The Asian Kitchen @ Republic Plaza

I think this is my second time eating from Asian Kitchen. Asian Kitchen is very well-known for their roasted duck. But only for the Raffles City branch. I have not heard good things about the other branches... haha. And yes, I really love the duck at Raffles City branch, but not at Republic Plaza.

The duck noodles, featuring the soup

The soup is nice, though I prefer stronger soups, and darker ones, like that from You Kee@Koufu. This gentle soup tastes mildly of herbs and mildly of meat. It's oily, but if you want to eat duck noodles, this is expected. My SO says it's good though, better than their homemade barley drink.

The mushroom. One piece served, and this is half of it.

This is delicious! My favourite in this bowl of noodles. Very soft, and biteable. I hate Chinese mushrooms that are cooked badly, such that it feels of rubber, and never breaks no matter how I chew. How am supposed to swallow a big piece of rubber??? But rest assured, this is good, tastes of the soup, and not bitter at all.

The noodles.

Next, I tried the noodles. The noodles ties with the mushroom for first place. Absolutely QQ, absorbs the soup very well, which explains the heavenly taste of it. I can just eat it alone without other ingredients I think, since I am a noodle-lover.

The duck meat.

I dislike this. The part that I got is rubbery, and totally not chewable at all. It was such a waste as I couldn't eat like half the meat given. My SO says his share has no problem.

And for the portion that I could eat, it was dry, which I don't like.

Softshell crabs, anyone?

The waitress told us this is the hot favourite for side dishes. I can't take seafood, so don't know about the meat. But I love the sauce!!! hehe. The sauce is spicy, yet sour sweet. I kept taking the sauce to eat with my noodles, while my SO finished the crabs.

Pork with prawn XiaoLongBao.

I can bet you there isn't one bit of prawn in there. Firstly, I couldn't feel the prawn meat (unless they mashed the meat, which they usually don't). Secondly, I did not develop and allergic reaction after swallowing the whole thing. Well, if there is prawn meat, then all I can say is, I can't feel it. So don't waste your money on the prawn ones.

The meat is good. Honestly, I haven't tasted lousy meat in xiaolongbaos before. So I think the minced meat paste must be quite easy to make.

The skin is very dry, quite thick, and stuck to my teeth. My SO said they didn't steam it soft enough. But anyway, I failed this xiaolongbao because of the dry skin.

The juice does not squirt out like all Crystal Jade ones. But the juice taste fine. Not bad. Same like most others I've eaten.

This xiaolongbao is not worth it. The one at JP foodcourt is better and cheaper.

I love this meal: 2.5 hearts.
I only like the mushroom, soup and noodles. The rest are really fail stuff.

Remember to go to Raffles City branch if you must eat this.

And IMO, the best duck rice is by You Kee@ all Koufus.