Previously, I visited Nanjing Impressions in Guangzhou (you can find the post here), as they also opened a branch here at Plaza Singapura back in 2017, I decided to give it a try.
The Plaza Singapura branch is located on the 4th floor of Plaza Sing Annex, directly opposite Ya Kun Toast. It has the same design as its Guangzhou branch, with a very traditional Chinese concept.
Once you step into the restaurant, you feel like you have time-travelled back to Qinhuai River, Nanjing in ancient China. The place is illuminated with yellow lanterns, each lantern bears the name of a dish on their menu. The background music is Qinhuai Xiaoqu (秦淮小曲), it is a kind of Chinese opera popular in Nanjing, very soft and tender. Qinhuai River and Qinhuai Xiaoqu were made famous by a Tang Dynasty poet, Du Mu (杜牧), in his poem Berthing at Night Along Qinhuai River.
泊 秦 淮
杜 牧
烟笼寒水月笼沙，夜泊秦淮近酒家。
商女不知亡国恨，隔江犹唱后庭花。Literally, the poem means:
In a foggy night, my boat berthed along Qinhuai River near the drinking places. The resident singers didn't care about the sadness that their home country had been annexed, they were still singing the song Backyard Flower.
I don't know what Backyard Flower is in botanic terms, but it is a form of poetry invented by the last Emperor of the Chen Dynasty, which was annexed by Sui Dynasty.
Ok, enough history stuff, back to the modern restaurant. At first, I thought the Qinhuai Xiaoqu was from some recording, but hell no, there was actually a stage at the very back of the restaurant and a team were singing live!
I ordered quite a bit of food, for one person, as I wanted to try as many as possible, but mostly were small portions.
Wanton in Supreme Chicken Broth, $4.80++
I didn't have any expectation for the wanton with chicken broth. It is such a common dish, but then it kind of exceeded my expectation. The wanton skin was very smooth, and filling was fresh. The Supreme chicken broth also lived up to its name. I must give a thumbs up for this dish.
Celestial roast duck dumplings (left), $4.80++, Steamed shrimp and silky gourd dumpling, $5.80++
The celestial roast duck dumpling was kind of a strange combination. The dumplings were steamed, usually steamed food goes for its freshness, and exhibits the ingredients original taste, but in this case, the filling was actually roast duck meat. The fillings gave out a roast fragrance, there was quite a clash of tastes. You should give it a try, it is unique. But don't blame it if you don't like it.
The steamed shrimp and silky gourd dumplings were average. Somehow, it didn't bring out the freshness of the shrimps, nor the silky gourd. I could only tell one flavor - salty.
Braised Pig Trotters, $5.80++
The braised pig trotters should be a very 'safe' dish, as even the normal coffee shop stalls can turn up with finger-licking pig trotters. Hell no, the pig trotters here were a failure. The skin was hard, and the worse was I felt something spiky on the skin. Go figure what it could be. Take my advice, don't order this at this place.
Imperial Scholar Spring Roll, $5.80++
The spring roll was ok, but it was a bit too salty to my taste, and a bit too oily.
If you want to have a bit more privacy, you can reserve one of those individual rooms. It is quite nice for a few friends gathering together to chitchat.
Will I go back to Nanjing Impression again? Yes, definitely, but not so much for their food, but for that atmosphere, that feel of traveling back in time.
