Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao unveils new menu perfect for family dining

Crystal Jade specialises in Northern Chinese cuisine, and their xiao long baos and noodles have always been their hallmark dishes. But these dishes aren’t the only reason they’ve been awarded one Michelin star over three consecutive years for (2016, 2017, 2018).

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao has just unveiled an updated menu that boasts of its perennial affair with the xiao long bao and la mian, as well as a number of new meat and seafood specialties! They were created and perfected by Group Executive Chef, Martin Foo.

We paid a visit to the newly renovated Jurong Point branch. It’s decorated with earthy, muted colours along with beautiful Chinese abstract art. The restaurant area is entirely carpeted and the sofas are plush and comfortable.

The first specialty dish we tried was the Braised Eggplant in Special Sauce 宫廷酱茄子 ($8.30). The chopped eggplant is first steamed, chilled then nestled on a rich appetising sauce made with Szechuan pepper powder, soybean paste, and oyster sauce. The eggplant was soft, tender and went well with the sauce. It was all the better chilled… the ones who are only able to take mild spiciness can bask in the coolness of the dish for relief. The Szechuan sauce was quite the winner here!

Next up was the Wuxi Deep-Fried Whitebait 无锡小鱼儿 ($8.80). These are crisp little whitebaits coated in a sweet tangy sauce. They make great appetising snacks. The citrusy flavour can only whet your appetite for more dishes to come! The whitebaits have got a nice amount of crunchiness, having been fried to golden crisp-perfection. Yum yum!

The third specialty dish served was the Signature Assorted Xiao Long Bao 招牌四色小笼包 ($9.30, 4pcs) featuring four different fillings: Original, Salted egg yolk, Chilli crab andTruffle.

This was one of our favourites – the “Singaporean” rendition of the xiao long baos! All four really tasted great, with bursting flavours worthy of their names. The only problem was that we couldn’t decide who would get the fourth bao (since there’s only three of us)!

The salted egg xiao long bao, pictured right, is a fascinating mix of savoury soup with our favourite salted egg taste that doesn’t disappoint. Also, the ‘Singaporean’ xiao long bao that can thrive on the salted egg trend that’s been going on for some time now.

The chilli crab xiao long bao is a burst of sweet, savoury and pointedly chilli crab flavours, while the truffle xiao long bao is one of the people’s favourites. They also serve it in a set of 4 for $11.80.

We’re halfway through the sampling of the dishes and the next one that comes up surprises us with its simplicity in looks but depth in taste and ingredients! This is the Sautéed Colourful Vegetable Assortment 荷塘秀色 ($15.80) with black fungus, honey beans, cashew nuts, celery, and gingko nuts.

We cleaned out this dish! The lotus root slices were full of crunch, and pairing it with the crisp celery, capsicum, nuts gave us the overall crunchiness that we love our vegetables to have while interspersing it with softer ingredients like mushrooms, black fungi, and Chinese snow peas.

The Fried Mixed Grain Rice in Hot Stone Pot 石锅五谷炒饭 ($14.80) possesses a winning combination of white and brown rice with sweet corn, diced mushrooms, crispy silverfish, assorted vegetables, and peanuts. What did we love about this dish? It was so light and tasty! It’s definitely a lot more healthy than your typical fried rice with less oil, the inclusion of brown rice, and a lot more vegetables.

Next up, we had the Sautéed Prawns in Hot and Sour Sauce ($20.80). The prawns were so juicy, fresh and plump that I popped three into my mouth without really thinking about it! The prawns are first briefly flash-fried in oil and then doused with sweet and sour sauce. I loved how the sauce didn’t overpower the taste of the prawns. It’s a cute seafood rendition of sweet and sour pork!

For desserts, we tried the Pan-fried Red Bean Banana Pancake 豆沙香蕉锅饼 ($6.80). What a pleasant surprise! We already love their red bean flavoured pan-fried pancake, and this just took it a notch higher. Both were sandwiched within a crisply, thin pancake. The banana was so fragrant (and non-mushy), and it went perfectly with the red bean paste. What a lovely end to the dinner!

Try out Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao’s new dishes and be surprised! We’re really keen to try the rest of their newly unveiled dishes soon.

 

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

Jurong Point 2 #03-96, Singapore 648343

Tel : +65 6790 2212

 

Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 10.00pm

Sat, Sun & PH: 10.30am – 10.00pm

Website: https://www.crystaljade.com/lamianxiaolongbao/

 

 

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Images and write up by @chowbaccas

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