A journalism student at NYU was reminiscing about Red Star Restaurant for a story idea, found my blog on Red Star, and asked me if I know anything about the history of the restaurant. So here it is.
Xian3 Liang2 (冼良), Tan2 Rui4 Jia1 (谭锐佳), Liu2 Yu4 Pei2 (刘育培), and Xu3 Guo2 Wei1 (许国威) were recognized as the four top chefs (四大名厨) of Singapore's F&B industry in the early 70's. They were all apprentices under Luo2 Cheng2 (罗成).
Red Star Restaurant (红星酒家) was a middle-class restaurant started jointly by these four top chefs in the 70's, and managed by Tan Rui Jia. The focus of the restaurant was on traditional Cantonese cuisine. Tan Rui Jia has since passed away, but his philosophy of economical, value-for-money, and tasty food lives on in Red Star.
Opened a bottle of Carmel Rothschild Private Collection Merlot 1995 for dinner tonight. Brownish red in colour. Leather and smoke on both the nose and palate.
This dessert wine by De Bortoli has a nice gold colour. Bouquet of honey and orange zest. Very rich and sweet. Wonderful!
Had high-tea at Coffee Lounge, Goodwood Park Hotel, this afternoon. The spread is local and includes shrimp dumplings (both fried and steamed), chicken wings, kueh pie ti, laksa, chicken curry, rojak, gado-gado, nonya kueh, fruits, and cakes. The kueh pie ti is quite good, as is the laksa, although the laksa gravy is little too salty. Service is average.
Had dim sum brunch at Red Star Restaurant (54 Chin Swee Road, #07-23). This is among my top choices for dim sum in Singapore. Dim sum is still served off push-carts in the traditional way. Food is delicious, especially the steamed fish head with black bean sauce. Let down your hair and forget all your manners here at Red Star. You have to chase after all those carts for the dim sum items you like, for chances are they either miss passing by your table, or by the time the carts reach you, the items you want are all gone.
They start serving dim sum as early as 7am, and is consistently crowded till after lunch, with the peak around 11am-12nn. The customer flow is fast, so you seldom have to wait for more than 15 minutes for a table. But even if you have to wait a little longer, it is well worth it. The best thing about this place is the value it provides. Price is very reasonable and food quality is great!
There was an ad in the papers recently featuring a promotion at Top of The Plaza (ANA Hotel). One could have a bowl of shark's fin and an ala carte buffet dinner for $28.80/person -- the usual price is supposedly $65/person. So we decided to give it another try, even though we had a prior bad experience there.
We were disappointed again. First, I shall comment on the shark's fin. My bowl of shark's fin contains fins that either were undercooked or of an inferior quality such that they were still hard as bones. Simply inedible. I returned my bowl in exchange for another. The way the shark's fin was prepared is also non-traditional. There were cabbage, imitation crab sticks, Japanese baby octopus, and a prawn (shell & head on), which completely spoiled the taste -- making it more like a seafood soup rather than a shark's fin soup.
The ala carte buffet menu was also rather limited. The claimed abalone slices were nothing more than cheap substitutions of an unknown shell fish that was tasteless. The tempura prawns were over-breaded. The deep fried yam was dry. The fried clams with papaya tasted foul. The only acceptable dishes were the suckling pig (though a little on the fatty side), the sea cucumber with sturgeon cartilage, and onion prawns. Nothing was outstanding. The dessert selection was pathetic, with only fruits (papaya, water melon, and pineapple), coffee jello, and red bean paste. The pineapple was again tasteless -- neither sweet nor sour, and without fragrance.
Service was very inconsistent. This restaurant is obviously short on staff. The male waiters tend to be rather rude. I asked for a missing sauce for the suckling pig and the waiter practically returned and THREW the plate of sauce on the table. I know they are busy, but there's always time for gracious serving. Our plates were seldom changed, even though they were heaped with prawn shells. Tea pots were also infrequently refilled.
Needless to say, we left the place dissatisfied. I will stick to Thai Village for my shark's fin.
I've kept this dessert wine of d' Arenberg for about 5 years, since the wine-maker promises that it will age well into a decade. Opened it tonight after dinner. Deep-amber in colour. Strong honey, both on the nose and palate. This is a noble rot -- meaning it is made with botrytis-infected grapes. It does not have as complex a bouquet as ice wines but nice.
Celebrated brother-in-law's birthday at Thai Village (Pasir Panjang). The shark's fin here is excellent, huge fins with lots of bean sprouts. The only place I would go if I want a hearty bowl of shark's fins.