Wedding Review - Shangrila Singapore

This is a post contributed by Edmond. Thanks dude! Do send me more if you realised i've not posted on any places thats near to you. Anyway, if you have followed on my wedding reviews, I've last mentioned that My favorite was Shangri La and by looking at the pictures that Edmond sent me, I was drooling already. I recalled that there was bird's nest a couple of years back when i was invited my friend to her dinner. Perhaps over the years they have changed their vegetarian menu as well and may not be the best to date.
Anyway, Here's presenting to you Edmond's post on a wedding dinner he attending at Shangri-la Hotel.

Veg Ham and Mango Salad

Sound nice but there was only mango cubes and the salad was out of sight. The brown slices are veg sausage which may pass off as bacon pieces which I find too dry.

Double Boiled Flower Mushrooms and Cabbage

Very tasty soup with cabbage, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and wolfberries thats brewed for long hours.

Sweet and Sour Fish with Pine Seeds

The fish doesnt taste like our usual mock fish as this is softer and tastes good with the pinenuts.

Sauteed Veg Prawn with Asparagus in Spicy Sauce and deep fried bun

Oily is the only word I could think of when it comes to this dish. First the Bun was Deep Fried, then the oil got seeped through to the cracker below which is also oily.

Aparagus with Cashew Nuts

Lots of cashew nuts in this dish and its a wonderful and crunchy combination.

Veg Abalone and Kai Lan

Kailan is fresh and the abalone doesnt taste like the mock item but rather the abalone mushroom.

Braised Noodles

Not our usual Yee Fu Noodles as this has more gravy. Not too oily and saltish.

Mango Pudding

Last but not least, a yummy dessert that saves the day.

If you are in the midst of turning veg and have been invited to a friend's wedding, do note that most places do provide vegetarian options for you, and all you need to do is to ask if your friend can cater that for you :)

Location: Shangri-La Hotel Singapore

Wedding Review - Crown Hotel @ Airport

Its the time of the year again. Was invited by my good friends to attend their wedding lunch at the airport's hotel. Interesting and cool.

Starter

Fried Spring Roll and mushrooms wrapped in beancurd skin.

Soup

Gwen and I love this soup totally. It was brewed for long hours with many ingredients and tonics. The old cucumber is really soft and tasty.

Vegetables & Lor Han Chai

Both vegetables aint too bad, not oily and healthy.

Location: Changi Airport Terminal 3, Crown Hotel Ballroom

Wedding Review - Grand Plaza Park Hotel @ Cityhall

Here's my last review of my good pal XF's wedding I've attended last year end. My first time at Grand Plaza Park and I totally love the veg. food served!

There was no menu for me.. so I'll just name the dishes accordingly.

Cold Cuts Assortment

As the only vegetarian at the table, I was served indivdually. This comprise of the small spring roll, char Siew, veg straw mushrooms with seabass, and Veg Ham. The sauce for the char siew and mushrooms tasted normal.

Corn Soup

Most places serve the veg. sharks fin, hence this change was something good too.

Asparagus with veg prawns

This dish is quite nicely presented. Comprises of asparagus, mushrooms and veg. prawns. I didn't really like this kind of prawn though.

Mock Fish in special black pepper sauce

This fish is steamed and then served with black pepper sauce. The fish tasted like those we can buy from most vegetarian suppliers.

Beancurd Prawn in Mango Salad Sauce

This prawn is the normal Mee Suan prawn which can be found at most veg suppliers. The sauce is a mix of Salad and Mango, hence there's a sweet and sour taste.

Vegetarian Squid

The squids are stir fried with some chili and served with cashew nuts. Very chewy and it wasn't too spicy.

Yee Fu Noodles

I was too full by the time this dish was served. Tasted normal, but not too saltish, which is good!

All in all, I feel this place has better standard in comparison to my previous reviews.

Location: 10 Coleman Street

Wedding Review - Happy Restaurant (双喜楼) @ Paya Lebar

Just before I embark on my vegetarian festival Trip..I shall do 1 more post which was provided by my preggie sis, clare. My out-of-touch cousin was hosting his wedding dinner the same night as a close friend of mine.. So the rest of my family members went for his wedding dinner while I was at Swiss. Nonetheless, I reminded my sis to do the review.

No Menu on the table at Happy, so I will name them according to my understanding and experience. My parents were quite looking forward to this meal as it brought them some memories since they held their wedding dinner here 33 years ago too. But well, they were not vegetarians back then.

Cold Cuts Combination

It looked like a combination of my 1st and 3rd dish in a plate! Comprises of Mock Char Siew and Duck, Spring Roll and Crispy Goose. Seems like its missing in beehoon too. the crispy goose was better fried though. Everything is deep fried, so its definitely not suitable for the health enthusiast.

Sharks Fin Soup

Comprises of loads of ingredients like abalone mushrooms, enoki mushrooms and some mock meat. Mum said not too bad.

Golden Duck

Brought directly from the veg supplier, nothing can go wrong with the taste.

Brocolli with Mushrooms

Normal tasting, similar to those sold at tze char stall. The chefs (My mum and aunt) were still commenting that if they add abalone on top will be better.... until...

Abalone

The next dish came.. and this was served separately.

Stir Fried Cauliflower

Seems to have the same sauce with brocolli earlier. The colour combi is not bad though.

Fei Cui Roll

Mum used to sell this at $3 per roll at her stall. This is one of the nicest mock meat I've tried so far. Easily found at most veg suppliers, but I think the best is from Xiang Xiang. Costs Ard $35 per big pack of 20 rolls I think. Easy to cook, just pan or deep fry will do. Tastes good with Sweet Sauce or Chili.

Noodles

One of the better dish of the day... loads of veg, carrots and the taste was alright. However, noodles can be a little more dry.

All in all, aint too bad a meal since mostly are brought from the suppliers.

Location: 15 Tanjong Katong Road, Lion City Hotel

Wedding Review - Swissotel @ Merchant Court

As mentioned earlier, this is the month best for marriages, hence I was simply overwhelmed by invitations. This is my 2nd review, which I attended at night on the same day of my 1st review. It must have been a good day as it was the F1 race too.

The Dinner Menu

A nice menu that was set up specially for me at the table. Even the waitress had to tell me where to sit! haha! Anyway, quite a typical setting again. I was quite looking forward to this place as I've been told the vegetarian option was not too bad, but was quite taken in for a surprise.

Deluxe Vegetarian Cold Cuts Combination

If you are into gluten, you will adore this, as it comprises of the normal char siew, mee suan prawn, spring rolls and mock duck. I guess the only thing missing was Bee Hoon, which could have completed a $3 breakfast. Tasted ok of cos, as everything is bought from the supplier direct.. but I personally think shouldn't be served in a top-notched hotel.

Double Boiled Mushroom Soup with Winter Melon

This was the dish that saved my 1st dish. Soup was tastefully brewed and I practically ate up everything (Mushrooms, winter melons, White Fungus, dried logans, goqizi). It wasn't too saltish and has the fully brewed sweetness of the winter melon. Perfect for a hot day. Most importantly, no mock meat!

Crispy Vegetarian Goose

Just as I was very satisfied with the soup, I missed my bee hoon again. This is widely adored by my non-veg friends as they love the crispy-ness of it. However, this wasn't crispy at all, and very oily too. But well, being a veg and this specially arranged, I had to finish the food. I still remember my parents selling this for $2 this size, nice and crispy.

Stir-Fried mixed veg with lotus roots in Yam Basket

Nicely decorated. Something I liked that didn't have any mock meat too. The lotus is very tasty as it was thinly sliced and still very crispy. The Yam basket was a little too hard. And here comes the Bee hoon (deep fried) , used as the decoration below the basket. Aint too bad.

Deep Fried Taro Fish in Sweet & Sour Sauce

As I was overwhelmed by taro-made dishes during the afternoon dinner, this didn't came as a surprise for me. However, the sauce saved the day. Simply made from tomato, cucumber and mango, has a blended taste of sweet and sour. I ate up all the taro slices and all the small little pieces of fresh mangoes. Taro tasted normal, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

Braised seasonal vegetables with black mushrooms

Seems like the veg in season was spinach as I had the same dish that afternoon. Normal tasting, both ingredients are fresh.

Fried Rice

Not too bad, but I was too full by the time this came. Serving was too big and I could only take a few mouthfuls. Not much ingredients, comprises of only the lettuce, and mixed frozen veg (peas, corns, carrots). But done quite nicely and wasn't too saltish.

I did not take the picture of the dessert as it was just the normal canned sea coconut. Most dishes served are suitable for vegans as eggs and other diary content are usually omitted.

All in all, it was a joyous event, with good ambience. And of cos' we understand that food shouldn't really matter. However, I felt that my newly wed pals are paying way too high (for vegetarians portions, its by per head in addition to the table!) for this meal. Of cos it wasnt the ang bao that matters, but the hotel is getting a big cut in this that could have been negotiated. Hence if you are going to have a wedding here (a six star hotel), do negotiate for better dishes. You may ask the real veg to vett thru' the menu first too!

Location: 20 Merchant Road, Singapore 058281

Wedding Review - Qian Xi Lou @ Paya Lebar

I've always wanted to write on wedding dinners that I attend. It is good to find that most of the restaurants/hotels in SG offer vegetarian options for guests. I guess this was some concern for some people as we do not know if they do offer and I've heard of fellow vegetarian friends turning down invitations when they hear its not from a real veg. place. As per my understanding, most chinese places understand the term "Vegetarian" and will usually prepare the food separately. Hence, strict vegetarians need not worry about this. I've created a new Label under "Veg Wedding Dinner" so that you can prep yourself should you be going these places some day.

This year seems to be a mad rush for people as I've got a total of 7 invitations to date! For us Chinese, the best month to get married is the 8th Month of the lunar calendar. This was a wedding lunch I've just attended.

The Lunch Menu~

In a typical setting, lunch or dinner, a full course usually comprises of 8 mains and 1 dessert.

Cold Dish

Cold Dish usually comprises of 5-6 small bites like the above. At Qian Xi Lou, we had mini spring rolls, Taro Samosa, Taro Roll, Ba Kwa, Seaweed Roll and Taro Wu Xiang. Aint too bad if you do not mind eating Taro (aka Yam). However, what I did not really like about it is that most of these dishes are deep fried. It is therefore recommended to drink chinese tea to remove some excess oil.

Shark's Fin

Usually after the 1st dish, we will be served with shark's fin or soups. The veg version of shark's fin comprises of mainly mushrooms and enoki mushrooms. The "shark's Fins" here are actually Tang Hun (glass noodles). Aint too bad as the "soup" is stewed for some time and has a strong mushrom aroma. Some places use the Konnyaku jelly Stripes in replacement.

Cereal Prawns

I love the cereal here, frangrantly pan-fried and added with sugar for the sweet after-taste! However, it would have been better if the prawns are fried in batter.

Fish in Sauce

This was my fav. dish of the day. The Fish is made of tau kee (豆支) and the fried. Lastly Served with Veg. Oyster sauce. I like the texture as it is chewy. Definitely differnt from the real one. Tasted like Bai Ye Tofu.

Monkeyhead Mushroom

I've always like monkeyhead mushrooms as it is a really difficult dish to cook well. So far i think only Lingzhi is done the perfect job. The moneyhead mushroom has to be soaked before marinating and fried, then to cook into sauce. Sadly, the chef was not able to deliver this dish. The mushrooms were way too hard.

Yam Ring

Just as I thought we had enough of Yam (from the first dish), we were served with this Yam Ring. It is deep fried and then served with some mixed veg in the middle. Not too bad as the yam was crispy on the outside, and really soft inside, but I did not fancy the mixed veg in the middle.

Abalone & Mushrooms with Spinach

Was sharing with my mum the chef had an easy way out as most of the dishes uses the same sauce! Spinach was not fresh as I had a hard time chewing it. The mushrooms are of good quality!

Braised Noodles

Normal thin noodles cooked with lots of mushrooms and carrots. A little salty.

The Dessert - Yam Paste (Or Nee)

Again its yam! This dessert is a very common and popular Teochew dish and most people would use this as dessert as it is very difficult to make it well. First you heve got to steam the Yam, mash then fry with "lard" till fragrant. Of cos, the veg version omits lard! it is then served with Ginko Nuts and Coconut Milk. A really sinful and fattening dessert. The texture here was really well done. Very smooth but a little too sweet for me perhaps due to the rich coconut milk.

Noted that I did not include any price, as it has been "included" in the red packet you provide. Most places for such vegetarian set would have cost Between 600 to 800 bucks.

Location: Katong Complex (Paya Lebar), 4th Floor