Raffles Hotel

I attended a work-related dinner event at Raffles Hotel, and unfortunately the quality of the Chinese food there was disappointing.

In general, the food was too salty. Their sharks-fin soup (the broth, not the fin) was flavourful but the saltiness was somewhat overpowering, while their broccoli with egg and crabmeat, though delicious, required several drinks of water afterwards.

The starter dish was okay – there was nothing spectacular or particularly appetising about the roast duck, pickles, jellyfish, mayo prawn and rock melon, fried wonton and scrambled egg with crab meat combination. Same goes for the fried rice wrapped in lotus leaves that came near the end of the dinner.

The fish wasn’t good – the meat was tough and slightly chewy, which was a pity as there were two sizable slices of fish that simply weren’t worth eating.

I liked the prawns though. Steamed with wolfberries and herbs (danggui and another one i only know the Hakka name of), they were fresh and succulent, while the taste of herbs was just right.

The dessert – beancurd with sesame sauce – was my favourite dish of all. The ‘beancurd’ had a texture reminiscent of Sun with Moon’s tofu cheesecake, with a slightly firm, mousse-like texture. It went perfectly well with the robust sesame sauce, and both were sweet but not cloying. Come to think of it, i would have gladly had a second serving of dessert!

PS: Separately, the toilets in Raffles Hotel are REALLY difficult to find!