Swa Garden Teochew Dinner

A group of us went Swa Garden for dinner as we have decided that we wanted something light and simple.  After few round of email discussion on which Teochew restauant to go to, we were decided on Swa Garden, as most of us heard about it, but never had the chance to try.

5 of us squeezed into a nice, sexy, selfish convertible of C, and tried to navigate to 540 MacPherson Road.  When I made the reservation, the lady was told me to look out for Winsor hotel, which none of us had the slightest clue of it.  Anyway, since there were 5 of us, 10 eyes, we figured that we wouldn't have a problem locating it...and tar tar, we managed to reach the place before the time of reservation.  By the way, for those who drive, a better landmark will be the Trinty Christian Church, once you passed the church, Swa Garden is just 2 blocks away.  It is the same row as the famous and expensive MacPherson Kway Chap.

We were beckoned by this authentic looking little Teochew restaurant, and the interior decoraton also feel like you have stepped back in time.   We were given a table right at the quiet corner, they probably think there a group of ladies could be too nosiy..

E deciding on what to eat:

We skipped the set menu and went for alacarte:
1.  Braised Goose
2.  Stirred fried potato leaves with sambal chilli
3.  Steamed Pomfret
4.  Crayfish balls with black pepper
5.  Chye Poh Kway Tiao
6.  Yam Paste (Orr Nee)

Braised Goose:

Steamed Pomfret:

Chye Poh Kway Tiao:

Yam Paste:

Potato Leaves:

The steamed pomfret was a huge disappointment.  We would expect that this would be a signature dish of a Teochew restaurant.  It is always not easy to get this dish right, the timing must be perfect, the freshness of the fish, the ingredients used cannot cover the taste of the fish.  Somehow this fish had a tinge of fishy smell, and not as fresh as we thought.  So in the end we rejected this dish, and the lady was kind enough to take it off the bill.

The highlight of the meal was Yam Paste- Orr Nee.  I think Swa Garden beats Lee Kui in her Orr Nee.  It was rich, with pumpkin and gingko nuts, and they use vegetable oil instead of lard.  V and I had 2 portion!! heehee

Overall rating:  7.5/10.  A family friendly place, definitely a place to bring your parents, grand parents, and babies :-)  Reservation during weekend highly recommended.


Swa Garden Restaurant
540 Macpherson Road
Tel:  6744 5009