Lunch at new restaurant Paradise Teochew Scotts Square (opened June 2016)

The Paradise Group Holdings’ latest new outlet is Paradise Teochew Scotts Square. It takes over the space on the 3rd floor previously occupied by a Crystal Jade restaurant. This is Paradise Teochew’s second outlet, the first had opened not so long ago at the Chinese Swimming Club. We stopped by for lunch at Scotts Square to check out this new Teochew restaurant off Orchard Road.

Paradise Teochew Scotts Square is tastefully appointed. We like the spacious feeling created by the high ceiling, soothing colour scheme and non-ostentatious decor. Being there during its first week of operations meant that everything was sparkling new and the service was also at a high level. The ratio of staff to diners was very high. We hope this level of service stays high beyond the initial opening enthusiasm.

Here are pictures of the Paradise Teochew Scotts Square dim sum menu and some parts of the a la carte menu. We selected an assortment of Teochew dishes from both menus.

The sliced pomfret porridge ($8) was the first to arrive. It was a large bowl of porridge, best to be shared by two or more people. The pomfret fish slices were generous and fresh. But we thought that the taste of the ‘soup’ of the porridge was too overpowering. We like our Teochew porridge to be simple and pure tasting. This one might appeal to those who like strong flavours.

This is the dim sum item that we ordered – steamed Teochew dumplings ($4.80). These dumplings contained a good mix of crunchy vegetables and peanuts. They were very oily, but the overall taste was good.

At Paradise Teochew, they pride themselves with using fat Irish ducks. We believe these are the same nationality of ducks used in the popular duck restaurant downstairs in Scotts Square – London Fat Duck. The sliced braised duck ($22) was indeed more fatty than the typical Teochew braised duck. It is a matter of personal preference, but we prefer the usual, not so fatty type of duck. Fat ducks might be more suitable for roasting as some of the fat gets melted away. Here, the proportion of fat to meat was too high for us. We also thought that the gravy was too light.

One interesting item on the menu was braised egg. Braised duck and egg in the dark gravy sauce are some of the best things to eat with Teochew porridge, so we ordered one egg ($2) to try. The egg was fine, but the taste of the gravy was only skin deep and had not permeated deep into the egg.

Finally, our last dish – the orh luak – oyster omelette ($16). This was done Teochew style with some starchy flour with eggs and oysters. The taste of the omelette was good and the oysters were small and sweet but the egg was very dense. A lighter, fluffier omelette would have been better.

Overall, it is good to have another Teochew restaurant in the Orchard Road area. The Paradise Teochew Scotts Square lunch was a pleasant experience overall. The usual Chinese restaurant overheads were charged – appetizer ($2.80), towel ($0.30 per person) and Chinese tea ($2.80 per person) plus service charge and GST.