Min Jiang at one-north

I guess now that the birthday's more than a month past, I should wrap up on the birthday blogging. Lunch at Charlie's Corner and dinner at Akane on Thursday were followed by drinks at Coffee Bar K on Friday night, a great place if (a) you like your cocktails and whiskeys and (b) if you want to actually be able to converse without straining your voice/hearing. The bar, which doesn't seem to serve coffee whatsoever (actually I didn't ask - who would even think of coffee when the drinks list comes in a folder the thickness of karaoke song folders in days of yore), surprisingly serves very mean pizzas - thin, crispy, with bits of deliciously sweet chaodar-ness. No pics but use your imagination :)

Wrapped up the various celebrations with Sunday lunch with the family at Min Jiang. In addition to its regular menu, Min Jiang also offers dim sum on Sundays, which turned out to be very passable for a supposedly Sichuan restaurant, and satisfied even the most Cantonese among us.

The highlight of any meal at Min Jiang, of course, is its Peking duck, served three ways. First the thinnest and crispiest skin bits are carved and placed on the table, to be simply dipped in sugar. This is followed by two lots of pancake with duck meat and skin - the traditional spring onions, cucumber and hoisin sauce combination, as well as a garlic and pickled radish strips (kimchi?) combination. Aside from incredibly delicious, the spectacle of having the chef carve the duck tableside and the luxury of having your pancakes wrapped for you added an element of luxury that was welcome on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Some of the other dishes that really stood out for us were:

- As a starter, the drunken chicken is a refreshing wake-up call, cold and gently sweet while the wine gets the tastebuds going.

- The wo tip or fried guo tie. These looked like normal guo tie on steroids, honestly massive and stuffed to the brim with meat.

- The ma po dou fu came in a brilliant scarlet and was numbingly addictive...

- ... likewise the gong bao ji ding was crowned in a heaping of fiery dry chillies. The chicken dice were incredibly tender, free of any distracting bits of skin or gristle.

Min Jiang is now my favourite Chinese restaurant. The Sichuan dishes are, to my knowledge, as authentic as it gets in Singapore - the "ma" and "la" distinct and captivating without overwhelming the otherwise delicate and fresh ingredients. The Cantonese dim sum was a pleasant surprise as well. Add to that a lovely tree-flanked setting and decent service, and you really could do much worse for a weekend family lunch.

As a parting thought, you know how, as a customer, it's sometimes the little touches that make a difference? Thought this was a perfect example of how the restaurant goes the extra mile to think of the comfort of its customers... a mini bag chair! And it's even chained to my grown-up chair, how cute is that?

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Min Jiang at one-north

5 Rochester Park

Tel: 6774 0122

Note: Peking duck needs to be ordered at least one day in advance