Memories of Home at Shang Palace in Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore

Remember the bit about Paul telling my sister that if there's one meal that he will miss in Manila then it will definitely be the yummy dimsum dishes from Makati Shangri-la Hotel's Shang Palace? Well, that day, we ate all the dimsum that our tummy could hold knowing that it will be months before we will be able to dine there again...

....or so we thought? 

I guess fate really has its way of letting things fall into place. Not long after, here we are having lunch at Shang Palace. Somehow, being inside Shang Palace reminds us of all the good and delicious memories that we've had back home and it indeed felt so good. 

In true Shang Palace fashion, our meal began with this bowl of complimentary starters. I don't know what it is with Shang Palace but everything that comes out from their kitchen is really the best. Take this appetizer for instance, truth to be told, it's a simple tofu snack that's mixed with some chopped up chili. However, it was really one delicious bowl of tofu and we just kept on helping ourselves with it. Yes, it was THAT good. 

As we were busy chitchatting in between bites of these yummy tofu, we also noticed this cute tea menu that they have placed at the middle of our round table. It's similar to the fortune sticks that's present in most Buddhist temples. Of course, there's no need to shake and pray to the high heavens that you get a good blend of tea. You can simple go through the "sticks" to choose the one that suits your taste. 

However, it was 34 degrees celcius outside that day and all we simply wanted was something cold. We tried the Sugarcane with Water Cress (S$8) drink which did the trick! A few sips was all it took to cool us down and it was indeed very refreshing. A tad too sweet for my taste though but still I've managed to finish my drink as lunch progressed. 

Of course, what's a meal at Shang Palace without having some dimsum, right? We started with an order of Steamed Siew (Sio) Mai ($S5.50). I bit into a piece and notice was it had zero (yes...zero..nada...ziltch) extenders. Instead the siomai was filled with pure ground meat, conpoy and topped with fish roe. This is definitely one siomai my Mom will surely approve of. 

I also got to try the Steam Ha(r) Kow (S$5.50) and this one I loveeeee. I loved it so much that I had more Ha Kaws during breakfast at The Line. I love how the shrimp was so plump and the wrapper wasn't too thick nor too thin. Definitely giving this particular Ha Kaw my two thumbs up! 

After trying our traditional favourites, we then moved on with the ones that are unique to Shang Palace. We had the Crisp-fried Dumpling with Scallops and.... Goose Liver a.k.a. Foie Gras (S$8.50). I initially couldn't believe it when I was told that they actually have a dimsum with foie gras inside. Wow! This is definitely a creation wherein East meets West! 

Here's what I saw when I bit into the crunchy wrapper. Hmmm... I was able to identify and taste the scallops but the foie gras was a teeny weeny bit too tiny for us to appreciate it. Shucks, I was a bit disappointed by this one. I was actually hoping to have a taste of that buttery soft goose liver together with the meaty scallops. 

Moving on, I requested to try the Crisp-Fried Lobster Roll (S$ 8.50). I love how pretty it looked! Props to the Chef's artistic skills. It was fun to eat this too! Do expect to make a mess though and to slightly lose your poise here. I was pleased with the Lobster Roll as each piece is filled to the brim with lobster meat and the best way to enjoy this is to dip it into the mayonnaise sauce. 

After enjoying our dimsum, we had a bowl of Imported Seafood Hot & Sour Soup (S$15). We love Hot & Sour Soup and having tasted dozens of different version, we really got to hand it to Shang Palace for having the best Hot & Sour Soup in the WORLD! We could initially taste the sourness of the soup followed by the spicy kick. I love the thick consistency and the fact that each slurp will make you want to have more. Be it in Manila or Singapore, this Hot & Soup Soup is really high recommended.

Following our soup, we also tried the Crispy Roasted Pork (S$14). In Manila, this is popularly known as Lechon Macau. A common challenge that we normally have with the Lechon Macau back home is that the skin is not as crispy as we'd like for it to be. My dearest MIL would always remind the server to give us the one with the crunchiest skin everytime we'd order this when dining out. This one was just perfect. Look how the skin glistens and there was still a good amount of meat which was slightly salty and tasty! I love dipping my pork with some mustard for the added omph. 

Not only is every dish that comes out of Shang Palace's kitchen door delicious, it's also so pretty and definitely picture-ready. Look at this Steamed Scallop with Radish Knotted with String Beans (S$32). I had to pause for a minute a few seconds to admire the beauty of this gastronomic masterpiece in front of me. I love scallops and I was so happy to enjoy this big juicy piece of ocean's treasure. The sauce covering it had a thick egg white consistency and I could taste a bit of the salted egg too.

To achieve a more balanced meal, we tried the Mixed Vegetables with Truffle Oil (S$28). At this point, you probably must have guessed that the inclusion of Truffle Oil had played a big role in my decision to go for this dish. I've never had any truffle oil-infused Chinese dish before and this one was definitely a first in my books. Well, once again thumbs up for the beautiful presentation and I have to say how excellent this particular dish was didn't stopped there. The truffle oil was so distinct and it definitely gave a very interesting twist to what could have been a regular Chinese stir-fry veggie. We would smell the strong truffle aroma from the moment it was served to our table. Oh...heaven.

For dessert, we had the Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun (S$5). This was highly recommended to us and I've read a number of blogs talking about these yummy egg yolk filled buns here in Singapore. Well, you know that moment in most cartoons when the character falls in love and you'd see hearts floating around his/her head and the eyes would widen and sparkle? That's somehow what happened to Paul the moment he bit into these delicious babies. It was indeed love at first time and believe me, he couldn't stop talking about it since then. Looks like we'll have go back soon for more Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Custard Buns.

Lastly, Shang Palace is currently having an ongoing promotion on Bird's Nest and after much convincing by our server, we went for the Poached Pears with Bird's Nest Jelly Dessert (S$28). I don't know why but I love anything with bird's nest. Could it be because I grew up drinking this as Mommy believes it's packed with all the good minerals and nutrients to help me grow grow GROW! The second reason may be quite silly, bird's nest in Chinese is called 燕窝 and the 燕 means Swallow (as in the bird) which is part of my Chinese name -- 劉慧燕. Somehow, I find joy in eating something closely related to my name. Haha!

Anyway, going back to the dessert, I'm so glad we had this to cap off our meal as it was very refreshing and it felt good that the birds nest promise making your skin more glowing and soft on top of the many other benefits it brings. I got to admit, it's a bit pricey but it's hard to get good and authentic bird's nest thus the premium price that comes with it.

We're thankful that we were able to dine at Shang Palace once more and just like how it has always been back home, our dining experience was nothing but EXCELLENT. Here's one place where we can always go back to whenever we want to relive the delicious moments that we've had in Manila. It's truly a place so new yet so familiar too.

Related entries:
Weekend staycation at Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore
Buffet Breakfast at The Line

Shang Palace is located at the Lobby Level of the Tower Wing in Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore. For reservations, call them at +65-62134473.