Asia Grand Restaurant is a quite a long established brand in Singapore, previously it was located at the former Asia Grand Hotel. Since the demolition of the hotel, it has relocated to Odeon Tower. I have a friend who is a fan of their Dim Sum, though I have never tried them. This remind me to try them out one day. Meanwhile, this post is devoted to the Dinner I had with a group of ex-colleagues.
It is interesting that throughout the meal, the diners felt that the food served at Asia Grand Restaurant is closer to Teochew cuisine despite them being a Cantonese Restaurant. One other point to note, Asia Grand Restaurant is one of the few restaurants that offer a table big enough for 15 pax. The others are First Culinary, Red House at Quayside and Dragon Phoenix.
On the table, before our dinner began were plate of appetizer of fish cake and peppers. Most of us find it strange that this appetizer was served instead of the usual peanuts or pickled.
We ordered a Special Set Menu for 10 person at $598 ++. As we have 15 pax, we added for 5 pax. In this set menu for dinner, 8 dishes were served.
To get the dinner rolling, we started with the Steamed Fresh Prawn, 白灼生虾 as the first dish for this special menu. Anything that is fresh when steamed, the natural flavour and its sweetness were emitted. And this was the case for our Steamed Fresh Prawn.
As we have diner who doesn’t take shark fins, as such the Braised Minced Chicken Thick Soup with Egg White, 西湖鸡茸羮 was a good choice as soup. The texture and taste resemble the usual shark fin soup. But personally, I am never a fan of soup, and not even to mention the thick gluey kind. Anyhow, I still went ahead to try and I could savour the chicken aroma in the soup and there was a good amount of minced chicken in it.
Who doesn’t welcome the Roasted Whole Boneless Suckling Pig, 南乳去骨猪? With a layer of fats in between the crispy skin and tender succulent meat with sufficient marinate, most couldn’t resist the charm. This truly is an indulgent.
It was shortly followed by the Braised Sliced Sea Whelk with Vegetables & Abalone Sauce, 鲍汁碧绿海螺片. Nothing worth mentioning about this dish except that the seasoning added to this dish was at a perfect ratio.
The fifth dish of the night is the Fried Crispy Duck, 脆皮香酥鸭. True to its name, it is indeed crispy and salty. Other than that, no other characteristics. I heard many, even one of the diner in our group was raving about its Peking Duck. Maybe it is better than the fried one.
Moving on was the Steamed Fresh Pa-Ting Fish with Olives, Garlic and Chilli, 榄角蒜茸辣椒蒸八丁鱼. I thought usually the Teochew would use olives in dishes. I suppose this was the dish that cause confusion and most thought Asia Grand was a Teochew Restaurant. Another usual was the fish for the dish, it uses Patin Fish, a Malaysian fresh water fish. I am not a fan of fresh water fish as it usually has soil taste in the flesh. At least, this unpleasantness wasn’t in the fish.
The last dish before dessert was the Crispy Rice In Seafood Soup, 金银海鲜泡饭. Many diners always associate rice in soup as a Teochew dish. Some how I am puzzled with this phenomenon as we Teochew (I am one.) don’t eat that way. And my Dad always complains about this highly debatable dish as Teochew dish too. Anyway … I suppose this is another element that contribute to the thought Grand Asia Restaurant as a Teochew Restaurant.
Both white rice and fried crispy rice were both added to the bowl of seafood soup. Hence it provided both texture to the the dish and together with aromatic seafood soup, most would not refuse this comfort food.
The meal was ended with the Red Bean Pan Cake, 豆沙窝饼 as dessert.
NAHMJ Verdict
Quantity was sufficient for all 15 person at the table and quality was beyond satisfactory. Food was considerably delish at a reasonable price. The ambience was the typical Chinese restaurant that gets noisy. As such, NAHMJ would recommend Asia Grand Restaurant for dinner to all.
Asia Grand Restaurant
331 North Bridge Road, #01-02 Odeon Towers, Singapore 188720
Tel: +65 6887 0010
Opening Hours
Monday – Saturday 1130 to 1430, 1830 to 2230; Sunday 1000 to 1430, 1800 to 2230
Getting There
By MRT:
- Circle line – Bras Basah station
- Downtown line or East West line – Bugis station
By Bus:
- alight at Hotel Grand Pacific along Victoria Street 2, 7, 12, 33, 51, 61, 63, 80, 175
- alight at St Joseph’s Church along Victoria Street 130, 133, 145, 197, 851, 960
- alight at Bras Basah Complex along Victoria Street 2, 12, 33, 130, 133, 960
- alight at NTUC Income Centre along Bras Basah Road 14, 14e, 16, 36, 77, 106, 111, 128, 131, 162, 162M, 167, 171, 502, 502A, 518, 518A, 700, 700A, 857
- alight at Cosmic Insurance Building along North Bridge Road 7, 32, 51, 61, 63, 80, 145, 175, 197, 851
Rating: 7.5/10