Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant at Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel

Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant in the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel is one of the old-established names in the business. We read from their website about the appointment of Brian Wong Shiuh Yean as its new Executive Chinese Chef. Apparently, Brian has more than 15 years of culinary expertise from his tenure at notable restaurants in Singapore, Malaysia and Italy. Dim sum continues to be under the care of Dim Sum Chef Loh Kah Poh. Our curiosity aroused, we decided to have lunch at Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant, which we have not visited in a while.

The decor of Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant is classy and sombre. Wood panelled walls and an uncluttered design lend an air of calm elegance to the space. The cuisine of Wan Hao is traditional Cantonese so the items in the menu are predictable. Here are some pages from the Wan Hao menu.

Lunch for two persons in a Chinese restaurant presents some challenges in that there is a limited number of items to try, with no room for error. So we decided on some familiar items – half a Peking Duck and two types of dim sum.

The first dim sum was baked BBQ pork buns – ‘por lor pau’ ($3.50 for two pieces). They were very good. The upper crust was baked to golden perfection. The pork filling was rich and flavourful. One of the best in Singapore.

Our other dim sum dish was steamed scallop dumplings ($4 for two). They were very delicately made. The skin was thin and translucent. The whole thing tasted harmonious. Good quality dim sum is quite common these days, such that it is hard to shine above the tough competition, but the Wan Hao dim sum that we tried that day was a notch better than what we have tried in recent times.

We were able to order Peking Duck as Wan Hao serves the duck in halves. A considerate gesture for small dining groups. The half duck costs $48. The price includes a second dish prepared from the leftover duck after the skin was served with the pancakes.

The half duck was presented to us. Our first impression was that it was quite a lean duck. Our observation was correct and there was not much fat in the duck (which is a positive thing for us). The slicing of the duck and the making of the crepes with the skins and vegetables was skilfully done. The tastes of both the duck and the combined duck and pancake was good. And very filling as well. We were already full by the time this plate was empty.

Fried ee fu noodles with the duck meat was the second preparation that we opted for. It was a large plate of noodles which we could not finish. We just took a tasting portion and doggie-bagged the balance. The noodles were very good, especially when eaten with chilli padi. The total cost of a Peking duck and dim sum lunch including tea and taxes etc (plus the takeaway noodles) in this luxurious Wan Hao Chinese restaurant was $77 which we thought was quite reasonable.