Peony Jade: New premises at Tanjong Pagar serves modern dim sum and Cantonese cooking

NEW RESTAURANT

Peony Jade @ Amara Singapore Level 2, Amara Singapore 165, Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088539 Tel: 8886-8913 Open daily for lunch and dinner: 11 am to 2.30 pm; 6pm to 9.30 pm.

PEONY Jade is like a clarion call to Chinese restaurants. Defiantly decked out in fire engine-red lanterns, matching curtains and rosewood chairs (missing only lucky ‘fu’ symbols plastered on the walls for full effect), it cocks a snook at its design-fluid brethren who disavow tradition for magazine-approved interiors of modern Chinois, liberally embellished with imperial Western chic.

Either that or they think the hotel it’s in is due for a makeover anyway, so why spend money on renovation now.

Unless you’re a die-hard fan with good reason to go to Keppel Club, Peony Jade isn’t always on your radar when the craving for dim sum or other Cantonese fare hits. Not for anything but its location, so now that it’s moved to the more accessible Tanjong Pagar neighbourhood in Amara Singapore, there’s no better time to reacquaint yourself with it.

Located on the same level as Thai stalwart Thanying, Peony Jade may resemble a relic from a bygone era of trolley carts and cabaret singers, but looks aren’t everything. It saves all its creative efforts for its menu, which is colourful in both its interpretation of classic dim sum and the language used to describe its dishes. With cheerfully mangled aphorisms such as “Flock of the Farm”, “Flair of the Poultry” and “Grains of the Chamber”, we’re convinced that whoever they hired must be an aspiring Chinese poet or freelance translator of kung fu stances (Double Swallow Two-toed Flying High Kick and the like).

You’ll be hard put to find run-of-the-mill siew mai or har kau here, as the emphasis is on breaking the mould of what dim sum should be. Even a basic char siew pau (S$7.80) can’t escape as its snowy white exterior is tinged an unfamiliar beige with the use of brown sugar, so it looks almost like the steamed Okinawa brown sugar cakes you find at Isetan’s Japan fairs. But take a bite and it’s a bona fide pau with commendable fluffiness and chunky roast pork filling, although the lingering sweetness is a bit of a mental block.

Fried beancurd rolls (S$9.80) are by the book and well executed, slightly oily parcels of layered crisp skin, packed with smooth prawn mousse filling.

But if you like a bit of drama with your meal, the chefs don’t disappoint. Order the lychee bonsai (S$18.80), which arrives with all the aplomb of a matrimonial ceremony. The only thing that could upstage it would be an actual bride, as all eyes follow it across the restaurant to your table. Dry ice envelopes a mini tree, which invites you to pluck “lychees” from its branches – balls of prawn paste coated in red puffed rice and deep-fried into very realistic lookalikes, right down to the mottled skin. They’re fun little bites too, as these juicy bouncy shrimp balls end with a satisfying crunch.

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The bonsai isn’t the only attention-grabber. Sailing past us, commanding equal reverence, is a large piece of ancient gnarly driftwood, looking like a sacred relic retrieved from The River of a Random Immortal. But this one holds a couple of molten taro lava buns, which we didn’t order.

We pick a recognisable roast meat platter (S$48) instead, which holds a trio of moist char siew in a diabetic’s nightmare of cloying sweet glaze; commendable chunky roast pork; and roast duck that is dry whichever way you bite it. A nice idea is the tangy Thai green chilli dip that cuts through the syrupy char siew.

The chefs seem to have a persistent sweet tooth, as bacon and potato rolls (S$18) taste like a miniaturised breakfast of bacon, hash browns and waffles. Pillows of mashed potato rolled in bacon and pan fried are good enough together, but a heavy drizzle of honey is like a third wheel on a date.

If wasabi mayo prawns is your guilty pleasure, you might get a kick out of the blueberry version here (S$38) – large glassy shrimp are fried and glazed in a thick blueberry mayonnaise and speared on large chunks of watermelon. Surprisingly, the watermelon balances off the sweetness of the blueberry sauce rather well, although this is still a dish for those with a hangover from the wasabi prawn era.

If familiarity is your thing, eggy seafood hor fun (S$28) has respectable wok hei and slippery flat noodles, although it’s lacking in oomph. And for a sweet end (but long wait), the little molten lava cheese tarts (S$11) are hot little treats of crunchy cookie crust and piping hot creamy sweet custard filling. Allocate half an hour for these.

Don’t expect classic sophisticated cooking here, but if you like a bit of edge and experimentation, affable service and genuine effort put into a meal with a difference, Peony Jade does add a twist to the ordinary.

Rating: 6.5