Monday, January 24, 2011

Shi Lin Podium

A restaurant named Shi Lin serving Fried Chicken Chop would definitely land on my restaurants-to-try list. I blogged about my chicken chop quest after having tasted the fried chicken chop being sold at Taiwan's Shilin or night market. I've tried different chicken chops from Ersao, Savory, Serenitea, Big Daddy, but none came close to what I had in Taiwan.

My sister was handed a flyer last month as she was on her way to Borough at Podium. She spotted fried chicken chop in the pricelist. Having been as gaga as I was over the chicken chop at Taiwan, she immediately told me about the place. We just had to try it naturally.

We arrived at Shi Lin before 8pm. The place wasn't full but several tables inside were already reserved. So we settled for one outside. We were both famished, having had nothing save for Happy Lemon milk tea 3 hours ago. We ordered conservatively despite our hunger. From the uncomplicated menu we chose Xiao Long Bao (P128), Fried Pork Chop with egg and rice (P185), and Fried Chicken Chop (P168). My sister resumed her picture-taking of the open kitchen. Before she even finished, the pork chop rice already arrived. Our xiao long pao soon followed, then the chicken chop not long after. We were pleasantly surprised with the speedy service.




The pork chop, we were a bit disappointed to find, was a bit bland. The crust was tasty though. The rice was good. Actually, I'd have to say that the rice was better than the pork chop.



The xiao long bao were nestled on top of a cloth. I'm used to seeing them placed on top of thin slices of carrots. I lift a piece up with my chopsticks and see the broth weighing the bottom. I put a drop or two of black vinegar. It is only with xiao long bao that I use the stuff, the smell and taste are otherwise abhorrent to me. I pop the xiao long bao into my mouth. The wrapper was thicker than I preferred, the meat a tad chewy (my sister felt it was slightly overcooked), but the broth was full of flavor. Hands down, my favorite would be Din Tai Fung's xiao long bao but one has to travel all the way to Hong Kong for that. Locally, Suzhou, Crystal Jade, and HK Choi are pretty even. For me at least.

On to the fried chicken chop, the reason why we were even there. The golden brown crust was sprinkled with slightly reddish powder, but it's not chili powder, as one would initially think. Unlike the pork chop, the chicken chop was not the least bit bland. It was quite good, in fact, the best among those I've tasted locally, but also the most expensive. However, while it is the best, it's just the best so far. It's still not as good as the original.


Halfway through our meal, we decided we had room for one more dimsum. So we ordered Shrimp and Pork Shaomai (P145). By this time, there were more people in the restaurant. And our additional order took a while to arrive, and a bit of following up too. This one, like the xiao long bao, had a broth, which seemed odd for siomai. It's as if we ordered xiao long bao again, but with shrimp on top and a more artistic appearance.

We were curious about the noodles as well but we were already full. We'll save it for our next visit. While Shi Lin did not quite meet our expectations, we would probably be back, if we get a hankering for chicken chop.

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