CNY Feast - Yunnan Garden 云南园酒楼 @ One-North [NTU Alumni Club]

Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year as some prefer to call it as it is essentially not limited to only the Chinese) is coming to an end tomorrow. 

Fifteen days of celebration, many of which were spent on feasting and constant snacking! Let me bring to you one such feast that i had last Friday at Yunnan Garden @ one-North.

It was my first time to this restaurant that had its beginnings in the 1970s as a humble cafeteria in what used to be called Nanyang University (now known as Nanyang Technological University) and since i am clueless on its specialties, i have to rely on my trusted colleagues to make the order.

Yusheng

There is one dish that is a must-order for any feast during Chinese New Year; the prosperity yusheng (发财鱼生)! Its cultural significance is generally restricted to the Chinese community in Southeast Asia although i heard its popularity has spread to other parts of the world.

Most of us would know at least one or two of the auspicious blessings being said as ingredients like pepper, oil, peanuts, sesame seeds, fish etc are added; for example, 年年有余 when fish is added to signify a year full of abundance. As our server was a non-Chinese, her blessings were in English! Kudos to her effort! 

After tossing the ingredients as high as we could (instead of voicing words of wishes and blessings, we spent half of the time talking about work!!!!), we finally sat down and enjoyed the 'fruits' of our excessive arm exercise. The slices of salmon were so chunky!!! Me like!

Prawns in Mayonnaise and Broccoli

Boasting a crunchy exterior smeared in a fruity tasting mayonnaise, these prawns topped the yummy rating with juicy and seafood-sweet meat! Having the nutritious broccoli by the side kind of enticed me to have more to balance out the supposed "poison" of prawns! 

Tofu with Mushrooms

In my opinion, this was honestly a bit too bland for me and the tofu had a bitter aftertaste that didn't quite sit in. 

Yunnan Pork Ribs

Oh my god, this was heavenly!!!! Generally boneless, eating each piece was just such a blissful affair; imagine sinking your teeth into each piece with the juiciness literally bursting in your mouth, filling it up with an aroma of delicious flavour! 

Thinking back, it was almost like a sweeter and meatier version of the sweet and sour pork ribs i had in Melite Chinese Restaurant. Sounds like i have my wish come true! 

Triple-Egg Spinach

As expected, this didn't impress me. I believe i have mentioned somewhere in this blog (good luck in verifying since i have over a thousand posts) that i have tried this dish in many restaurants / tze char stalls and so far, only the one in Paradise Inn was worth a mention. 

Yam Paste

Similar to Western cuisine, a Chinese feast would require dessert to conclude the meal and nothing's better than to have yam paste! 

I liked the texture of the paste and it wasn't cloyingly sweet! The downside to this was that the coconut milk was a tad too overwhelming. At the start, i was under the impression i might be drinking more the milk than eating the paste. 

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Location

11, Slim Barracks Rise, 

#03-01, NTU Alumni Club

(Off. North Buona Vista Road, via one-North Gateway)
NOW MOVED to 1, Fusionopolis Place, 
#02-02, Galaxis Singapore 138522

Reservation

Call 6665 8888

Website

http://www.yunnangarden.com.sg/

Price

Yusheng (S) - S$58.00

Prawns in Mayo and Broccoli (S) - S$26.00 

Tofu with Mushrooms (S) - S$15.00

Yunnan Pork Ribs (S) - S$16.00

Triple-Egg Spinach (S) - S$24.00

Yam Paste (L) - S$30.00

[Subject to GST and Service Charge]