The new Crystal Jade Palace at Takashimaya S.C., re-opened after the renovations

The ‘new’ Crystal Jade Palace at Takashimaya Shopping Centre has re-opened after closing for renovations earlier in 2019. One of the most famous in Singapore, this Chinese restaurant has been at Ngee Ann City since it opened in the 90s. It looks sharper and brighter. We decided to have a simple dim sum lunch there recently.

The new Crystal Jade Palace restaurant at Takashimaya Shopping Centre has undergone major changes. Gone are the dark surfaces and partitions. A lighter colour scheme and a more open dining area makes it feel more spacious. The long chandelier running the length of the ceiling looks familiar and they may have retained the old one. Which is a good thing as it serves as a link with the past. Since the opening of this restaurant on the 4th level of Ngee Ann City, the Crystal Palace restaurant group has expanded by leaps and bounds.

Crystal Jade Palace restaurant menu

Here are pictures of some pages from the Crystal Jade Palace restaurant menu.

A small dish of peanuts and pickles ($4) kept us occupied until the food arrived. The pickles were crisp and tasty. We were glad that they were not of the very sour variety.

We had a selection of the usual dim sum items. They were mostly uneventfully good as we have come to expect at Crystal Jade Palace. The two items that stood out as having exceeded expectations were the baked BBQ pork pastry (char siew soh, $8.80 for 4 pieces) and the pan-fried cheong fun with XO sauce ($8.80). The BBQ pastry had a wonderful buttery yet flaky pastry. We enjoyed the wok hei of the cheong fun and its sauce.

Everyone’s favourite dish of our lunch at the new Crystal Jade Palace was the Deep fried Chive Stem Pancake ($14.80). An appetiser in the main menu, we tried this pancake for the first time. We enjoyed the super crisp skin and the blend of flavours of its contents – vegetables and prawns.

Desserts

The desserts were better looking than the hot food items. We tried two types of desserts that day. The creme brulee with durian ice cream ($13.80, above picture) sounded unusual enough to deserve a try, but we were not impressed by it. Mainly because the durian flavour was not powerful enough.

The better dessert was the chendol with coconut ice-cream served in a young coconut ($12.80, pictures below). It turned out to be a dry version of chendol. The ingredients of chendol without the ice were placed in the coconut with a scoop of ice cream. It was not what we were expecting but we liked it.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 3
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs

Crystal Jade Palace
391 Orchard Road
#04-19 Takashimaya Shopping Center
Singapore 238872

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11:30am-3pm, 6-10:30pm
Sat: 11am-3pm, 6-10:30pm
Sun & PH: 10am-3pm, 6-10:30pm

Nearby MRT Stations: Somerset, Orchard

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog