Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant, Ngee Ann City

Imperial Treasure remains one of my fail-safe choices for good ol' Cantonese food. They consistently serve up authentic and quality Cantonese fare at reasonable prices paired with amazingly friendly and efficient service standards. I guess it's because the Imperial Treasure people did break away from the much-lauded Crystal Jade Group, and adopted all of the good business sense imbued in them when they were part of the latter. You're always guaranteed a good and satisfying meal when you dine at Imperial Treasure. It's like going to your Cantonese grandmother's (the kind that wear South Sea pearls and Chanel suits) elegant home for a very refined but homely meal. 

We had dinner with Ernie at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei at Takashimaya, the classic Cantonese fine-dining arm of the ever-expanding Imperial Treasure Group. The place was lively and boisterous, the way a busy Cantonese restaurant always is, so yakking away at the top of your voice is part and parcel of, and never frowned upon as the dining experience here. 

The Hubs ordered the Claypot Chicken with Yam ($14), which tasted awfully like burbur cha cha, the creamy gravy was a mix of sweet coconut milk and mashed yam. We just didn't take to this at all as a matter of preference, mostly because we also don't like burbur cha cha. 


The Fried String Bean ($12) with minced pork and chili was very well-fried, with the requisite "wok hei" that imparted a little smoky fragrance to the dish. The string beans managed the fine balance between the soft and crunchy textures.


We had Ernie's favourite dish, the Golden Prawn Ball ($20), simply prawns coated in a thin salted egg yolk batter and fried, then re-coated with grainy textured salted egg yolk. This is great if you're, like me, not a fan of prawns with their shells on (seriously, how do people eat prawns, shells and all?!).


We also had the Braised Beancurd with Mushroom and Vegetable ($10), smooth flash-fried cubes of soft beancurd paired with matured kai lan and juicy Chinese black mushrooms in a lusciously thick gravy.


I always advocate the Steamed Egg White with Mushroom ($12) as a must-try at any Imperial Treasure restaurant as long as it's on the menu. It's totally worth the customary 45-minute wait (don't worry, the wait staff always pre-warn you about the long wait in case you didn't know). The wobbly custard-like steamed egg white is flavoured with a gooey oyster sauce gravy and plenty of mushrooms, shimeiji, shitake and white button ones.


I had the 1-person portion of the Sweet Corn Thick Soup with Crabmeat ($7), a thick, starchy but delicate broth sweetened by corn kernels and freshly shredded crabmeat.




Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant
391 Orchard Road
#05-12
Ngee Ann City (Takashimaya Shopping Centre)
Tel: 6738 1238
Open daily from 10am to 10pm

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