![\"janice-wong-restaurant-singapore\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9100.jpg?resize=639%2C426&ssl=1\")
A restaurant is a matter of team work. Head chefs who are good with savories sometimes require the help of a dessert chef to open a decent restaurant.\u00a0It is, however, uncommon for dessert chefs to do so\u00a0because although desserts are important, they are usually secondary to food. Enter Janice Wong Restaurant at National Museum.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Bear in mind: it’s National Museum, not National Gallery. People mistake the location because Janice Wong, known for her avant-garde desserts, would fit the new National Gallery better than the stodgy National Museum. So many people lost their way\u00a0that the security guard at National Gallery said, “Who is Janice Wong? Why is everyone looking for her?”<\/p>\n
The modern Chinese dim sum savory menu<\/strong> is designed in collaboration with\u00a0Chef Ma Jian Jun. <\/strong>The dim sum\u00a0turns out to be pretty and colorful (and I hope and guess the colors are natural, not from coloring). The 3-course\u00a0set lunch\u00a0<\/strong>goes at $28++, quite a good deal, and 5-course set dinner<\/strong> at $68++. We went for some items on the\u00a0a la carte menu<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Xiao Long Bao tasting platter<\/strong> ($20) includes\u00a0whisky pork<\/strong>, truffle cheese chicken<\/strong>, foie gras pork cherry<\/strong>, and shrimp ebi kombu<\/strong>. My friend had difficulty lifting the XLB up from the basket paper, and I said, “Just yank it. The skin is so thick it won’t break.” Hahaha. On the bright side, the thick skin ensures that the juice stays inside the XLB, right? Flavors are good.<\/p>\n The blackred noodles<\/strong> ($18) is pleasant. The noodles are\u00a0nuah<\/em>, but they still have a structure. The beef soup is more like Western beef consomme than Asian, light and refreshing, and\u00a0goes well with the braised beef.<\/p>\n The savory dishes\u00a0are characterized generally by their over-floury\/flowery-ness, but they are still acceptable. However, when the desserts came, I wanted to flip the table.\u00a0Chocolate Praline Poprocks Cake<\/strong> ($19) is not dissimilar to fudge brownies with ice cream and popping candy. The chocolate is fantastic, intense, sweet, and brooding, but at the end of the day, my expectations for cutting-edge-desserts weren’t fulfilled.<\/p>\n When people stand at the entrance, the three\u00a0servers ignore them until they are free. The correct response is to acknowledge and ask the customer to wait.<\/p>\n There is a handsome waiter who seemed like he didn’t like his job and has a perpetual blackface. When we asked him to change tables, he said no, but the young boy came to us and allowed the change. When we requested to taste ice cream from the handsome waiter, and didn’t buy anything in the end, I could feel him rolling his eyes internally. He didn’t even speak enough for me to determine his accent, race or nationality; that’s how he “interacted” with us, by not talking. He has attitude, but since he’s handsome, I accept it. Hahaha.<\/p>\n The service team needs a good manager to whip them into shape.<\/p>\n Food: 5\/10![\"janice-wong-national-museum\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9112-e1472840854607.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
Who is Janice Wong? She’s kinda big deal. She has worked with the best chefs in the world, including Thomas Keller<\/a>,\u00a0Grant Achatz, and French pastry chef Pierre Herm\u00e9. When\u00a02am:dessertbar at Holland Village<\/strong>\u00a0was established in 2007, it redefined what desserts meant in Singapore; she combined art and food together in her almost-Surrealist creations. She was Asia\u2019s Best Pastry Chef in 2013 and 2014. Her restaurants have opened in Tokyo and Hong Kong earlier this year.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-menu\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9136-e1472841106989.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
The\u00a0signature 5 dumplings\u00a0<\/strong>($15) should be named Signature 4 dumplings, because one is terrible; I spat out the “potato cured pork<\/strong>.” I thought it\u00a0would be something like dumpling with lap cheong, but it turned out to be a dry crumbly powdery ball with no discernible meat in it. It was like eating flour. That said, the other 4 dumplings are pretty good. The traditional chicken dumpling<\/strong> is bursting with flavors.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-lunch-set-menu\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9122-e1472841221649.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
The\u00a0trio of\u00a0siew mai<\/strong> ($15),\u00a0\u00a0portobello rosemary<\/strong>, caviar\u00a0shrimp<\/strong>, parma ham\u00a0scallop olive oil caviar<\/strong>, are pretty and okay. The liquid egg whimsical bun<\/strong> ($4) is what we commonly call\u00a0liu sha bao<\/em>, which is quite standard.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-degustation-menu\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9151-e1472841254837.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
The noodles of scallop somen\u00a0<\/strong>($22)\u00a0stick together that it tastes too floury, like the XLB and dumplings. It comes with ebi shrimp, salted egg yolk sauce, and ikura, and as a result, it’s extremely salty.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-restaurant-review\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9162-e1472842057279.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
Cassis Plum<\/strong> ($24) is\u00a0horrendous and pissed the hell out of me. It’s listed as “cassis bombe, elderflower yoghurt foam, choya granita, yuzu pearls, and yuzu rubies” which, if done well, should give subtle layers of sourness. But in reality, it’s a mess because there is no texture and everything culminates into an extreme souriness that is hard to swallow. There is a total\u00a0disregard for\u00a0balance. And this is coming from someone who likes and can eat very sour desserts. We left most of the $24 dessert untouched.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-sg\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9167-e1472842195462.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
The\u00a0decor<\/strong> is also terrible. The table is long, you are far apart from your dining companion. Almost every diner surrounding us complained about the sitting arrangement. I felt like a scene in the movie, reaching out for my partner as the train pulled away. I was closer to the stranger beside me, than my eating companion opposite me. It seemed like I was dining\u00a0with strangers; it was awkward.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-singapore-national-museum\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9176-e1472842217284.jpg?resize=440%2C550&ssl=1\")
As for the\u00a0service<\/strong>, it’s well meaning but clueless. There is a bespectacled boy who is super polite and sweet–I like him–but in general, the three wait staff\u00a0are untrained. Even though there are about 8 or 10 tables, the three servers couldn’t handle it. In a restaurant of few tables, the female server came\u00a0in contact with us only once by pouring water. That’s pretty strange. Most of the work was done by the young, inexperienced, hardworking boy.<\/p>\n![\"janice-wong-national-gallery\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rubbisheatrubbishgrow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/img_9181.jpg?resize=639%2C426&ssl=1\")
We spent about\u00a0$145 for two persons.<\/strong>\u00a0We were\u00a0sorely disappointed at what our National Treasure has produced.<\/p>\nJanice Wong Restaurant Singapore<\/a>
\n<\/strong>93 Stamford road, National Museum Singapore, 01-06, Singapore 178897
\nT: +65 9712 5338
\nM-Th 11am\u201311pm,\u00a0F\u2013Sat 11am\u20131am,\u00a0Sun 11am\u20136pm<\/h2>\n
\nService: 5.5\/10
\nDecor\/Ambience: 5.5\/10
\nPrice: 5\/10
\nOverall rating: 2.625\/5<\/p>\n