After a hiatus of seven months, Taste Paradise at ION Orchard has opened its doors once again, welcoming guests to its newly modelled interior and more Cantonese cuisine favourites.
The restaurant’s new interior design is a far cry from its previous muted décor. It takes inspiration from traditional Chinese landscape paintings and yet still looks modern. Blue accents and a fluid arc-shaped ceiling design adds to creating a cosy and bright dining environment.
Set up in 2006, Taste Paradise is known for its Cantonese cuisine. The kitchen is currently helmed by 32-year-old Executive Chef Chan Chung Sing and 58-year-old Executive Chef Chan Wing Kwong, both from Hong Kong. For the menu, the chefs let the natural flavours of premium ingredients speak for themselves, enhanced only by the impeccable culinary skills of the chefs.
The new menu includes a broad selection of Cantonese fare. Among the most premium items (read: for those with really deep pockets), the Signature Braised 10-Head Australian Dried Abalone in Abalone Sauce is a must-try. It costs an eye-watering $228++ per piece but with good reason. The dried abalone used at Taste Paradise are on par in terms of quality as those used in restaurants in Japan. The dish takes more than a week to prepare, and the process entails rehydrating the abalone to simmering to braising it.
Soups are what Cantonese cuisine is famous for and you can’t go through a course of Cantonese dining without having some. The Double Boiled Sea Whelk with Kampong Chicken Soup ($78++ per pot, for 4 to 6 pax) would make a clear favourite, both literally and figuratively speaking. It has a clear consistency but don’t be fooled by that. The soup packs a lot of flavour, thanks to eight hours of simmering kampong chicken, sea whelk, dried scallop, chicken feet, pork ribs and pork. This is one highly nourishing soup, for sure.
Meat lovers should not miss out on the Signature Charred Honey BBQ Kurobuta Pork ($20++ per serving) and Crackling Pork Belly (18++ per serving). The former features US kurobuta pork shoulder and is done Hong Kong-style, sporting a beautiful red hue, a sweetness from maltose and the essential char. The Crackling Pork Belly may not use kurobuta pork but it does not let down in terms of flavour. Every bite comes with a crunch that bonafide siew yok lovers would love.
Other items worthy of mention include the Poached Rice with Assorted Seafood in Lobster Broth ($52++), Stir-Fried Japanese A4 Wagyu Beef Cube with Spring Onion in Black Pepper ($98++) and Baked Live Prawn with Vermicelli in Black and White Pepper ($10++ per 100g).
The dishes show the mastery of heat control of the chefs, creating the wok hei flavour that is the sign of a great Cantonese dish.
Taste Paradise
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Singapore 238801
Tel: +65 6509 9660
Opening hours: Weekdays – 11am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm; Weekends and public holidays – 10.30am to 4.30pm, 6pm to 10pm
