Chinese Box is a quaint, cosy Chinese restaurant nestled inside the old SMU campus at Bukit Timah. It’s motto is to serve the ‘best of Chinese cuisine’ – which I think it comes pretty close to doing.

I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of attending their food tasting event as a guest. With a 10 course tasting menu, with generous ingredients and delicious dishes, I was a happy, happy girl after that.

And without further delay, I shall elaborate on the tasting menu:

Dish 1: Pretty good – the mango, cucumber and duck went well together with the nice soft skin. Slight problem though – I couldn’t quite tell the difference between the duck and the soft shell crab roll

Dish 2: Loved this dish. Usually don’t like drunken chicken that much because I don’t like the taste of alcohol but this tasted a bit more herbal, and the taro strings had a really nice spicy bite to it.

Dish 3: Oh amazing. Crispy skin with juicy duck meat… the only complaint was that one of the rolls had a bit too much fat – but I guess that’s somewhat unavoidable with certain meats! The skin, sauce and other fillings (cucumber, leek) complemented it pretty well, and were not soggy or hard – just nice.

Dish 4: Don’t flame me for eating shark’s fin please – this one was so… wonderful looking I couldn’t resist The whole fin was still… in one piece! Astounded. Lovely taste; warm,  smooth and gelatinous.

Dish 5: Crisp and savoury on the outside, super soft and tender without being flaky or dry on the inside… this was my favourite dish of the day. Mmmm.

Dish 6: The duck was similar to the one in the roll – super yummy crispy skin and juicy meat. However, the five spices roll was just, so-so.

Dish 7: Silky tofu and tasty mushrooms, what’s not to like! But then I’m a lover of tofu and broccoli, so I might be a tad biased.

Dish 8: Apparently these pea-shoots were imported from Taiwan, where they were grown. Lol. Nice, but they’re just plain vegetables. Well-fried though!

Dish 9: I liked the texture of the scallop – firm and moist. The texture of the tofu was really good as well, smooth and soft, with even smoother and silkier steamed egg below it, which was awesome. Only minus was that the garlic taste was slightly overpowering. The little shallot bits were tasty, though.

Dish 10: The final dish was a tradtional Chinese (to be more specific, Teochew, I think) dessert – “orni”. My Teochew grandparents love having this at big family dinners. Not so much a fan of orni myself, I almost didn’t want to eat this, but I thought hey, why not just give it a try. And I did – surprisingly enough, I liked it! The taro taste wasn’t too strong, and the sweetness of the pumpkin helped to flavour the paste. Pretty good, and healthier than the coconut milk version, too!

I don’t usually go to Chinese restaurants for meals with friends, but I’m definitely going to bring my family here. Quality food, at reasonable prices.

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Chinese Box
Blk 1D Cluny Road, Inside NUS Bukit Timah Campus,
Singapore‎ 259600
Tel: 6219 7877‎
Website: http://www.chinesebox.com.sg/