Cuisine:

• Chinese
• Contemporary

Xi Yan Description:
On the second floor of a shop house at the central remove of the Tanjong Pagar business district is the modern Chinese private dining of Xi Yan, which means "happy and joyous banquet" in Chinese. An outpost of the original private dining restaurant in Hong Kong of the same name, Xi Yan is a cozy eatery splashed in bright red tones with only six tables; entry is strictly by reservation only. Only weekly changing prix-fixe menus are served: six courses at lunch and 12 courses at dinner. The Chinese fare is not haute cuisine; rather, it is home-style with a modern touch. Standout signature dishes include the Japanese-inspired greenhouse tomatoes doused in a mild, sweet and tart homemade wasabi sesame sauce; tantalizing dongpo pork (a trademark Hangzhou pork belly dish with half lean meat and half fat) braised with mushrooms and layered artistically into a pyramid on a bed of preserved mustard green; and the piquant, spicy Szechuan saliva chicken with chili, Szechuan peppercorn, ginger, garlic and shallots. Xi Yan has a limited collection of 30 labels of wines, a good mix of old-world (French and Italian) and new-world (Australia, New Zealand and Chile). Desserts are feel-good finishers with a nice balance of tradition, assertive flavors and textures; watch out for the one-of-a-kind Xi Yan tang yuan made with salt egg yolk, candied winter melon, peanuts and sesame.


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