Zi Char - Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine)

Zi Char - Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine)
1 Kim Seng Promenade
#02-06 Great World City

75 Airport Boulevard
#01-02 Changi Airport Terminal 3 Crowne Plaza

http://www.imperialtreasure.com/


Good Dim Sum

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 9
Service: 8
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $30 per person.


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Finally had the first ever lunch with the training department, on 13 February 2014, 12:20pm. And also my first taste of yu sheng for Chinese New Year of 2014.

Went to Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine), which is known for its tasty and high quality Chinese Cantonese Zi Char dishes. But the others decided to go for their excellent Dim Sum instead. As part of the Imperial Treasure Group, Cantonese Cuisine has the same hallmarks of Chinese fine dining, and uses only the freshest ingredients, allowing them to shine through on the plate.

Ambience at Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) is spacious, laid out for communal group dining. I did note that the lights were rather dim though. The interior has colours of teak and white, contrasted by Imperial Chinese decor. Furniture is comfortable and functional, while the tables are sufficiently large to place all dishes ordered at once.

Service at Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) is very good. Staff are friendly and efficient, and are able to make recommendations from the menu. They also help with portioning of food if requested. I also liked that they came round regularly to top up drinks.

Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) focuses mainly on Cantonese cuisine, whose hallmarks of freshness of ingredients is well showcased here. The Dim Sum is very good. Prices at Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) are slightly higher than average, because of their insistence on using premium quality ingredients.

Update Jun-2015: Slightly over a year later, and we returned to Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) for another department lunch. The ambience and service is still as good as ever, though the menu and items offered have changed slightly. The food is still tasty though, and well worth dining here.


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A large portion of Fatt Choy Salmon Yu Sheng for sharing amongst 14 people, the salmon fish is fresh. However, the order of adding each ingredient here doesn't follow tradition.

Fatt Choy Salmon Yu Sheng

The Steamed Prawn Dumpling has fresh and meaty prawns / shrimp, and the skin isn't too thin or prone to breaking. The Fried Bean Skin Roll, while rather oily, is crisp and quite satisfying when bit.

Steamed Prawn Dumpling & Fried Bean Skin Roll

The Pork And Prawn Dumpling has tightly packed filling, and a whole shrimp within. The Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling was rather average, although the prawn within was fresh and meaty, it was nothing special. The Deep Fried Prawn Fritter Rice Roll is unique, with a fresh prawn stuffed into fried dough fritters, then wrapped in rice rolls, and doused with light soy sauce. Very good.

Pork And Prawn Dumpling, Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling, Deep Fried Prawn Fritter Rice Roll

I love the sauce in the Marinated Pork Bun, although the meat filling was quite little. The bun is a little too thick as well.

Marinated Pork Bun

Marinated Pork Bun Inside

Loved the soft and wobbly Egg Tart, with just the right balance of sweetness in the egg custard. The crust is semi flaky, it holds up well without crumbling, but shatters when bit. The Golden Yolk Bun was very good, the filling is warm and flows out when bit. Could have a little more filling though.

Golden Yolk Bun & Egg Tart

Golden Yolk Bun Inside

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Update Jun-2015: The menu at Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine), along with some recipes, has changed over the last 1 year. There is a much larger variety now, but the food quality is just as high as ever. Dim Sum is still served, along with the Zi Char ala-carte dishes.

Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) Menu Dim Sum

Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) Menu Noodles & Congee

Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine) Menu Entree

The Caramelised Walnuts (SGD $0) are complimentary snacks, served before the start of a meal. Love the sweet crunchy walnuts, which are nicely caramelised without being cloying.

Caramelised Walnuts

The thickly sliced Roast Pork Belly Sio Bak (SGD $10) has a fantastic crisp skin and moist pork meat, but with a slightly gamey taste. Served with salted roasted peanuts and tangy mustard sauce. Nice, but not the best I've had.

Roast Pork Belly Sio Bak

The Century Egg & Lean Pork Meat Congee (SGD $7.80) is so good, it actually sells out midway through lunch time regularly! What makes this stand out is the thick, smooth, flavourful congee, utterly satisfiying! The ingredients within (lean pork meat, century egg, spring onions, fried dough fritters) are really just sidekicks to the star (congee), but are done with thoughtfulness, and the ratio of congee to ingredients is generous. Highly recommended!

Century Egg & Lean Pork Meat Congee

The Steamed Prawn Dumpling Ha Kau (SGD $5.40) has meaty prawn slices within the dumplings. I like that the skin is just right, thin enough to be translucent and tease the fresh prawns within, yet thick enough to hold together without breaking. Not the best I've had, but still pretty good!

Steamed Prawn Dumpling Ha Kau

The Steamed Pork Dumpling Siew Mai (SGD $5.20) has been slightly tweaked. It now features less prawn meat (though still fresh), but includes thin slices of shiitake mushrooms, which lend a delicate earthy sweetness. The overall taste is still savoury, with the fresh pork meat providing most of the taste. All in all though, it's rather average.

Steamed Pork Dumpling Siew Mai

The Steamed Pork Rib With Black Bean Sauce (SGD $4.20) has a generous portion of savoury, fresh pork ribs, lightly steamed. The cuts are meaty, and the meat is tender, coming off the bone easily without much effort. Good!

Steamed Pork Rib With Black Bean Sauce

The Steamed Beef Ball With Vegetable (SGD $4.20) features large, tightly packed minced beef meat balls with spring onions, on a bed of beancurd skin, absolutely savoury and tasty! Dip it in the accompanying worcestershire sauce / vinegar for added flavour! Highly recommended!

Steamed Beef Ball With Vegetable

The Baked Egg Tart (SGD $3.60) is slightly smaller than the last time I had it, but still has that semi-flaky pastry crust and wobbly sweet egg custard that I like.

Baked Egg Tart

The Steamed Custard Bun (SGD $4.50) has a molten custard core, which just spurts out when bit, flowing out of the bun. Incredibly satisfiying to watch the golden custard slowly flow, but also incredibly messy to consume. Be careful when eating as it's scalding hot when served!

Steamed Custard Bun

A relatively new addition to the menu, the Baked BBQ Pork Bun (SGD $4.80) seems to have been inspired by the success of a competitor Dim Sum place starting with 'T'. Similar in appearance, it falls short by being less crisp on the outside, and having a less generous portion of savoury marinated pork meat filling within. Otherwise, this is actually pretty good on its own, very tasty, and also tends to sell out fast!

Baked BBQ Pork Bun

The Steamed Rice Roll With Shrimp (SGD $6) has a generous portion of fresh, meaty prawns within the thin rice rolls. The soy sauce has a slight salty, slight savoury taste, but is thin enough to be tasty without being overwhelming. Pity about the rather lacklustre presentation / plating though, as it looks rather limp. Worth ordering.

Steamed Rice Roll With Shrimp

The use of salted egg in the Steamed Glutinous Rice In Lotus Leaf (SGD $4) makes this very fragrant and flavourful, and the rice is sticky enough without being overcooked. Didn't quite like the scanty meat filling however, as it wasn't chunky, more stew-like instead. Hit and miss dish for me, will not order again.

Steamed Glutinous Rice In Lotus Leaf

The Xiao Long Bao Minced Pork Dumpling (SGD $5.20) has a tasty pork meat filling, but otherwise falls short due to its thin skin, which breaks when picked up, causing you to lose all that yummy meat soup / gravy. Obviously not done with too much skill, and therefore, not really worth ordering.

Xiao Long Bao Minced Pork Dumpling

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Update Apr-2017: Returned to Imperial Treasure Group (Cantonese Cuisine), and I find they're just as good as ever. The fine oriental ambience still remains elegant and sophisticated, exuding luxurious class. The service is better than before, up to fine dining standards, with staff carrying out requests efficiently, and treating guests with personalised attention. Felt very well taken care of. The food remains of very good quality too, their Chinese Zi Char menu has expanded, and they offer a host of fresh seafood. However, prices have naturally gone up, and are pegged to most other premium Chinese restaurants around. Be prepared to splurge.

The Burdock Root With Pork Rib Soup (SGD $8) is a simple, comforting, Chinese Cantonese double boiled soup / broth. The warm earthy herbal notes are complemented by tender slices of burdock root, and chunks of sweet deboned pork rib. Good!

Burdock Root With Pork Rib Soup (SGD $8)

The Barbecue Pork With Honey (SGD $18) features pork loin with a sliver of fat, marinated in honey, and barbecued. The pork meat is nicely soft and tender, with bold savoury fatty flavour and a delicate sweet taste. Above average in execution, though the meat lacks the smoky taste I usually associate with Char Siew / Marinated Roast Pork Loin. Could have been grilled slightly more to char the skin of the meat.

Barbecue Pork With Honey (SGD $18)

Loved the Seaweed Beancurd With Assorted Mushrooms (SGD $20), the large block of soft, wobbly tofu beancurd is infused with strips of seaweed, served in a savoury sweet, thick oyster sauce gravy, along with spinach, shiitake mushrooms, and straw mushrooms. Each bite is a bold palate of sweet savoury earthy, pure comfort flavours. Good!

Seaweed Beancurd With Assorted Mushrooms (SGD $20)

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