okie lets move on to the food! armed with a budget of $500 for 6 people, we ordered the $68++ per pax meal through email beforehand and still had no idea what to expect. kinda excited as to what we will be served! we only knew that it wld be a 7 course meal.

First up, the appetizer. Greenhouse Tomatos in wasabi sesame sauce

these tomatos are no ordinary tomatoes. these are Momotaro tomatoes! im told that Xi Yan gets their tomatoes directly from a farm in Japan and these are absolutely delicious! im not a big fan of tomotoes and will never eat more than 1 or 2 pieces at a time. however, these babies are so sweet! a check at Cold Storage showed that two of these tomatoes cost around $4.50! well, big price to pay for these delicious tomatoes. haha anyway yes i bought 2 at cold storage last week! so back to this dish, i couldnt really taste the wasabi in the sauce but the sesame sauce goes so well with the sweetness of the tomato. i was really full of praises for this dish. it proved to be my most memorable dish of the day! 

next, Ginseng Chicken Soup

ok this dish had no chicken in it. just soup. hmm i wasnt too impressed or blown away by this dish because im not a huge fan of ginseng. but my sister, who's a huge fan of ginseng related products, gave her thumbs up for this dish. all i can say is that i could taste the ginseng and the chicken. 

Deep Fried Shishamo with XO sauce ( served separately )

shishamo is something common in japanese food and it is readily available at most supermarkets. you can get them frozen in a pack, ready to be fried. but what's different bout the ones here are that the fish is much more fat and juicy. it was not dry and flat like some i've tried at those japanese buffet. these ones were a joy to bite into and the XO sauce paired really well with it. i would say the XO sauce was the main star in this dish. the shishamo, albeit nice, did not rlly shine. afterall, its still deep fried shishamo.

Stir fried Spicy Beancurd Prawns

this dish was delish! the sauce in which they coat the prawns in, were made using spicy fermented beancurd which is also known as 'dou fu ru'. it is commonly available in Singapore and normally eaten with porridge as it is very salty. the idea of cooking the prawns with the beancurd really piqued my interest! i will try out the recipe one day! even the ginger tasted good in the sauce! ( fyi, i hate ginger) only thing bout this dish is that its a teeny bit too salty by itself. prolly goes well with rice! 

Pagoda Dongpo Pork with Preserved Vegetables

another dish that i really liked! i loved the presentation as well as taste of this dish. they used the thinly sliced Dongpo pork to form into a pagoda and stuffed the preserved veg inside. the pork was sliced so thinly that you didnt really have to bite it at all. plus the sauce alone made me ate a half bowl of rice. Dongpo pork is a famous Hangzhou dish and its named after famed poet, Su Dongpo. legend has it that he cooked this dish after being banished to a life of poverty in Huang gang, Hubei. u have to try this dish! the unveiling of the pork was fun to watch too! 

Steamed fish with pickled chilli and black bean paste sauce with rice noodles

the steamed fish they used was cod and i love cod! who doesnt? its expensive haha. anyway, this dish had a very mellow taste. not too overpowering although it had black bean paste sauce and chilli. personally, i felt that the rice noodle had no taste prolly because the cooked the fish and noodle separately and then put it together. the sauce only coats the surface of the noodle but not cooked into the noodle. my grandma had to ask for some XO sauce from previous shishamo dish to eat with the rice noodle. the noodle was more like hor fun than noodle and i admit, it was much better after the XO sauce came. overall, the noodles were not impressive.

Chef's milk ice cream with butter shortbread

honestly, i was expecting much more than this. i was taken aback when the desert came. after all, we were so impressed with the food so far. however, this ice cream tasted so rich and creamy after the first bite! it was not too sweet and definitely not commercially made. i had an extra serving thanks to my grandma who didnt fancy ice cream. but i must say that ice cream somehow was not a good end to the dinner. prolly some kind of double boiled chinese sweet dessert甜汤 like white fungus soup or glutinous rice balls would be more appropriate. also, the butter shortbread felt and tasted like store bought wafer. 

all in all, i enjoyed the dinner very much and would love to go back there. the food tasted above average and service was exceptional. they dished up portion by portion for all of us and we did not even have to move a finger. haha ! also, the server patiently waited for my dad, my sis and i to take photos plus adjusted the lightings for us to do that. and the best thing was that they printed a copy of the night's menu for all of us so that we can rmbr what we ate? haha 

Xi Yan 喜宴

Location: 38A, Craig Road  Singapore 089676  

Xi Yan Singapore is tucked away in a quiet spot in convenient down-town Tanjong Pagar area (Craig Road). It’s located on the 2nd floor of a lovely conserved three story building away from the crowd. Ample parking is available diagonally across Xi Yan at the Craig Place multi-storey car park and the surrounding Duxton area.  

Cost: Lunch menu ranging from $68++ per pax to $28++ per pax

Dinner menu ranging from $128++ per pax to $58++ per pax

Tel no.: 6220 3546

Website: http://www.xiyan.com.sg

Ratings: hits and misses, 3.5 stars