TEITY

TRY EVERY ITEM AT TAO YUAN

Tao Yuan is a Singaporean restaurant.  Specializes in seafood dishes.  The menu also offers a wide range of dimsum and hotpot items.

I launched a project to eat my way through the entire menu, all 222 items (excluding shark’s fin and desserts).

Project rationale: (1) based on a few preliminary experiences, the food seemed generally pretty good, potentially excellent, though I did anticipate some disappointment along the way; (2) the menu was Singaporean/Cantonese, my favorite, which I could eat daily, gratefully; (3) booze, including whisky; (4) no limits on how many dishes I could order at any sitting, including lunch; and (5) it was the kind of place where I could invite others to join me and try many more dishes, which would accelerate the project’s completion.  Not that I had too much time on my hands, rather that I needed something to keep me preoccupied.

To the bitter end, the restaurant consistently proved to be one of the best in the neighborhood, solid on all counts: taste, quality, variety, service, vibe, proximity, maybe price.

Ultimately, TEITY was worth the effort.  I didn’t appreciate every item, as the ratings indicate, a lot of zeros from the hotpot and ones from the dim sum.  Towards the end, admittedly, as the frequency would suggest, I was getting rather tired of the place.  However, as best exemplified by the white pepper lobster, which will remain one of my all-time favorite dishes until the day that I die.  I discovered quite a few gems along the way, enough to maintain an average rating above 2.0, even the hotpot.  While 2.0 may not seem like much quantitatively, I enjoyed every meal nevertheless, great times with great friends and colleagues.  In particular, I must acknowledge the unwavering support of EK, who joined me on 15 visits, without whom the project would’ve taken forever.

Visits

    1. (TEITY 1) 5.088 Chilli Crab (1-6)
    2. (TEITY 2) 5.238 Char Kway Teow (7-11)
    3. (TEITY 3) 5.252 Seafood Hofan (12-15)
    4. (TEITY 4) 5.256 Lapu Lapu with Chopped Chilies (16-22)
    5. (TEITY 5) 5.263 Braised Beancurd with Dried Scallop (23-24)
    6. (TEITY 6-7) 5.264 Fried Rice in Fujian Style (25-33)
    7. (TEITY 8) 5.268 Beancurd Roll with Superior Sauce (34-38)
    8. (TEITY 9) 5.279 Assorted Hot Mezzah (39-41)
    9. (TEITY 10) 5.287 Lotus Leaf Chicken Rice (42-43)
    10. (TEITY 11) 5.288 Special Beef Brisket in Pot (44-50)
    11. (TEITY 12) 5.291 Beef Tenderloin with Special Sauce (51-57)
    12. (TEITY 13) 5.296 Ba Kuh Teh (58-59)
    13. (TEITY 14) 5.298 Braised Pork Belly with Taopok (60-67)
    14. (TEITY 15) 5.299 Pork Bones with Preserved Vegetable Soup (68-79)
    15. (TEITY 16) 5.302 White Pepper Crab (80-86)
    16. (TEITY 17) 5.305 Braised Fish Maw with Sea Cucumber (87-90)
    17. (TEITY 18) 5.307 Shrimp Ball Crab Roe (91-98)
    18. (TEITY 19) 5.309 Steamed Fish Fillet Stuffed with Mashed Shrimp (99-103)
    19. (TEITY 20) 5.313 White Pepper Lobster (104-105)
    20. (TEITY 21) 5.315 Scallops (106-116)
    21. (TEITY 22) 5.318 Cantonese-Style Fresh Drunken Shrimp (117-124)
    22. (TEITY 23) 5.320 Suahe (125-131)
    23. (TEITY 24) 5.321 Fried Spring Roll with Shredded Taro (132-138)
    24. (TEITY 25) 5.322 Shabukity (139-144)
    25. (TEITY 26) 5.324 Singaporean Spareribs (145-152)
    26. (TEITY 27) 5.327 Steamed Fish Fillet with Black Mushroom (153-157)
    27. (TEITY 28) 5.330 Mango Lapu Lapu (158-163)
    28. (TEITY 29) 5.332 The Pilot Spread (164-166)
    29. (TEITY 30) 5.344 Fresh Sliced Squid (167-175)
    30. (TEITY 31) 5.347 Japanese-Style Corn Soup (176-177)
    31. (TEITY 32) 6.001 Braised Superior Whole Abalone (178-184)
    32. (TEITY 33) 6.009 Awful (185-196)
    33. (TEITY 34) 6.031 Fried Fish Skin (197-205)
    34. 6.044 Slipper Lobster in White Pepper Sauce [first white pepper lobster with rock/slipper lobster!]
    35. (TEITY 35) 6.055 TEITY, The Penultimate (206-218)
    36. (TEITY 36) 6.095 TEITY, The Final Egg (219-222)
    37. 6.128 Slipper Lobsters in White Pepper Sauce
    38. 6.209 Mantis Shrimp with Salt & Pepper
    39. 6.297 Rock Lobster in White Pepper Sauce
    40. 6.342 Prawns & Tofu
    41. 7.001 Sizzling Stuff Tofu
    42. 7.049 Sauteed Shrimps Ball with Broccoli
    43. 7.059 Roast Soy Chicken
    44. 7.123 Singaporean Tofu
    45. 7.178 One for the Road: White Pepper Lobster
    46. 7.188 White Pepper Prawns
    47. 7.274 White Pepper Lobster
    48. 8.168 Singapore Prawn Tofu
    49. 8.235 White Pepper Slipper Lobster
    50. 9.225 White Pepper Slipper Lobster
    51. 10.278 White Pepper Slipper Lobster

Screen Shot 2015-05-17 at 3.48.34 PM

Color Coding Legend:

    • BLUE: highly recommended
    • GREEN: respectable
    • YELLOW: mediocre
    • ORANGE: better avoided
    • RED: never again
    • GREY: off-limits (ethical concerns)
    • WHITE: not available

Screen Shot 2015-05-17 at 3.49.05 PM

HIGHLIGHTS

    1. Char Kway Teow (4.0)
    2. Spareribs with Taosi (3.0)
    3. Taro Basket with Seafood (3.5)
    4. Seafood Hofan (4.0)
    5. Sauteed Mix Mushroom in XO Sauce (3.5)
    6. Tiger Lapu Lapu with Chopped Chilies (3.5)
    7. Fried Rice in Fujian Style (4.0)
    8. Seaweed with Minced Shrimp Thick Soup (3.5)
    9. Dried Scallop with Two Kinds Vegetable (3.5)
    10. Beancurd Roll with Superior Sauce (4.0)
    11. Clams in Salted Water (3.5)
    12. Special Beef Brisket in Pot (3.5)
    13. Beef Tenderloin with Special Sauce (3.5)
    14. Ba Kuh Teh (3.5)
    15. Braised Pork Belly with Taopok (3.5)
    16. White Pepper Crab (3.5)
    17. Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple (3.5)
    18. Steamed Fish Fillet Stuffed with Mashed Shrimp (3.5)
    19. Fried Salad Seaweed Rolls (3.5)
    20. White Pepper Lobster (3.5)
    21. Pan-Fried Egg White with Dried Scallop (3.5)
    22. Singaporean Spareribs (3.5)
    23. Roasted Crispy Pork Belly (3.5)

 

146,257.45 PHP = about 3,361.50 USD.  Not all of it from me; I also shelled out a few thousand pesos in tips, like to the guy who tied my shoelaces for me.

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