Majestic Bay Restaurant - Unique Dim Sum

This restaurant is no longer in operation

I was pretty critical of Majestic Bay Restaurant when I first visited it. The second time I visited this place, the service had gotten better, but since I ordered too much food on the second outing, I was feeling too stuffed to remember much about the food, except that the sweet Nutella bun is very filling. Guess third time is the charm, in which I can update more on this place.

Purple sweet potato dumpling with duck meat is definitely a dim sum of novelty. The sweet earthy flavours of purple sweet potato goes very well with the strong taste of duck meat that is submerged in sweet savoury sauce. My only issues with this dish are that the layer of sweet potato is too thick and there is too little duck meat. Can be very filling due to carbs from the sweet potato.

I love the crispy soft shell crabs in lemon butter sauce since I like eating soft shell crabs—nothing beats bitting through the crispy exterior to release a burst of umami encapsulated within the soft shell. And the lemon butter sauce adds an iota of zest and lots of creaminess to complement the flavours of the sea from the soft shell crabs.

Steamed butterfly pea flower prawn dumplings come in beautiful hue of deep blue that was extracted from butterfly pea flower. And besides the colour, what makes this prawn dumpling different from the usual haw gao is the generous addition of chopped vegetables, which is soaked with the meat juices and seasoning, yielding succulent, moist filling. I like the slight variation in taste due to the vegetables added.

Honey Pork Buns are pretty good, the soft fluffy bun is being filled with lots of sweet BBQ pork. But it is not exactly unique or outstanding as compared to other dim sum items. While Crispy Seafood Roll in Salad Sauce is one of the highlights of the repertoire of dim sum. First of all, I love the unique wrapping of this roll, it is like the filling is rolled with breadcrumbs before being deep-fried. This yields crunchy exterior that hides a treasure of prawn bits soaked in creamy salad sauce. The difference in texture between the exterior and filling lets one enjoy the wonderful marriage of two textures.

Mango puree with ice-cream in whole young coconut is definitely the dessert to try for tourists. Sweet mango goes pretty well with the creamy flesh of the young coconut. Yes, it is a must to scrap the flesh, which is full of nutty goodness and has a good bite, off the inside of the coconut because it is so good that it is worth the effort. If one is not into bitterness in this kind of dessert—I am one of them, then requests not to add in the pomelo bits. I find the taste of pomelo too sharp to be in harmony with the taste of the coconut.

I love going to Gardens by the Bay, and this restaurant proves to be a great dining option that makes my trip there a thoroughly enjoyable one, both for the eyes and the palates.

Nearest car park: Gardens by the Bay’s car park
Nearest MRT: Bayfront

18 Marina Gardens Drive
#01-10
Singapore
Contact No: 6604 6604

Majestic Bay Restaurant - Pleased but not Wowed

The ambience of this restaurant got to be the highlight since the restaurant is very spacious, beautifully and elegantly decorated with nautical themes.  If only the service standard can match to that of the ambience.

Onto the food first, the dishes tried are all generally nice but not excellent.  The only standout is the custard bun which is a must order in this restaurant since the smooth, velvety custard is loaded with the taste of cream.  The skin of chilli crab bun is of the right texture, taste and firmness, yielding a slight crunchy bite, but the filling will do a lot better if it is savoury, instead of being sweet.  As for the Steamed Prawns in Garlic and Vermicelli, the vermicelli is very flavourful since it is soaked with the goodness of prawns and garlic.  Too bad, cannot say the same for the prawns themselves since they are way overcooked, losing the rosy hue, distinct taste and the succulent texture of fresh quality prawns.  It is quite surprising to find such a badly steamed dish in a restaurant helmed by a famous chef.  The prawn dumplings are pretty good since fresh ingredients are used, though I personally find that the dim sum selection to be lacking in creativity, except for the chilli crab bun.

I always like to judge the standard of the restaurant based on the snacks provided.  Top notch Chinese restaurants will never serve roasted peanuts as snacks and unfortunately, these were exactly the snacks served in Majestic Bay.  To make things worse, there was no napkin and plain water provided.  These little things may seem insignificant, but for someone who had visited many Chinese restaurants, these are the issues to separate the best restaurants from the wannabes.

The service is lacking a lot in the warmth and smiles.  The managers and staffs at the exit did not even bother to bid farewell to us.  This is a minor thing but again demonstrates that the restaurant still has a long way to go to compete with the big boys of fine Chinese Dining.

While the food needs improvement, the overall taste is still good enough to please my palates, I do not mind going back if I have cravings for Chinese food and the other Chinese restaurants (my favourites) are all fully booked.

My Thoughts: Not Bad

Nearest car park: Gardens by the Bay's car park

Nearest MRT: Bayfront

18 Marina Gardens Drive

#01-10

Singapore

Contact No: 66046604