To start with, Szechuan Court has never impressed me in any way. I’ve dined there a couple of times out of convenience. Given a choice, I think there are better choices around the vicinity. Recently, I decided to return because of some good word-of-mouth. Unfortunately, despite me making two separate trips to the restaurant, the food still failed to change my perception of this mediocre Szechuan restaurant.

On my most recent trip, I ordered the $78 set dinner menu. Frankly, the menu is very well designed. However, the regrettable part is the food was badly executed. On the whole, you can taste that the food is probably prepared by an inexperienced chef who didn’t manage to bring out the best of his ingredients.

The Trio Treasure Combination Platter is a huge disappointment. I’m not a huge fan of duck meat because bad duck meat is very gamey. Of course, I’ve tasted good duck meat and Szechuan Court’s version is definitely nowhere close to that. Despite dipping lots of the accompanied plum sauce, the strong fowl taste was evident. The crispy white bait fish is equally forgettable. It was so tasteless that I felt like eating a crispy and airy egg batter. The chilled spicy jelly fish was nothing spectacular.

The Double-boiled Cordyceps Flower Fish Maw Soup is just ‘bland’ ordinary. The chicken meat was tough and it felt like it had been cooked for ages. The only consolation is that the soup has a rather big slice of fish maw.

Just when my partner and I were about to give up hope, it came the exceptional Braised White King Prawn in Superior Broth. The prawn is fresh and succulent. The thick superior broth is delicious and full of flavour.

Since I’m allergic to prawns, I had it changed with Sautéed “Gong Bao” Chicken with Dried Chilli and Trio Mushrooms. This is one fiery chicken dish. If you can tolerate spiciness, you will probably enjoy this. The chicken meat is tender and nicely coated with a thin layer of sweet and spicy sauce. My warning is that be careful not to bite the small peppers. They are so spicy hot that they will probably burn your tongue.

Sadly, that was the highlight of the entire dinner. After that, it was down hill all the way.

The Steamed Cod Fish with Cotton Beancurd in Soy Sauce topped with Soy Bean Crumbs was totally ruined with an old cod fish. The meat was tough and not entirely fresh. Personally, this dish is so simple to prepare that it’s impossible to get it wrong. The key ingredient is to have a fresh piece of fish.

The Grilled Australian Sliced Pork with Thai Sweet Sauce is probably one of the worst dishes in this set dinner menu. The meat was leathery and has a very strong pork odour. The Thai sweet sauce couldn’t even mask the taste.

The Fried Noodles with Shredded Chicken and Bean Sprout is another let down. The noodle was bland and had too much oil in it. Just that morning before I went to Szechuan Court, I had a similar dish. Between the two, Szechuan Court’s noodles pales in comparison.

And when it came to the dessert, the Lemongrass Ice Jelly with Peaches did not taste any better from a canned peach dessert.

Frankly, I have no idea how Szechuan Court managed to stay afloat after all these years. My only conclusion is that it is the only hotel Chinese restaurant for Swissotel The Stamford and Fairmont Singapore. And it gives heavy discount to FAR Card members.

Szechuan Court
Fairmont Singapore
Level 3, 80 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189560
Tel: 6339 7777
www.fairmont.com/singapore