Imperial Treasure La Mian Xiao Long Bao, Singapore 1

On February 24, 2008 Linda and I had lunch in this restaurant on the second floor of the Marina Square Shopping Center, just below the food courts.

We were welcomed and seated at a table right next to the glass wall separating the kitchen from the dining area; the animated activity of the cooks was fascinating. The extensive menu had meager descriptions in English along with photos, but the waitress who took our order was patient and helpful. We ordered two Tiger beers.

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We started with Century egg with cold bean curd. This dish was brought right away as it did not need cooking. The bean curd was silky and lovely. The eggs are cured in modern ways which update the very traditional Chinese preserved eggs. I liked the flavor, which was quite mild, not overpowering the bean curd.

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Steamed chive shoot dumplings.  These were terrific. The waitress had told us there was meat in them to be sure we didn’t think they were a vegetarian dish. But the chive flavor came through. There was also a little bowl of thinly julienned fresh ginger to which one added soy sauce for dipping. 

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Eel with chives and bean sprouts. The lightly stir-fried vegetables were very nice, but the eel was disappointingly bland. It seems that chives here are what we call scallions.

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Steamed pork buns.  These were okay, nice and fresh, but with no pizazz.

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 Souflée egg ball with red bean and banana. The blog which had steered us here was particularly ecstatic about this dessert, and rightly so. The eggwhite batter puffed up nicely and made a silky shell. The red bean and banana filling was delicious.