Actually, it had never crossed my mind to visit this Chinese restaurant located in ITE College Central building despite passing by it often and taking note of it. Since I need to look for a restaurant to have my CNY reunion dinner next year—lots of restaurants are fully booked by now, yes, the horrors—this is where First Culinary Restaurant comes onto my radar. And since we are there, we figure that we might as well have our dinner there. I did not expect much, so I am pleasantly surprised that the food is pretty good!
Lemongrass pork gets the thumbs-up from me too due to the interesting addition of lemongrass and the not-so-chewy texture of the meat. I also appreciate the hand drawn pictures on the serving plates. A nice extra touch.
The Qing Long vegetables is slightly firm in texture yet easy to bite, signifying its freshness.
One of the staffs has told me that there is a family specially coming down for the char siew, but since the chef who makes the char siew is not in, it is not available that day. Char siew that needs specialized chef to make? Interesting, I may go back to try the char siew. When I do that, I will update on here. The same goes for the update on the restaurant’s standard during CNY period. Update: I really go back and get to try the char siew. It is really good due to the fact it is marinated with natural ingredients instead of the usual factory made red colour char siew sauce. This char siew, like any quality char siew, has layers of fat between the meat, so it is best to share this with a couple of people.
The stir-fired hor fun is excellent, and the Prawn Mango Roll is interestingly made with rice paper.
Again, I was expecting the restaurant to look dingy due to its location at the fringes of the heartland. Yes, my bad, stereotyping. But the interior of this place exceeds my expectations. It is pretty grand actually. The layout is that of traditional Chinese restaurant, but the furnishings and decor have touches of modern influences.
Service is pretty much like that of other Chinese restaurants—efficient and pretty friendly.
With pretty good, nice ambience and convenient location (for me), this is a nice choice for heartlanders living around Ang Mo Kio, Hougang and Serangoon.
And the CNY reunion dinner gets the thumbs-up from me. Way, way better than Kai Garden. The service is especially efficient, no delay, no dirty plates and no wrong orders despite the huge crowds. And the standard of the food is good. Lobster and duck are included in the mid tier set menu instead of the usual chicken and prawns. We are definitely sticking with this restaurant for our 1st choice to have CNY reunion dinners.
My Thoughts: Nice Choice for Family Gathering
Nearest car park: ITE College Central’s carpark
Nearest MRT: Ang Mo Kio
ITE College Central
2 Ang Mo Kio Drive
Block A #01-09
Singapore
Contact No: 6481 5500
