Palace Garden
"Palace Garden, a luxury akin to a caged bird.
This luxury is a complex and overtly ostentatious one, reminiscent of the 'Grand View Garden' style, accumulating various flamboyant elements such as a giant chrysanthemum embroidery that took 60 craftsmen six months to complete, several large double-sided flower and bird embroideries, countless crystal lamps and various collectibles, hundreds of custom chrysanthemum-themed dinner plates from Baccarat.
Amidst the flurry of floral shadows, the light reflections, the sound of delicate music, and the dream-like worldliness, all the splendors of heaven and earth are gathered, the result of so much effort. I acknowledge its luxury but do not necessarily agree with its beauty. Through the accumulation of such luxurious elements, one reads a sense of melancholy of impending doom. From the prison-like gates of the restaurant to the thorny semi-private rooms, it seems to signal that this is a palace, as well as a prison.
Since the restaurant takes its design inspiration from the Dream of the Red Chamber, it must understand that the Red Chamber is a grand tragedy of an era, where no matter how expensive the setting, in the end, it all comes to naught; and although chrysanthemums symbolize noble sentiments in poetry, in the 'Chrysanthemum Poetry Meeting' of the Red Chamber, it ends with 'The Remaining Chrysanthemums', summarizing the previous splendor and hinting at the decline after the peak.
The head chef claims to have sought apprenticeship under the former imperial kitchen, leading me to expect Taishi cuisine. However, in terms of the dishes, they are truly unpalatable. That day, two dishes I wanted to try – the crab claw and stir-fried blue dragon with tangerine peel – were not available, so I ordered a few dim sums, along with the so-called signature dishes 'Taishi Phoenix Soup' and 'Imperial Garden Mango Pomelo Sago', and a 'Seafood Tofu Pot', a simple few dishes that nearly knocked me out three times with their smell.
'Black Caviar Jade Abalone Siu Mai', served in a sloppy presentation, topped with caviar on extremely hot abalone, the high temperature brings out the fishy smell, making the whole piece of abalone stink.
'Taishi Phoenix Soup', named after Taishi, of course, I had to try, substituting partridge for snake meat, simmered together with fish maw, and after serving, lemon grass, chrysanthemum petals, and crispy chips are added according to personal preference. The whole bowl of soup is filled with a stench reminiscent of a cheap Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, with carelessly processed partridge meat.
'Seafood Tofu Pot', another dish that came with an overwhelming stench, containing fish paste, crab claw meat, shrimp meat, tofu, etc. By name, it seems like a safe choice, but the seafood used had a cobbled-together leftover style, and the source of the stench was a mystery, so it was sent back as soon as it was served.
'New Style Mango Pomelo Sago' was the only decent dish of the meal, adding a scoop of ginger-flavored ice cream to the base of mango pomelo sago, resulting in a refreshing taste without losing the creaminess. The ginger slices could have been marinated with more care.
