Majestic Restaurant only officially reopens this Friday at its swanky new location in the Marina Bay Financial District, and yet it is already buzzing with diners at lunchtime on Monday.
Housed in a modern glass pavilion suspended off the fourth floor of Marina One, the light-filled restaurant is surrounded by lush greenery and looks almost futuristic in its setting. Yet inside, the semi-open dim sum kitchen, contemporary Chinese paintings and original signboard from the old restaurant combine to retain a sense of tradition and heritage.
For chef/owner Yong Bing Ngen, this new iteration of Majestic is a culmination of his storied 35-year-long career, and everything he wanted to see in his restaurant, from the exclusive modern setting to finally having his own dim sum kitchen.
Watch the video below as he takes us on a tour of the new space and into the kitchen as he fires up his wok to dish up Majestic Restaurant's signature combination platter.
Housed in a modern glass pavilion suspended off the fourth floor of Marina One, the light-filled restaurant is surrounded by lush greenery and looks almost futuristic in its setting. Yet inside, the semi-open dim sum kitchen, contemporary Chinese paintings and original signboard from the old restaurant combine to retain a sense of tradition and heritage.
For chef/owner Yong Bing Ngen, this new iteration of Majestic is a culmination of his storied 35-year-long career, and everything he wanted to see in his restaurant, from the exclusive modern setting to finally having his own dim sum kitchen.
Watch the video below as he takes us on a tour of the new space and into the kitchen as he fires up his wok to dish up Majestic Restaurant's signature combination platter.
Chef Yong Bing Ngen takes us on a tour of the light-filled restaurant and whips up the restaurant's signature combination platter in the kitchen.
The dim sum selection at Majestic Restaurant is both colorful and modern.
Chef Yong's philosophy of preserving heritage while embracing change extends beyond the design of the restaurant to the food as well, expressing itself most coherently in his dim sum creations.
Distinctly Western ingredients find their way into his dim sum, like the foie gras pâté dumplings filled with mushrooms and morel mushroom spring rolls, and are so delicious they don't feel out of place at all. The chef daringly embraces color in his cooking: the succulent spinach dumplings with scallop, prawn and sweet corn arrive looking like pieces of jade, while the organic brown rice roll with prawn is naturally tinted pink with an almost shocking green Hakka-style thunder tea sauce drizzled over. The prices are very value-for-money for the quality of cooking, with a decadent bowl of lobster soup dumplings coming in at just under $10.
Distinctly Western ingredients find their way into his dim sum, like the foie gras pâté dumplings filled with mushrooms and morel mushroom spring rolls, and are so delicious they don't feel out of place at all. The chef daringly embraces color in his cooking: the succulent spinach dumplings with scallop, prawn and sweet corn arrive looking like pieces of jade, while the organic brown rice roll with prawn is naturally tinted pink with an almost shocking green Hakka-style thunder tea sauce drizzled over. The prices are very value-for-money for the quality of cooking, with a decadent bowl of lobster soup dumplings coming in at just under $10.
Roasted Ireland silver duck.
Some other must-tries include the roasted Ireland silver duck, which is served Peking-style, with a rose-scented pink pancake that's mantou-like in texture, as well as scallions and cucumber. The skin is as expected, crisp and fragrant with the accompaniments, but it is the meat of the duck that steals the show. Instead of being chopped up and cooked into a second dish of noodles or fried rice, the duck meat is sliced and served in its jus, cooked through, but melt-in-the-mouth tender and juicy.
Remember to save room for dessert. Chef Yong's brought over the evergreen crispy king of durian with maple syrup, that is essentially a rich and creamy durian ice cream encased in a deep-fried crispy fritter.
Remember to save room for dessert. Chef Yong's brought over the evergreen crispy king of durian with maple syrup, that is essentially a rich and creamy durian ice cream encased in a deep-fried crispy fritter.
Smoked French corn-fed chicken with salt and hickory.
Black truffle with crabmeat and egg white fried rice.
