Min Jiang is one of the restaurants located within Goodwood Park Hotel that specializes in Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine. During our previous stay here, we didn’t get the chance to dine at Min Jiang so when a HSBC WOW weekend deal popped up, it was the perfect excuse to come back and try it out! For a minimum spend of $100 nett at the restaurant, we could get $50 off the bill just like that. Total no-brainer, I made the reservation immediately 😛
Our initial reservation was for 7pm but given that we concluded our day at River Wonders much earlier, we didn’t need the buffer time I factored in and actually reached Goodwood Park Hotel around 5.30pm. The staff there very graciously helped us bring forward our reservation to 6pm even though the restaurant only officially opened at 6.30pm (thank you!).
- Our order:
- Braised fish maw soup with crab meat ($18++)
- Min Jiang hot and sour soup ($11.80++)
- Wok-fried beef cubes with asparagus in black pepper sauce ($36++)
- Braised ee-fu noodles with yellow chives and straw mushrooms ($22.80++)
- Osmanthus Supreme tea ($12++ for 2 pax)
- Spent: SGD$68.40
Everything we ordered was delicious! The soups were flavoursome and full of ingredients, though the hot and sour soup’s lingering spiciness didn’t allow me to take too many spoonfuls at one go. The beef cubes came in quite a reasonable portion and were tender and succulent (unlike the ones we had at Peach Blossoms). As for the ee-fu noodles, it was cooked a little too al dente for my liking but was tasty and enjoyable nonetheless. I really liked the Osmanthus Supreme tea as it was light and fragrant, plus the fact that it was kept warm via a small flame so every pour was like a fresh batch of hot tea.
Service here was impeccable too. When we first sat down, the wait staff patiently explored and described the various tea options available as I mentioned my preference for white teas. Throughout dinner service, they were professional and attentive, making it a point to check and ensure that our teapot and teacups were always filled (:
The only thing that was a tad lacking was the ambience, which I felt was in part due to the unusual layout of the space. It was basically a very elongated rectangle partitioned into two sections, one side for the main dining area and the other side lined with private dining rooms. This made the area feel narrow and less open. As we were the only patrons in the restaurant for the most part, space wasn’t so much of an issue but I can’t imagine how much of a squeeze it must be when they’re running on full capacity.
My overall rating of the experience: 4 out of 5 stars. The food gave us a very warm and homely feeling of familiar flavours executed wonderfully. Staff here were nice and service was prompt too. It was easy to get their assistance whenever we needed but that’s possibly due to the fact that there were only a handful of customers in the restaurant. Many thanks to the lady who helped shift our reservation to an earlier slot so we didn’t have to wait that long. In terms of ambience and vibe, however, there wasn’t much room to manoeuvre given the layout and the space did feel a little cramped. Also, prices here are comparable to most hotel Chinese restaurants, which basically means expensive. Having said that, this restaurant is definitely on my repeat-visit list as we really enjoyed the dishes. Next time round when a promotion comes up, I’ll probably bring my whole family so we can order a greater variety of dishes to try!
Dania Experiences 