Level 35, Grand Tower, Meritus Mandarin Singapore, 333 Orchard Road
Tel: 6831 6266 / 6737 4411
Operating Hours: Lunch: Noon – 3pm Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.30pm

Situated as it is on the 35th floor of the Meritus Mandarin, the Pine Court Chinese Restaurant commands fantastic views over the city, framed by the impressive windows which cover the both of its outward facing walls. This long-established restaurant continues to be popular with both families and executives wanting business lunches, so I went to check it out. The Peking duck wrapped in spinach pancakes was superb – a fresh and interesting twist on this old favourite of mine, and the double boiled fish maw soup had an incredibly tasty stock – clean and clear unlike many other dodgy versions available elsewhere. A zucchini flower with prawn mousse in crabmeat gravy was beautiful on the plate and deliciously savoury with the sweet-salty crab and prawns. But where this place really excels is in its innovative dim sum, as Pine Court’s chef seems to make an effort to deviate from the usual offerings. The pumpkin dumpling was nicely balanced, with water chestnuts giving a satisfying extra crunch to the sweet and salty collation. The potato stuffed with bitter melon was a nice update of the common yam pastry: although bitter melon is an acquired taste for most. Desserts were interesting and varied: the aloe vera with green lemon sherbet arrives on a bed of shaved ice complete with dry ice smoke – adding an unnecessary but nice touch of theatre to what was a delicious, cleansing dish – and the coconut with almond cream and yam paste was served in a coconut husk, which scented the whole thing with that inimitably exotic coconut fragrance – wonderful.