Asia Grand Raffles City – Cantonese Restaurant at Fairmont Hotel Singapore

We last visited Asia Grand Raffles City in 2023. That was when it just opened. We were back again recently for lunch. The Chinese restaurant at Fairmont Singapore still looks the same – spacious and well-appointed. But we felt that two things have changed over the past few years.

Pleasant Chinese Restaurant at Fairmont Singapore

Asia Grand Restaurant is an established Cantonese restaurant in Singapore. It was located in the now defunct Hotel Asia (now luxury condominium known as Hamilton Scotts) on Scotts Road. It subsequently moved to Odeon Towers in 2008. We had lunch at its present location in Fairmont Hotel in 2023. You can read about our 2023 Asia Grand Special Set Lunch visit here.

The restaurant looks roughly the same – which is a good thing as it is a beautiful space. Tables are not too tightly squeezed together and large windows provide natural lighting from the large curved side of the restaurant. But this time, the restaurant felt like it had more energy. It was a nice kind of buzz. People talking excitedly to each other and interacting. We felt like we were in a large dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong. The full carpeting on the floor probably helped to control the sound level. Another thing we observed was that the staff were friendlier. They were also more chatty and attentive. Overall, it was a nicer dining experience.

$38++ Peking Duck Asia Grand Anniversary Special

There was an attractive promotional dish at Asia Grand Raffles City. A whole Peking duck for $38++ was a good deal. But there was a catch – it was available with an additional $100++ spend. Since there were only two of us, it was not possible to eat so much. So we had to pass on this one.

Asia Grand Raffles City Menu

A full set of Asia Grand menus are available online. Here are some sample pictures from the loose appetiser and dim sum menus that were handed to us.

Special Menu and Sarawak Wild River Fish Menu

What was eye-catching were these two special menus. The first one had shark’s fin and braised duck with chestnuts ($68++). This is something we don’t see often and so we decided to try it.

The Sarawak wild fish menu looked particular interesting. The empurau fish looked especially enticing. Sometimes referred to as the king of the river, it is said to be the most expensive fish in restaurants and is also rare. No wonder its name translated to Chinese is “忘不了”.

Our Lunch At Asia Grand Raffles City

We usually decline peanuts offered at the start of the meal at Chinese restaurants. But we accepted this one as the peanuts looked plump and soft. Plus we were hungry. The $4 was well spent.

Appetiser and Dim Sum

In view of the braised duck we had to be more judicious in the other food orders. So we limited ourselves to two types of dim sum.

The steamed assorted mushroom dumpling ($8.80, picture above) had deep complex favours and is a dish we would order again. But the baked B.B.Q pork puff covered with pork floss ($8.80) seemed to have too much going on. We prefer a more traditional style of char siu soh.

We saw this unusual dish on the Appetisers menu and decided to try it. The fried bitter gourd with salted egg yolk ($17) was a dish of bitter gourd deep-fried in batter covered with egg yolk. Lots of flavour in this dish. I think this will go perfectly with cold beer. Eaten on its own we would prefer it with a thinner coating of batter.

Braised Duck with Chestnuts

This was clearly the dish of the day. The duck was not very big and so a half-duck was suitable for two or three people. The duck must have been cooked a long time. Soft meat and with deeply infused gravy flavours. We hunted for the chestnuts which were not many, but absolute treasures when found. This dish is a great companion for plain steamed rice or porridge.

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

Fairmont Singapore, South Tower Level 3
252 North Bridge Road #03-22B
Singapore 179103

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 11:30 am – 3:00 pm; 6:00 pm – 10.00 pm
Sat-Sun: Lunch 11:00 AM – 12:45 PM  (1st Seating) & 1:15 PM – 03:00 PM
(2nd Seating) ; 6:00 pm – 10.00 pm

Nearby MRT Stations: City Hall (NS25/EW13); Esplanade (CC3); Bras Basah (CC2)

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