Lao Beijing

Another weekend, another good excuse to indulge in food.
Okay, who am I kidding? Why do anyone even need an excuse to eat good food?

Craving for some Asian Cuisine, L and I came to Lao Beijing for their xlbs, to see if they are comparable to the ones at Din Tai Fung.

Panorama Shot of the (Empty) Restaurant

Round table in the corner- Best for gatherings!

Located on the 7th storey of Orchard Central, the restaurant had a nice feel to it however because of the actual location on the 7th story, mirrors instead of windows are used. The lights were dim, making the whole dining experience a cosy one. That is if you're not claustrophobic.

Utensils in Pretty Arrangement

Personally, I like how the staff arrange the individual sets of utensils neatly on the table. It is like giving the customers a head start to a pleasant dining experience. See that particular dish of crackers in the above photo. It's crispy, tasty and not too salty, unlike the ones served by many other restaurants. In fact, it was so good L and I nearly cleared 2 plates of it on our own while waiting for the food.

Maybe because we were the first customers they had on a Sunday afternoon (since they just ended their break and open the restaurant for business again at 530pm), the waitress stood by our table and advised us what to order, what their signature dishes are, etc. She even suggested getting some vegetables as we had ordered far too many meat dishes. And oh boy, totally glad we listened to her and exchanged one meat dish for some greens.

Some of the dishes we had are:

Pan Fried Guo Tie. There are 2 choices to pick, we got the ones with Pork and Chives filling. If you don't fancy the smell or taste of chives, skip this dish. The taste of chives was overwhelming for this dish, I literally washed the dish down with vinegar.

Assorted Mushrooms with Broccoli. Since this is a rather safe dish to order, obviously we will not expect something fanciful. And we were right. Plain plate of broccoli with the assorted mushrooms. Great for mushroom lovers though, because the chefs are certainly not stingy with the amount of mushrooms.

Fish and Bean curd Clay-pot. My personal favourite dish of the whole meal. Tried it once when I brought my family over to dine at Lao Beijing previously, and I couldn't get the lip-smacking fish slices and bean curd out of my mind ever since. The slices of fish meat were fresh and soft, you really have to order this when you're dining here. My only complaint is that this particular dish is rather bland, would prefer it to be a little bit more salty!

Yangzhou Fried Rice. Another safe dish on the menu for us to order. But comparing this to the fried rice we had previously at DTF, this won our hearts (and mouths and stomachs) more.

Meat Bun. Disappointing dish considering that what attracted our attention to it was the picture on the menu. The skin made of flour was too tough and thick for satisfaction, but perhaps we were both too full to enjoy this dish. L dug out the meat filling, and left the skin untouched. L felt that the meat buns available at markets all around Singapore are better than the meat buns by them. Kind of self-explanatory i guess.

And finally,

Steamed Juicy Meat Buns. If you're one of the customers who'd come to Lao Beijing just for their xlbs, you will be disappointed. How could they named this dish 'Juicy' when there is a pathetic amount of soup in each pouch of xlb? The skin are thick, the meat is paltry.

If you want really good ones, head over to Din Tai Fung. Enough said.

Bill came up to $71.35 for the both of us. I wouldn't say it's very expensive, given the amount of food we ordered. The fish and bean curd clay-pot impressed, and the fried rice was tasty. But one thing for sure, I will not patronise them for their xlbs.

Lao Beijing

Orchard Central

#07-14/15 181 Orchard Road

Singapore 238896

Tel: 6509 1878