imperial treasure teochew cuisine, ngee ann city

this place remains a favorite (oh, hey look!, photog improvement). we eat at an imperial treasure outlet every couple of weeks or so, returning for the consistently good chinese food and the still-reasonable prices.

this place has the best of both modern and traditional chinese restaurant-ing – chefs that know how to do a serve-up of well-timed (both cooking and dishing), well-seasoned dishes that taste traditional enough to be familiar (nostalgia is that little x-factor in flavor) but are dished up in modern, minimalistic ways by wait staff that can banter like the best of your solicitous (but eccentric) aunts.

I genuinely cannot remember any dishes I didn’t like here (knock on wood!), though are some particularly stellar choices amid the above-average menu.

.

I would do those beef cubes right up top – almost impossibly tender, with a satisfying chew and a silky gravy pumped up with those fried garlic chips (MUST EAT) – and those shell-on prawns, which look boring but have a savory sauce sauteed onto the shell as coating (SHELLS ARE EDIBLE; calcium, ya know).

but just eat – you won’t go wrong here. reservations highly required, especially for a weekend dinner, and request for booth seats if you’ve got four – it’s a cosy alcove.

Imperial Treasure Teochew Cuisine
#04-20A/21 Takashimaya Shopping Centre
391 Orchard Road
Singapore 238872
tel +65 6736 2118
$$$: 50-60 per person