With restrictions changing every other week, planning for dates or dinner with friends can be frustrating, something as simple as unwinding after a stressful week, or celebrating a milestone. Looking for a change from my daily home-cooked healthy meals and nearby hawker fare, I decided to see if I was able to treat myself with an indulgent meal ordered in.
Luckily, GrabFood has made this simple by including a Michelin Recommended category, which has Michelin Bib Gourmand, Michelin Plate and Michelin Starred restaurants:
- Michelin Bib Gourmand are restaurants that are considered a very good value for money, with nothing above $45 on the menu, perfect for a little extra indulgence on a budget.
- Michelin Plate are restaurants selected and included in the prestigious Michelin guide but which do not actually have a star yet.
- Michelin Starred restaurants are 40 one-starred restaurants in Singapore, and several of them are on GrabFood.
As I was browsing GrabFood’s Michelin Recommendations, Madame Fan, which holds a Michelin Plate distinction, caught my eye, as I had been there for dinner before. As its name suggests, it serves classic Cantonese cuisine and dim sum. Undoubtedly, the setting contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the in-dining experience. Vintage glamour is my thing, and the whole restaurant experience, with its lush, dark oriental decor, long walkway and intimate speakeasy setting, always transports me straight to 1920s Shanghai (where I sometimes wish I was born in.) Could having the same food in my humble home replicate the experience?
Madame Fan is already fairly priced for a fancy, glamorous restaurant, in my opinion, but the 20% promotion it had that day didn’t hurt. I placed my order at 12.17pm, and the order arrived around 1.50pm, just slightly late. Certainly, it was a bit of waiting time, as I presume the restaurant needed more time than the average hawker to cook, and my house was a fair distance from the restaurant. Before the food arrived, I made sure to put on a cheongsam and slick on some red lipstick (never mind what the Grab delivery driver thought when I opened my door).
I ordered classic dim sum selections, Shumai, Har Gau and Stir Fried XO Mooli Cake, as well as two main dishes, Braised E-Fu Noodle and Singapore Vermicelli. These were some of my favourite dishes and I was excited to see how they would stack up.
The food came in a paper bag, packed with utmost care. The delivery service was very good too, and I could see that nothing had been jostled or overturned. The Shumai and Har Gau came in paper tubs, while the main dishes came in folded cardboard boxes, reminiscent of Chinese take out boxes in the US. The boxes are sealed with a large sticker, ensuring that there would be no quarrel over whether a delivery driver had taken a bite of your food. The condiments (chilli, soy sauce) were also packed with care and shrink-wrapped to ensure no leakage. Everything was still hot and smelled amazing.
Sealed and labelled. Just in case you forgot which restaurant you ordered from.
Ready to eat, straight from the box.
Even though you could definitely eat straight from the box, I decided to plate the food to feel a little fancier, which made me realize how generous the portions were – the amount shown on my plate was only half of each main dish. I ordered for 3 people and we had enough leftovers for dinner. Madame Fan also thoughtfully provided an instruction card with the order, detailing how to best go about heating up their various dishes, so that you can enjoy every bite to the fullest.
My plating would probably fail Gordon Ramsey’s standards, but I tried.
The Shumai and Har Gau were stuffed generously with filling, but I felt the long trip definitely did not do them any favour. I imagined they would have been a lot more tender and juicier had they been fresh out of the steamer. Nevertheless, the prawn filling of the Har Gau and the pork filling of the Siew Mai were flavourful, fresh and succulent. The goji berry that adorned the Shumai signified that this was not from any ordinary dim sum place, although it didn’t particularly add much to the flavour.
A goji berry adorns each Shumai.
A very succulent Har Gau indeed.
Generous filling of pork meat in the Shumai.
I also happened to eat the Stir Fried XO Mooli Cake at a more humble establishment last week, so I wanted to compare Madame Fan’s version. Despite looking humble, It surpassed all my expectations. The chunks of carrot cake were large and were so soft it melted in my mouth for the perfect textural experience. It was just the right amount of spicy to add a bit of kick without overpowering the delicate taste of the ingredients. The egg and radish bits were tender and soaked up all the flavours. It would have been made even better if the XO flavour was more discernible, but it was extremely enjoyable, nonetheless.
The carrot cake chunks were so soft, I could barely hold it up.
Ee Fu noodles were always my favourite dish of Chinese wedding banquets, so I had to include it in my order. When I opened the box, the fragrance of oyster and mushroom sauce was unmistakable. Although somewhat on the oilier side, every mouth of the tender noodles was packed full of flavour, with generous servings of mushroom and dried scallops as well. As I was busy snapping photos of the Ee Fu Noodle, it was gobbled up ridiculously fast by my family, leaving only a small portion for me. This was definitely the star of the whole order.
Star of the order.
Lastly, Singapore Vermicelli (Sing Chow Bee Hoon) is also another favourite zichar order of mine, so I was excited to try a Michelin Plate version. This also suffered a little from its long trip – the beehoon was a little dry in some spots and some had congealed into lumps, but it didn’t affect the overall taste of the dish too much. Although my family did not like the addition of curry powder in Madame Fan’s rendition, I think it added an interesting flavour profile that differentiated it from the average zichar stall. It also had generous lashings of bell pepper, spring onion and prawns.
Generous amount of prawns.
The main dishes in my order were definitely the star of the show and very well executed, just like the last time I was at Madame Fan’s, in person. I did feel the dim sum, although high quality, was not necessarily much better than other dim sum places. Overall, most of the dishes were nearly as good, or nearly as good as eating there in person. Getting a little dressed up for it also made the experience a bit more special.
Feeling fancy at home.
Overall, I am very satisfied with my experience. As the delivery menu is the same price as in-restaurant, I saved on the service charge and GST even with the delivery fee, and the 20% discount was an extra bonus. Even without the restaurant settings, the thought put into the food was apparent which made the meal many rungs above your average Chinese zichar. I can see and taste why Madame Fan is included in the prestigious Michelin Plate. Although it will never be exactly the same as actually being in the restaurant, I can at least relive the taste at home.
Packed with a lot of care and nearly as good as having it in the actual restaurant, luxury food delivery provides a lot of possibilities for creative date planning especially in this period during the pandemic. Set up a table on your balcony and order some takeout for your very own alfresco dining experience, or throw on a tablecloth and some candles for a date night in. I will definitely be open to ordering expensive meals in for any future special occasions, or if I just feel like a little bit of indulgence.
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