Imperial Restaurant (Imperial Herbal) 宏仁堂御膳厅, Riverview Hotel

Mother’s Day Celebration 2014 @ Imperial Restaurant

Fretting over where to spend your Mother’s Day?

Indeed, it is the biggest headache of all especially our mother is a culinary expert. She has high expectations towards the quality of food and also as an elderly, she has health issues such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Hence dining out can be a chore as she can only eat plain, healthy food.

After doing some research on the internet, we decided to treat her to the Imperial Restaurant (Imperial Herbal) as the ingredients used are mainly Traditional Chinese Medicinal herbs.

Posing @ the Entrance

Restaurant Name: Imperial Restaurant (Imperial Herbal) 宏仁堂御膳厅
Website: http://www.imperialherbal.com
Location:
Riverview Hotel Level 2
382 Havelock Road, Singapore 169629
Tel: 6337 0491

Le’ Ambience

We were greeted by the herbs displayed at the glass cabinet at the entrance and intrigued by the gold tap which was suspending in midair. 

Traditional Chinese Medicinal herbs displayed in the glass cabinet

Le’ Mystery of the suspending gold tap…

Dishes displayed in the cabinet…

The furnishings are filled with oriental opulence and our parents were pleased with the ambience. 

We like this antique looking Louis Phillippe Chair

Look at the herbs display cabinet! How impressive!

Daddy and Mummy

Posing for a Selfie 🙂

Kriston and I

Taking a photo with the 2 boys 🙂

Le’ Menu

You can browse their main menu on their official website but we would be focusing more on the Mother’s Day Special Menu provided. 

We chose the Mothers’ Day Set Menu 3 as there were 6 of us. 

Mothers’ Day Set Menu 3 (SGD268++)

Le’ Food

Seasonings and Appetisers served

#Dish 1: “Fu Rong” (Fluffy Egg White) with Dried Scallop

“Fu Rong” (Fluffy Egg White) with Dried Scallop

We love the fluffy texture of the egg white and it blends really well with the crispy base. 

This dish is featured on the poster as well!

Dish #2: Shark’s Fin Soup with Crabmeat

Shark’s Fin Soup with Crabmeat

We get Shark’s Fin in every spoonful of the soup. Ultra value for money!

However, Mother Hen was complaining that this soup tasted a tad too saltish to her liking. 

Close-Up on the shark’s fin

Dish #3: Roast Chicken with Sliced Almond and Chicken Floss

Roast Chicken with Sliced Almond and Chicken Floss

Loved this dish too! You can either eat this with the sauce provided or dip it into the sweet chilli sauce. 

Finger Lickin’ Good!

Kriston said it tasted like the upscale version of Kentucky Fried Chicken!

Dish #4: Stewed Prawn and Frogs with Yellow Rice Wine in Clay Pot

Stewed Prawn and Frogs with Yellow Rice Wine in Clay Pot

Starting to taste a little starchy with the gravy. There is a light fragrance from the yellow rice wine and the frogs tasted like chicken meat. 

Close-Up on the Prawn

Close-up on the frog meat

Dish #5: Fried Broccoli with Wild Mushroom

Fried Broccoli with Wild Mushroom

Gravy is starchy too. I dislike this dish 🙁

Dish #6: Noodle with Preserved Sliced Chicken and Mushroom

Noodle with Preserved Sliced Chicken and Mushroom

Gravy used to stir-fry the noodles is starchy too. 

I did not complete this dish. 

Dish #7: Walnut and Red Date Cake

Walnut and Red Date Cake

This is the most unexpected food to be served as dessert. After all the carbs and starchy dishes, the dessert is a steamed cake! 

Oh yes, the cakes were not equal in size. One looks bigger than the other. No Quality Check 🙁

Although they looked like muffins, they taste nowhere like muffins…

We were all so disappointed by the dessert and yes, it tasted very similar to those steamed cakes (发糕)which Chinese use to worship their gods or offer to the hungry ghosts during the hungry ghosts’ festival. How distasteful!

Felt “Punished” for finishing this Steamed Cake 🙁

Please at least serve us some herbal jelly / mango sago after what we paid for the set LAH. 

Overall

Dishes #1-3 tasted good. The rest of the dishes are too starchy and mediocre. The deal-breaker is the Walnut and Red Date Cake served as desserts. 

Mother Hen was complaining all the way starting when Dish #4 was served. And when the dessert was served, she exclaimed: “I HATE Steamed Cakes the MOST” even before putting it into her mouth. She did not touch the cake ultimately anyway and vowed not to return to this restaurant again. Meh 🙁

In conclusion, the restaurant did not blend the dishes well for their Mother’s Day Set Menu. The food overall is too starchy and jelak (means satiated by a food, particularly a food that is too rich, to the point that one feels repulsed by it in Malay) for us to feel the goodness in their ingredients – they are supposed to be healthy? 

Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Sweetie Muffin and I!

Sweetie Muffin tried to be Flying Dutchman with that antique Jade Ship

Pricing: ★★★☆☆
Food: ★★◐☆☆
Ambience: ★★★◐☆
Service: ★★★☆☆

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