Crystal Jade Jiang Nan (Vivocity)

This Crystal Jade outlet is a relatively new addition in Vivocity and I pointedly asked the boyfriend to accompany me to try it as I was curious about the types of Jiangnan dishes they would serve.

It was crowded around dinner time and we were ushered into a nice little table in the corner. After flipping through the menu, we eventually settled for a 2-person set meal which came which an appetizer, two half-sized portions of la mian, 8 coloured xiao long baos of different flavours and dessert.

For the appetizers, we chose the cold spicy chicken and black fungus. The cold spicy chicken tasted queer and slightly stale while the black fungus was tasteless. The boyfriend hardly touched the appetizers as he said they tasted weird so I finished everything (which could explain my subsequent bad tummy ache).

The 8-coloured xiao long baos of different flavours. I had high expectations and was really excited when they came. But when I popped them into my mouth, the skin was too thick and the soup within was too little. The xiao long baos were not juicy enough and I was really disappointed. Think their Xiao Long Bao Steamboat Buffet at Holland Village serves better xiao long baos.

We chose the zha jiang mian and dumpling la mian for our two half-sized portions of la mian. The zha jiang mian was average. I mean, you couldn't go too wrong with zha jiang mian, but it's definitely not one of the best I've tried.

The dumpling la mian was below average. The soup base was really really bland and the noodles were tasteless. The dumplings were all right but nothing to rave about.

Our dessert of red bean in mini pumpkins and mochi. The red bean was a tad too sweet but the mochi was pretty decent.

So all in all, I pretty much wasted calories and money on a meal that was hardly satisfying. If that was not bad enough, I had to endure a night of diarrhea afterwards and could only crawl into bed in the early morning when the medicine started to take effect. I also missed my Forest Adventure Outing because of this so I'm majorly pissed. 

I wouldn't go back again. Definitely not.

#01-52 Vivocity