A visit from a distant relative prompted this visit to a restaurant on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list. We were hosted by Daisy to up-town dim sum when we were in Hong Kong a couple of month's ago. This time, it's our turn to play host. The venue - The Blue Ginger, along Tanjong Pagar Road. As our usual practice, we had the baby in tow.
We ordered rice with an assortment of dishes. For the uninitiated, Peranakan food is a mishmash of Malay and Chinese cuisine. It marries the spiciness of Malay food with the lightness of steamed Chinese goodness. The first dish that arrived was the beef rendang. Beef Rendang once had the honour of being named the world's most delicious dish (I can't remember by whom; saw it on the TV). Blue Ginger's beef rendang did not disappoint. It was spicy but not too spicy. Those who cannot usually take spiciness would find this dish palatable. A lot of similar dishes I've tasted have been too salty. This dish on the other hand, has just the right balance of spice and salt. One can eat it on it's own without rice.
Some other dishes we ordered...
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Ngo Heong: minced pork and prawn roll. It is easy to understand why
this is Daisy's favourite. Goes extremely well with the sweet sauce. |
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| Chap Chye: mixed vegetable in special prawn stock. |
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Something for the young one: steamed cod on tou fu. You can't
go wrong with fresh cod. |
We also ordered the Bakwan Kepeting soup (minced pork with crab meat balls). I didn't realize there was crab at first and it tasted a bit off. The little one, whom we originally ordered it for didn't like it; possibly because of the spices used. Other than that, the rest of the dishes were not too salty nor bland. In this aspect the Blue Ginger got it down pat. In fact, I don't think they used much monosodium glutamate (MSG), which is another plus point.
The desserts deserve special mention. Check out the pics...
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| Durian Chendol: you can't go wrong with such a generous dollop of real durian. |
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Gula Melaka: chilled sago, supposedly topped with honey sea-coconut.
The sea-coconut was a bit lacking though. If only they were as generous
with it as with their durian. |
If you're looking for an uppity venue that serves Peranakan food, the Blue Ginger would do well. There were some misses with the food we ordered, but by and large, the food was satisfying. One advice would be to go for a variety of dishes, as each dish serves only 2 or 3. I'd return, but only after I've tried other restaurants.
