New Crystal Jade Group Executive Chef Martin Foo
STELLAR CREATIONS BY NEWLY-APPOINTED GROUP EXECUTIVE CHEF MARTIN FOO
Savour Chef Foo’s inventive and classic dishes at Crystal Jade Palace
A true home-grown talent, Chef Martin Foo has recently been appointed Group Executive Chef of Crystal Jade Group. His maiden presentation with the stalwart restaurant group is a repertoire of new dishes with his signature touches, as well as a special six-course special set menu, at the brand’s flagship restaurant; Crystal Jade Palace, where he is also resident chef.

Pivotal in steering the culinary direction at all Crystal Jade brands; from casual to fine-dining, both locally and overseas, Chef Foo is also spearheading a more innovative approach with his team of consummate Hong Kong Chefs. This is in line with the established F&B group’s direction to push boundaries and explore new ground, while preserving the heritage of traditional Chinese cuisine, so as to keep abreast of changing trends and consumer preferences.
Besides a consistent effort to develop new creations, Chef Foo is also committed to maintaining the culinary group’s high standards. He is also working on upcoming new concepts in the pipeline for the group.
In addition to sampling Chef Foo’s imaginative renditions of Chinese dishes which boast familiar flavours with a twist, patrons can also look forward to Crystal Jade Palace’s distinctive warm and friendly service that promises a memorable dining experience.
CHEF MARTIN SIX-COURSE SPECIAL SET MENU (Available for a limited period till 30th September 2018 only)
The ideal choice for diners who would like to savour and understand the depth and breadth of Chef Foo’s style of cuisine, the curated Six-course set menu ($128 per person | $98 per person for Jadeite members) further highlights Chef Foo’s culinary prowess in expertly-executed and artfully-plated dishes.
We dropped by one weekday afternoon during lunch to sample Chef Martin’s cuisine, and we decided to mix and match our orders of the set menu with some ala-carte dishes.

Whet the appetite with Hokkaido sea urchin and ikura with egg white in crispy seaweed handroll 北海道海胆芙蓉紫菜手卷; a whimsical dish where customers are presented with a seaweed cone brimming with fluffy fried egg white, sweet Hokkaido sea urchin and adorned with ikura or salmon roe for a burst of brininess.

As we are Cantonese, we cannot do without a good bowl of soup. We ordered the double boiled Sea Whelk, Sea Cucumber Flower with Black Garlic in Chicken Consomme $22. Most restaurants discard the flower from sea cucumber when served to you, but Chef Martin’s version truly blows our minds away with a furry ball like flower from the sea cucumber. The broth was boiled for many hours and was robust and thick.

We were told Chef Martin likes to surprise his diners, and we were not disappointed. We were served a Yuzu sorbet next to cleanse our palette before the mains.

Chef Foo’s piece de resistance; Grilled USDA beef short rib with honey char siew sauce蜜汁叉烧酱烧美国牛肋排. Permeated with the slightly sweet homemade marinade which also imparts a savoury depth to the meat, these buttery-fleshed cubes are matched with two sauces; a fragrant spring onion and ginger mix, and mustard. Although not a Wagyu, it had enough marbling to melt in the mouth upon first bite. A truly brilliant and marvelous creation. This would pair well with a great Bordeaux Grand Cru Classe red wine.

We could not resist trying the Black Truffle Roasted Irish Duck from the ala carte menu next ($25 per portion, $48 for half, $90 for whole)
The prices are very reasonable for a flagship Michelin starred restaurant, considering the fact the many roast meat stalls in hawker centres and coffee shops charge between $39 to $60 for a whole duck – not from Ireland but probably from Malaysia. Irish ducks are reared in a different environment, and are fattier, juicier and have better marbling.

We had to balance the diet and ordered the Poached Australian Baby Spinach with fresh Beancurn Skin, Ginkgo nut and Whole Garlic $26. The chicken stock was boiled in chicken bones for many many hours to achieve the creamy milky texture and intensity.

We are actually on the Keto diet (Low carbs, high protein, high fats) but we were told not to miss the Pan -Seared Tiger King Prawn with home made XO sauce, topped on HK imported Egg Noodles tossed with lots of Pork Lard. The noodles were springy and crunchy with the umami flavours from the XO sauce.

We were pretty stuffed by now, and we were served the dessert to end off the afternoon.
The sweet finale is served in the form of a tempting and texturally-contrasting Chilled fresh mango, grass jelly, kidney beans sago pudding with Gula Melaka 椰糖芒果西米布丁; familiar yet different, all at once.
Just as we were about to leave, Chef Martin appeared at our table with another surprise.

Deep Fried Cheese Balls with a modern intepretation of “Nian Gao”. The chinese characters are not pre-printed on the plate unlike most other restaurants, but Chef Martin personally writes these characters by hand with squid ink and it even has his personal name seal on it.
ABOUT CRYSTAL JADE GROUP
Founded in 1991, Crystal Jade is an awarded Chinese culinary group with MICHELIN one star for three consecutive years, since its inaugural edition, and multiple MICHELIN Bib Gourmand awards (Hong Kong & Shanghai). Committed to preserving the rich traditions of Chinese cuisine, the group’s portfolio of specialty dining concepts range from fine dining and casual dining restaurants to specialty bakeries.
In 2014, L Capital Asia, the private equity arm of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton officiated a 90% stake buy in Crystal Jade. Later in June 2015, Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE) announced its investment in the group as well. To date, the award-winning group owns and operates over 120 outlets across 30 major cities in Asia Pacific.
FACT SHEET
Opened: August 1993
Address: 391 Orchard Road, #04-19, Ngee Ann City, Singapore 238872
Telephone: 6735 2388
Operating Hours
Monday to Friday: 11:30am – 3pm, 6pm – 10:30pm
Saturday: 11am – 10:30pm
Sunday and Public Holidays: 10am – 10:30pm
Size : 10,985 sq ft
Seating Capacity :340
Payment : Cash / NETS / Mastercard / Visa / AMEX
Website
www.crystaljade.com/palace
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