Grains

S and I were trying to think of what new restaurant to try at the new(ish) shopping centre, The Central... when I remembered reading a glowing review on this place on ieatishootipost... so we decided to try it out.

The layout of this place is a bit odd - the restaurant is split into two sections with a public walkway going right through it. Not that much traffic going through, but maybe that was because we were there on a weekday night. I know I would stare at what people were eating if I was walking through... not sure the 'open' concept is the best idea.

Everything on the menu sounded interesting but we decided to try some of the dishes recommended by ieatishootipost.

We started the meal with the Chicken & Ginseng Clear Broth in Yunnan Steam-Pot $5++ -


It was a nice way to start the meal - hot soup is always so comforting...

One of the house specialities here is the Spinach Tofu with Shimeiji Mushroom & Dried Scallop $8++. I love tofu and mushrooms so this was a must-try :


They apparently make their own tofu here using organic soy beans, but we were not particularly impressed by the taste or texture of the tofu. One would have thought that the combination of the fried tofu and the scallop and mushroom sauce would have that extra oomph but this dish turned out surprisingly unexciting. Also didn't help that it was just lukewarm when it came, like it had been sitting out in the open for a while already...

ieatishootipost described the Crispy Sea Perch as his "best fish discovery of the year" so it was the first thing we looked out for on the menu... we only remembered it was sea perch so ordered the closest thing on the menu : Fried Sea Perch in Thai Sauce $12++ -


This turned out to be pretty disappointing - there was lots of batter and just a bit of fish, and the fish didn't even taste all that fresh. I think we ordered a different dish from what ieat raved about, but still, it left me quite unimpressed.

Wanting to try something from the dim sum menu, we again went with ieat's recommendations and ordered the Fresh Scallop with Mashed Yam Dumpling $3.50++ :


I've never been a very big fan of yam so normally avoid ordering woo kok (yam dumpling)... but I thought it would be good to try something different. It tasted pretty ok, loved the fact that there was a whole piece of scallop, but felt that each piece was too small.

We were too lazy to adjourn somewhere else for dessert, so just stayed put. I tried the (no big surprise) Peanut Ball with Floral Wine $4++ :


The food here is pretty mediocre... don't think I'll be back here again, unless everywhere else in Central is totally packed.


Grains
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-92 The Central
S059817
Tel : 6534 7707
www.grains.com.sg