These days, set menu has become a permanent fixture in most Chinese restaurant menus. It is definitely an economical way to sample a wider selection of dishes without stuffing yourself silly. And with Chinese New Year just round the corner, most restaurants are introducing festive sets to entice their customers. Last Saturday, I was at the Tunglok Teahouse at Amoy Street (Far East Square) to try its current Chinese New Year set menu.

The 6-course set menu costs $78++ person.  It consists of Baked Lobster Fillet with Golden Sauce served on Lettuce; Braised Shark’s Fin with Organic Pumpkin; Braised Bisque with Fish Maw; Jian Nan ‘Wu Xi’ Pork Ribs; Homemade Japanese Noodles with Fish Fillet Soup, and Chilled Snow Lotus Pudding with Ice-Cream served in Young Coconut.

The Baked Lobster Fillet with Golden Sauce is something that seafood lovers will definitely enjoy.  The lobster meat is chunky and fresh. Since it’s baked, the golden brown exterior is lighter and less oily as compared to those deep-fried version.  The lobster meat is best eaten with the lettuce. The crunchy fresh vegetable compliments the crispy lobster meat perfectly. My partner, who is seafood lover, kept singing praises of this lobster dish.

And since I’m allergic to crustaceans, the manager offered to swop the lobster with Baked Barbequed Silver Cod. The silky white fish is fresh and smooth, and the serving portion is rather generous. I love the accompanied sauce which has a slight hint of horse radish in it.

The Braised Shark’s Fin with Organic Pumpkin is simply gorgeous. The chef allows the pumpkin to be the star even though the shark’s fin is the more expensive ingredient. The organic pumpkin soup is naturally sweet and hence, not much seasoning is required.  Every spoon is a nice balance of the creamy soup, rich pumpkin meat and delectable shark’s fin.

Not to be outdone by the soup, the Braised Bisque with Fish Maw is outrageously good! The fish maw is thick, chewy and soft. But it’s the flavourful reduction sauce, which is made from dry abalone broth, that brings out the best in the fish maw.

Next is the Jiang Nan ‘Wu Xi’ Pork Ribs.  The lean pork meat is juicy and tender. You know that the meat is very well executed when the meat just comes off the bone easily. I particularly enjoy the slightly charred part of the pork ribs even though the health conscious individuals would probably avoid that at all costs. The accompanied blanched Xiao Bai Cai is crunchy and definitely helps to increase my daily fibre intake requirement.

But my favourite has to be the Homemade Japanese Noodles with Fish Fillet Soup. I’m not a fan of fish but this is simply heavenly. The whitish fish soup base is actually made from boiling fish bones over a long period. The end result is a rich tasty fish soup base. The homemade noodle is springy and the fish meat is fried slightly to give it a thin crisp.

I must say that the Chilled Snow Lotus Pudding with Ice-Cream served in Young Coconut is one of my all-time favourite desserts. The coconut ice-cream adds a very nice creamy texture to jelly-firm lotus pudding.  It is so good that I polished off all the tender young coconut fresh off the inner shell.

It’s hard to find fault and not to fall in love with Tunglok Teahouse. This is one of the more consistent set menus that I’ve ever tried where all the dishes are equally impressive. The fact that it’s located at Far East Square makes this restaurant a keeper for future business lunches.

TungLok Teahouse
7-13 Amoy Street, 01-01 Far East Square,
Singapore 049949
Tel: 6877 1123
www.tunglokteahouse.com