Shining Garden 麥田餐廳 (3rd/4th visit)

FIRST POST ON SHINING GARDEN [HERE]

REVISIT POST ON SHINING GARDEN [HERE]

FOURTH REVISIT POST ON SHINING GARDEN [HERE]

As if it was not obvious enough, Shining Garden is now one of my favourite Chinese restaurants now! On every single visit, the staff has always been friendly and as for the food, consistently good. In addition, the restaurant offers great prices and the quality is pretty darn good.

COMPLIMENTARY DAILY SOUP, PORK WITH CHICKEN FEET AND PAPAYA.

The soup has a chicken and pork broth which tastes healthy, clear and rich, with a hint of papaya.

2.80LB CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE LOBSTER ($15.98/LB).

When the dish arrived, a waitress quickly removed it and headed back to the kitchen. Turns out the kitchen forgot to add some extra sauce.

As for the new plate, the lobster tastes perfectly cooked and the meat has a nice snap. However, the sauce does not taste as flavourful as the last visit. Do not get me wrong, the sauce tastes flavourful as well as creamy and buttery. But, the sauce is missing that nice hint of house broth which was added as a surprise on the last visit. Either way, the sauce tastes above average and pretty good.

SHRIMPS WITH SCRAMBLED EGG ($12.80).

Usually I never order scrambled eggs at a Chinese restaurant or an omelette because I find them nothing special, and the prices are not always cheap. However, I am more than glad to have let BF order it this time! The eggs are perfectly cooked, fluffy and moist, with a good amount of large meaty butterflied prawns which are not overcooked.

BRAISED BABY GREENS WITH DRY SCALLOP AND ENOKI MUSHROOM ($12.80).

Rather than my usual egg tofu with enoki mushroom and dry scallop, I decided to switch it up a bit. The bok choy tastes perfectly cooked (not too chewy) and the enoki mushroom along with the sauce has a flavourful dry scallop taste. One of the things I love about Shining Garden is that their dry scallop dishes are always flavourful! If anything, I am not a fan of baby bok choy and wish I stuck with my usual egg tofu since it is served with broccoli which I prefer more.

YEUNG CHOW FRIED RICE ($10.80).

The fried rice consists of the usual ingredients such as prawns, barbecue pork, green onion as well as egg, and everything tastes properly fused together. In addition, I appreciate the restaurant for using large prawns rather than shrimp which some restaurants use. Also, the presentation of the one prawn placed at the very top looks nice.

1 1/4LB STEAMED TILAPIA ($9.99/LB).

The tilapia tastes perfectly cooked and moist as well as flaky. Also, although it does not matter but, none of the waitresses deboned the fish for us this time.

COMPLIMENTARY COCONUT PUMPKIN TAPIOCA AND MANGO PUDDING.

The dessert soup tastes slightly sweet and has a rich pumpkin as well as coconut taste. As for the pudding, surprisingly it does not taste bland and can do with or without the condensed milk.

TOTAL: $107.55 + TIP $22.45 = $130.00.

Overall we tipped a bit more than 20% despite not having any service because the staff is always friendly and Shining Garden is a regular restaurant of ours. As for the food, no complaints. Shining Garden is one of the extremely few restaurants where I have never found anything to complain about or consider any dish just average.

ON ANOTHER REVISIT...

COMPLIMENTARY DAILY SOUP, PORK WITH HAIRY MELON.

I love slow cooked soups because they are tasty as well as healthy. The soup tastes light as well as refreshing, and the carrot as well as hairy melon tastes soft.

1 1/2LB STEAMED SPOT PRAWNS ($19.98/LB).

The spot prawns taste perfectly steamed and the meat tastes bouncy as well as tasty. As for the soy sauce, I like the added jalapeños for a mild kick.

STEAMED EGG TOFU WITH ENOKI MUSHROOM AND DRY SCALLOP ($12.80).

A must order. An absolute must. The broccoli is perfectly poached and has a nice vibrant green color with a crunch. In addition, the crisp egg tofu along with the juicy enoki mushroom in a flavourful dry scallop sauce, tastes really good. The highlight is definitely the dry scallop sauce and is one of the best we ever had. Actually, the sauce is the most flavourful one we ever had including at higher end restaurants! Shining Garden does not cheap out on the dry scallop and the sauce is always consistent.

2.40LB CREAM AND BUTTER SAUCE LOBSTER ($15.98/LB).

Unlike the last but just like the second visit, the cream and butter sauce tastes extremely flavourful with the extra addition of a house broth! Furthermore as always, the sauce has a nice consistency and is properly made. I was quite satisfied. As for the lobster, the meat tastes bouncy and perfectly cooked like always at Shining Garden.

1.40LB STEAMED TILAPIA ($11.99/LB).

As usual at Shining Garden, the tilapia is well cooked and the meat tastes moist. As for the soy sauce, the taste is very light and has a good mix of hot oil.

CLAY POT RICE SAUSAGE ($8.50).

One of the main reasons for ever stepping inside Shining Garden is because of a photo of their clay pot rice posted outside the restaurant. Yup, something so small that lead me to one of the best Chinese restaurants. The clay pot has a fragrant as well as a fused smoked meat taste, and consists of smoked sausage as well as pork belly. In addition, the dish is pretty consistent and tastes just as good as the first visit. If anything, I would have preferred a piece of vegetable which honestly is not even that big of a deal LOL.

COMPLIMENTARY PUMPKIN DESSERT SOUP WITH TAPIOCA AND TARO.

The dessert soup tastes rich as well as flavourful, and has plenty of diced taro as well as pumpkin.

TOTAL: $113.05 + TIP $16.95 = $130.00.

Overall we tipped only 15% this time because although Shining Garden is a regular restaurant of ours, the waitresses (who are extremely friendly) do not provide us with service anymore! There are forgotten drinks as well as no plate changes and to compare, the staff at Pelican (which is also a regular restaurant of mine) is consistently attentive as well as professional. Of course I do not mind when the staff gets too comfortable, but I would appreciate at least the basic plate changes or to have extra plates provided on the table. Either way, Shining Garden is my go to Chinese restaurant.

POSITIVES

- Friendly staff as always

- Private rooms are available

- Quality food for great prices

- Consistently above average eats (never had any complaints!)

NEGATIVES

- Not sure if we were overcharged $2.80 on the fried rice or if it is no longer $10.80

- Being regulars, the staff is a bit too comfortable and it would be nice to have plate changes (although on the first two visits, the staff was very attentive and service was 3.5-4/5!)

LITTLE THINGS

- First post at Shining Garden [here]

- Second post at Shining Garden [here]

- Fourth revisit post at Shining Garden [here]

Food: 4/5

Service: 2.5/5