Shang Palace
The first Shangri-La hotel, the first Shang Palace. Since 1971, both hotel and restaurant has been making history, from our little red dot, to the rest of the world.
Taste the flavors of the good old days with Chef Mok's heritage dishes. Preparation of these heritage dishes is often painstaking, time- consuming and intricate, which explains why they are hard to find these days.
Take the Boneless quail filled with bird’s best in supreme Broth ($98/portion) for example, the tiny bird had all its bones removed, leaving the delicate flesh and skin intact to be filled with 40g of bird's nest. The supreme broth is also cooked for 8 hours using chicken, pork, and Jinhua ham to coax maximum flavour. If you think about all the work and premium ingredients that went into the dish, you'd understand why the dish is value for money.
The Deep-fried crab meat, coriander and pork fritter 金钱蟹盒 ($36/6pcs) may look like a regular fried wanton, but the skin is actually hand-sliced pieces of pork fat (they're sliced so thinly that they're translucent). The skin wraps a mixture of Sri Lankan crab meat, mushrooms, Chinese coriander and bamboo shoots, forming a "coin" which is then deep fried till crispy. I loved how wonderfully juicy each bite was.
Deep-fried pork and crab roll with osmanthus pomelo sauce 桂花柚子酱炸蟹枣 ($32/8pcs) may sound similar to the earlier fritter but it's quite different. Other than crab meat and pork mince, there's also prawn and water chestnut. The distinctive feature is the 5 spice flavor. The deep-fried bean curd skin and the mix of meats provided a heartier bite. Instead of a regular sour plum, the sauce is house-made using Osmanthus flower, Korean pomelo syrup and mandarin syrup instead.
In the Innovative menu, Chef Mok applies his distinctive brand of creativity to transform traditional flavours. From his observations at the Singapore wet markets came the Coddled sliced Soon Hock fillet and young coconut in fish broth ($78). The elegant flavors of Cantonese cuisine is presented in the sliced fish poached in a light and savory broth made with coconut water and flesh, and fish head and bones. The slippery slices of white coconut meat camouflage with the fish, providing a sweet surprise as you bite into it. I dug deeper into the pot and found some chewy crystal noodles that provided a contrasting bite.
Over the years, Chef Mok has made famous a repertoire of signatures dishes, including a number that have brought him acclaim and awards. If you like a meaty char siew, the Signature barbecued pork loin glazed with honey sauce ($68) would be your poison. Only shoulder meat from the Iberico pork is used here! I was quite amazed at the tenderness of the meat as there wasn't any tenderizer used. Something interesting about this dish is that there are no peanuts used in this dish. I'm not sure why that's relevant though, unless people have been using peanut in the making of this dish.
We also sampled some new dimsum bites. New on the menu is the Steamed crystal dumplings with beetroot and water chestnut ($9/3pcs) which provided an earthy sweet crunch. The Steamed morel mushroom with assorted vegetable dumplings ($8/3pcs) provided an unexpected wok-flavor, probably from the quick hot stir-frying of the vegetables.
The meal ended with a 20-year tangerine peel sweetened red bean soup ($12/portion). You'll only taste this bitter-sweetness (甘香) from specially sourced Foshan orange. The more it's aged, the better it tastes. We had a special snack served on the side, which was a sweet potato puff with creamy milk custard.
Know that when you dine at Shang Palace, you're not just tasting impeccable dishes, but also sustainable ones. Chef Mok also makes some 60 sauces from scratch at the restaurant and there is no added MSG in the entire menu.
Shang Palace
Lobby Level, Tower Wing, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore
22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore 258350
Tel: +65 6213 4473 / 4398
Weekdays: 12 - 2.30pm
Weekends and PH: 11am - 3pm
Dinner Daily: 6 - 10pm
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