Blue Lotus beckons

NEW RESTAURANT

Blue Lotus

31 Ocean Way #01-03 Quayside Isle

Tel: 6339 0880

Open for lunch Fri to Mon 11.30am to 3pm

Open for dinner Wed to Mon 6pm to 11pm

(Closed on Tues)

FOR his maiden venture, Ricky Ng could do worse than name his restaurant after a chapter in a French comic series or locate it outside the comfort zone of lazy Singaporean diners.

The reference to Herge's Tintin, the shower of colourful lanterns and the manufactured lifestyle destination that is Sentosa's Quayside Isle give Blue Lotus an air of exotica catered to Occidental palates. That is, until you take a bite of its chilli crab and pomelo, which will not only clear your sinuses but any bias you had at the start.

Underneath its casual noodle bar exterior, there's a serious Chinese restaurant trying to bust out. But not in the Imperial Treasure/Crystal Jade or even Tung Lok (where Ng was COO for years before going solo) way with its structured Cantonese banquet cuisine and "What, no braised whole comb of shark's fin or two-head abalone for you today?" attitude. Rather, it's about applying high-end restaurant standards to folksy, homes…