Taste Paradise
 Taste Paradise is a wonderful name for a restaurant. I would want to walk into this restaurant dreaming of all the wonderful tastes it is going to tease my taste buds with. The owners of Taste Paradise, located at ION Orchard, worked their way up as Cze Char chefs to owning a chain of ‘Paradise’ restaurants in Singapore. Taste Paradise at ION is their latest flagship.
I was just mesmerized by the oriental look and feel of this restaurant as I walked into it for lunch one afternoon. There were gold slated murals depicting a dragon on the ceiling, live sized portraits of Chinese emperors within gilded frames and even the Chinaware that you eat from in this restaurant is special. Overall it was all earth tones and modern in feel and the use of elegant drapes gave this restaurant a very cozy and intimate feel. There are even booth seats where you can pull the drapes so that you can have a private conversation with your concubine if you have one……..you know what I mean right – very private area.
Taste Paradise is a contemporary Chinese restaurant that serves exquisite Cantonese fare served nouveau style. We started off with Century Egg with Lime Sherbet. Basically, chopped century eggs with preserved ginger and lime sherbet, this something you cannot leave on the table for a few minutes – the sherbet melts and may ruin the taste. The combination of lime sherbet with century egg was unique but I would have preferred if the sherbet was made with preserved ginger – the classic accompaniment to century eggs. Presentation was very exquisite.
 The Steamed Shanghai Pork Dumplings (xiao long bao) with Foie Gras was a real treat. Foie Gras can put you off if eaten too much but here at Taste Paradise you can eat as many dumplings you want because there is a right combination of ingredients in each dumpling. You can savor the aroma of the Foie Gras as each dumpling bursts its savory flavorful juice into your mouth. The Pan Fried Foie Gras with Peking Duck Reduction was done Western style but the sauce made of Hoisin sauce was very Chinese but complemented the dish very well. The chef did a good job of ensuring that the liver is seared just right so that you have crisp outer layer which when beaten bursts into luxurious smooth, creamy fat taste of the foie gras into your mouth.
 Next we tried the Classic Superior Shark’s Fin in Supreme Broth Accompanied with Crispy Spring Roll served in Japanese Stone Pot. A rich generous portion of shark’s fins was served in a Japanese hot stone bowl. A crispy onion spring roll came along with it. The soup was rich and thick and made of 17 ingredients including bits and pieces of dried scallops and can be very filling. The crispy roll was a good contrasting texture. By the way, Taste Paradise also serves vegetarian shark’s fins soup for the “Save the Sharks” customers.
 Taste Paradise is also famous for its Roast Peking Duck. The Peking duck was decently crisp with just about the right thinness of meat and fat but I found the pancake a bit too thick. What I could not forgive was the fact that the waitress just slapped so much sauce on the pancake and she even gave more sauce in a little sauce dish! I would have preferred to assemble my own Peking Duck Roll. It is very rare that you find lamb being offered in a Chinese restaurant and at Taste Paradise, the Crispy Fried De-Boned Lamb Rib Beijing Style is one of their signature dishes. The lamb ribs were obviously braised first and then deep fried. It tasted different from the usual fried pork ribs that you find in more restaurants but there were so much of fat layered between the meat and bones. The black vinegar and chilli padies sauce that accompanied it balanced the taste very well. I liked the Beijing style Braised Vermicelli Topped with Simmered Crab Meat. But could have been better if I had it with a few pieces of chilli padi slices in soy sauce. The rice vermicelli was braised in good stock of fish and scallops and then topped with crabmeat, and egg white. This is something you should eat while it is still hot.
Dessert was Chilled Mango Puree and Steamed Salted Egg Custard Bun. The mango puree was great but not extraordinary. The show stealer was the custard bun!!! It took me by surprise when I bite onto the hot bun………the salty extra sweet filling oozed out. Those who like eggs will love this bun. You will have be really careful when you bite into this bun when it is served piping hot because the filling will ooze out and will burn your lips and tongue.
I will go back to Taste Paradise again to try their dim sums. Service was very attentive even though the restaurant was crowded.
TASTE PARADISE
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Singapore 238801
Tel: 65099660
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