Orchard CRC
1788 Xinzha Lu (???1788?)
Shanghai, China
PRICE: ???
RATING:

Singaporeans I know in China have been asking me to check out Orchard CRC, situated in a 3-story villa in Jingan, very close to where we live. Painted in bright orange, the restaurant feels slightly retro and very homely, especially with a few tables around us that had people completely comfortable and surfing the internet (free WiFi) on their laptops whilst nursing a Singapore coffee. There seems to be quite a few Singaporeans that visit the place, and we also saw a bunch of Singaporeans that we knew, coincidentally!

The staff were friendly, though the waitresses couldn’t speak a word of English which makes it pretty difficult, especially when we have questions. I heard the owners are Singaporean, so it would’ve been great to have met them (and be able to speak to them in English), but unfortunately they weren’t there that night. We were pleased the food all came out swiftly, and in very decent portions. The prices are expensive for Shanghai, but fortunately the quality was outstanding.

Our Hainanese Chicken Rice was delicious. Tender and moist slivers of white chicken lying on top of crisp cucumber and with a small side of ‘achar’ (pickled vegetables). It was accompanied by the holy trinity of sauces – dark soy, chilli, garlic – all perfectly authentic. Impressive, considering Singaporean places in Australia never seem to get the sauces spot-on. The chicken rice (rice cooked in chicken fat) was tasty, but seemed a little dry on the edges – like they’d cooked it earlier in the day and it was just sitting in the cooker drying out. The soup was a chinese style soup (some sort of gourd/melon and egg drop soup) which wasn’t an authentic version of the clear broth that it normally comes with in Singapore, but still very tasty.

The Seafood hor fun was a huge portion! A tumble of perfectly charred flat rice noodles in a generous puddle of rich tasty gravy. It came with a healthy amount of calamari, fish, fish cake etc.. and was tasty but not as tasty as the rest of our dishes. When I pointed it out, Chris argued that it was the most healthy of the dishes so of course it wouldn’t be as super-tasty as the others. True! However eaten on its own and not compared to the others, it was great.

The Chicken curry had the most amazing gravy – incredibly rich (“lemak”) and creamy, and unbelievably tasty! It had the perfect amount of spice to give it a kick, but wasn’t too overpowering. The chicken was meltingly soft and tender, and had soaked in all the flavour of the curry. Absolutely delicious. The only downside was that it was swimming in oil, which formed in large puddles at the top. WHY did they need to pour in so much oil when the dish was perfectly fine with 1/3 the amount?!

The Roti prata was great, though I couldn’t tell if it was the frozen sort or freshly made (I assume it’s the former).It was crisp and arrived hot, and was a real treat dipped into the chicken curry. Happily, it was a large serve, far bigger than the pathetically tiny versions we get in Australia.

We were so full we unfortunately couldn’t squeeze in desserts. I’m delighted with the restaurant – it does serve up Singaporean food veeeery close to the original, and though the prices are a bit high, at least the serving sizes are large. I’ll be back for sure!

Orchard CRC

Gorgeous lighting! Hope it’s well-welded to the ceiling though 😉

One fantastic menu

Hainanese Chicken Rice – Superb.

Seafood hor fun – authentic and gooey and delish

Chicken curry – incredibly tasty, but wish they went easy on the oil

Roti prata – loved the large portion!