Stepping off a plane, I just wanted something close to the airport and nothing fancy... Flattie suggested trying a new Chinese restaurant in the East at the Grand Mercure Hotel. Hmm.. not quite the "nothing fancy" I had in mind, but they had enough home-style comfort food to satisfy.
Aged cucumber with spare ribs was the soup of the day. Pretty flavourful although it could have done with a little less salt so that the taste of the old cucumber could be more apparent.
The cod steamed with snow vegetables (Shanghainese preserved vegetables) was a tad overcooked, which is quite hard to do given the oily texture of the fish. So the overall taste suffered since snow vegetables are too light to lift the overcooked fish. Tasty enough to finish but barely so.
The poached Amarath vegetable ("heen choy") with 3 eggs were competent enough and did the job in satisfying the need for some fiber intake.
The sweet and sour pork was competent by Singapore standards but the pork had a hint of the "smelly pork" syndrome. Not overwhelming since the tart sauce masked it fairly adequately and was good enough to get me through enough of the rice in my bowl.
All in all, a good alternative dining option for the East Coast but nothing exceptional. Might be worth a second visit to check out the other specialties before casting my final vote.
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