​Shisen Hanten 四川飯店 @Mandarin Orchard

JY helped to make reservations here, and so the 3 of us were here at Shisen Hanten (who recently won 2-Star Michelin in the 2016 MICHELIN Guide Singapore) to try some Szechuan food by the Japanese chef Chen Kentaro.

We liked the decorations and the lovely view of the restaurant with the very high ceiling on a very high floor.

Once we were comfortably seated, we were served the menu (with crumbs on them *gasp*). My friend said it was a good sign; for it meant that the restaurant was busy!

One of the staff made some recommendations, and finally, we decided on:

• 北京烤鸭 Classic Peking Duck ($36++ for half, $72++ for whole duck, top up $10++ / $18++ for second course): Tuesday special was $38++ instead of $72++ for a whole Peking duck. So we had a whole duck. Erm, the slicing could be improved for the skin was not cleanly cut. The meat was also quite dry. For the second course, we opted for 姜蔥炒鸭 Peking duck Sautéed with Ginger and Spring Onion. This was really fragrant!
• 水煮魚 Stewed Fish Fillet in Super-spicy Szechwan Pepper Sauce ($30++): JY said that this was a standard option to try for Szechuan food, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that they used cod. The cod was very fresh and tender, and yes, this was quite spicy for us, but JY thought it was ok.
• 陳麻婆豆腐 “Chen’s Mapo Doufu” Stir-fried Tofu in hot Szechwan Pepper-flavoured Meat Sauce ($22++): This was a mildly spicy tofu, with rather salty minced meat. It was too oily for my liking.
• 松露油双菇炒时蔬 Sautéed Seasonal Vegetables with Duo Mushrooms and Truffle Oil ($22++): Who can resist the aroma of truffles? This was quite delicious.
• 凉拌担担面 Cold Dry Noodles with Spicy Sauce ($12++): Our favourite item of the meal! The tangy sesame sauce was addictive, and the noodles was of the right firmness.

陳麻婆豆腐 “Chen’s Mapo Doufu” Stir-fried Tofu in hot Szechwan Pepper-flavoured Meat Sauce

北京烤鸭 Classic Peking Duck

水煮魚 Stewed Fish Fillet in Super-spicy Szechwan Pepper Sauce

松露油双菇炒时蔬 Sautéed Seasonal Vegetables with Duo Mushrooms and Truffle Oil

姜蔥炒鸭 Peking duck Sautéed with Ginger and Spring Onion

凉拌担担面 Cold Dry Noodles with Spicy Sauce

Pu-er tea was $6++ per pax.

At the end of our meal, we were asked to fill up a feedback form, and 4 names were written on a piece of paper. We were quite surprised; was this the way it should be? We also noticed that the name of the friendly Taiwanese trainee was not in the list, though he was the one who spent a lot of time replenishing our tea, and ensuring that we were comfortable.