and I believe it's got nothing to do with common sense. Aside from some misses, the hits hit hard. For 2 pax, it comes up to $20-25 each. Of course this number goes up for those who got a hearty appetite. Highly recommended.