dinner at cheng li yuan, tanjong pagar - 5 june 2006

when we were having dinner at empire cafe at raffles hotel towards the end of may, victor decided that he would reciprocate the treat by taking us to a chinese restaurant at tanjong pagar. at first, i thought it was a restaurant specialising in fish head curry. no, it turned out to be a family restaurant that serves northern chinese cuisine.

although there had been a write up about the place in the straits times, there was no crowd on that monday night. apart from us, i counted 3 other tables occupied.

we had mao's favourite meat dish, broccoli with egg white and fish, some soup, siao long pau and a pancake dish. the food, a bit on the oily and salty side, was good. the prices were also reasonable and the lady who served us was attentive.

victor could not locate the place at first until he saw the japanese masks on one of the buildings. he uses it as a landmark to locate the restaurant, which is just opposite this particular building. we were surprised to find the adjoining street - duxton hill - all lined with pubs and we were even more surprised to see the many nubile thai or indonesian girls, skimpily dressed, hanging outside these pubs. victor commented that the place was not so exciting and enticing in the day.