Dinner at the Cathay

3rd August 2012. Written by Xin Li.

I had dinner at the Cathay Restaurant before the visual feast at In a Different Light exhibition by Andre Wee. Around 7pm, the place was real quiet and only a couple of tables were occupied.

For appetizer, we had the Crispy Eggplant with Pork Floss, a very addictive snack. It was straight cut juicy eggplant coated with a crispy batter served with yummy pork floss.

We also had the signature Cathay Crispy Roasted Chicken. It wasn’t mind-blowing. However, I have to admit that the meat was wonderfully tender even for the breast meat and for a roasted item, it as good because the meat retains its juices well, no more dry, flaky chicken meat. In other words, it was a decent roasted chicken.

Next up was there was the Crispy Roast Pork with Mustard Dip, once again, excellent texture for the meat but it was also distinctly oily. The mustard dip was something new to me, at first I thought it was mustard mixed with wasabi, until I was told it was actually Chinese mustard, the taste or rather the effect was similar expect the Chinese mustard has a stronger punch.

The Stewed Spare Rib with Eggplant in Casserole has nice and sweet gravy that would go very well with some white rice. The contents seemed to have been cooked for hours as the eggplants was very soft and the spare rib was beautifully tender.

It was followed by a dish of Beef Slices with Asparagus, as if there ain’t enough good things, this was another well-executed dish. Beef was very tender once again and the sauce was just nice to complement its flavour rather than mask it, the asparagus provided a nice crunch.

Last but not least, we had classic Stewed Ee-fu Noodles served with an assortment of seafood including prawns, scallops and fish slices. The noodles was elastic, doesn’t stick to the teeth and slightly chewy. The prawns used were huge and very crunchy too.

Overall, Cathay Restaurant’s food was definitely above average, the food here doesn’t try to be different or innovative with mostly classic dishes but they were quality classic dishes. I couldn’t comment on the prices as the dinner was a treat. They have also have an ala carte buffet menu which include several of their signature dishes including seafood items like prawns and soon hock, service was okay.

Thank you very much Mr and Mrs Wee (:



The Cathay Restaurant
2 Handy Road
The Cathay #2-01
Singapore 229233