Thursday, December 1, 2011

Prima Taste Kitchen @ The Centrepoint

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Mention Prima Taste and many of us will know the popular local brand that offers the very best of Singapore's much loved dishes through ready-to-cook pastes and premixes. Building on the success of Prima Taste ready-to-cook pastes and premixes, Prima Taste created the Prima Taste concept restaurant to serve 'True Singapore Cuisine'.

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Located conveniently at level one of The Centrepoint at Orchard Road, Prima Taste Kitchen is a quick-serve restaurant which showcases Singapore food as well as variety and authentic good taste of Prima Taste products. The restaurant features sleek furnishings and a modern ambience accented with Singapore scenes and icons. Diners can also enjoy 'live' cooking demonstrations through the showcase kitchen.

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For the food tasting session, I was introduced to some of the signature local favourites that is available on Prima Taste Kitchen menu. First up, I tried the handrolled Popiah filled with refreshing shredded vegetables, bamboo shoot, minced pork and mushroom, prawn and egg slices. I disliked Popiah that is wet and messy to eat with. Thumbs up to Prima Taste Kitchen, the fresh Popiah skin although thin can be easily picked up without the ingredients falling apart. I also noticed the Popiah is very popular with diners. Almost every table ordered it.

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Popiah 4.5/5

Next I get to try the Rojak. I was quite surprised that Prima Taste has their own sauce mix for making the Rojak. The Rojak sauce mix was really good! It tasted as good as some of the Rojak stalls or even better. These stalls can probably consider buying the Rojak sauce mix from Prima Taste instead.

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Rojak 4.5/5

Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of the signature dishes at Prima Taste Kitchen. The poached chicken was very tender and came with a thin jelly like skin. The chicken-flavoured rice was not oily and very fragrant. It also came with a medley of chilli, ginger and black soya sauces to further enhance the dish.

Hainanese Chicken Rice
Hainanese Chicken Rice 4.2/5

Laksa is my favourite local dish and I have high expectation when I tried the Laksa here. The Laksa has a rich and spicy coconut gravy which did not disappoint me. It is served with rice noodles, prawns, fish cake, cockles and tau pok. The rice noodles can also be purchased at the restaurant if you intend to cook some Laksa at home.

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Laksa 4.5/5

For a good bowl of Prawn Mee it is all down to the soup that makes the different. It must have the prawny taste and flavour from hours of brewing the prawn shells. How did the Prima Taste mix fare? Excellent! The soup was really very flavourful with the prawny taste.

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Prawn Mee 4.2/5

Guess what? The Prima Taste Prawn Mee mix is also used to prepare the Fried Hokkien Mee dish! I thought that was pretty cool. Getting a pack of Prawn Mee mix and you can cook two different Singapore local dishes out of it. I really enjoyed the semi wet version of the Fried Hokkien Mee that infused with the prawny broth.

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Fried Hokkien Mee 4.2/5

Many of my work associates from Greater China love to get the Bak Kut Teh Prima Taste mix whenever they are in town. Now they can sample both the dish and purchase the product at the same location. The Teochew style Bak Kut Teh has very tender pork ribs which came of the bone easily. The peppery soup came with a mild herbal taste which was a nice balance not overpowering each other. Personally I would prefer it to be more peppery.

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Bak Kut Teh 4.2/5

The Curry Chicken has a rich and creamy gravy. However it lacked the spiciness that I was looking for. Anyway it is just a personally preference. The dish also came with white rice but you can request for the chicken-flavoured rice. The curry goes very well with either rice.

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Curry Chicken 4.2/5

For those that has a sweet tooth, you can also check out the desserts on their menu. The Grass Jelly with Longan in Gula Melaka was a bit pedestrian but a refreshing dessert after a hot day shopping at Orchard Road. The Chendol on the other hand was a beautiful dessert with its sweet and strong flavours coming from the Gula Melaka and coconut milk. It would make the drink smoother if the shaved ice could be finer.

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Grass Jelly with Longan in Gula Melaka 4/5 and Chendol 4.2/5

The Almond Pudding with Longan is a must try. I would have gone for more if not for all the earlier food tasting dishes. The balance in the almond flavours, neither too strong or light and with the right firmness in texture made it a very enjoyable dessert.

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Almond Pudding with Longan 4.5/5

The Prima Taste ready-to-cook pastes and premixes are readily available for purchase at Prima Taste Kitchen. Regular and big users can save considerably through their party packs which is ONLY available at the outlet or online. In addition, certain popular products like Bak Chor Mee and Lor Mee are only available in party packs.

If you want to pick up some cooking skills and tips using Prima Taste pastes and products, you can check out Prima Taste's cooking workshop.

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Overwhelmed by all the delicious dishes at Prima Taste Kitchen? Here is a tip for you. You can go for their Tea Time Special promotion between Mon to Friday from 230pm to 530pm where you can try the different dishes in sampling portions that would not hurt your pocket and stomach.


[CLOSED]
Prima Taste Kichen
The Centrepoint
176 Orchard Road
#01-63/64
Singapore 238843
Website: http://www.pfs.com.sg  http://www.primataste.com
Nearest MRT: Somerset (NS Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 10am - 10pm

Direction:
1) Alight at Somerset MRT station. Exit to Orchard Road. Cross the road and walk to The Centrepoint. Journey time about 5 mins.

9 comments:

  1. did u buy some ready packs and cook for us? :D

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  2. @Miss Tam Chiak, did not but definitely need to consider since it is easy to cook with it.

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  3. Seems like u and ellena ate more than us! Still got popiah and bak kut teh! Haha

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  4. Hi,

    what do you mean about being able to try sample portions between 230pm to 530pm? How much?

    btw, next time when you are there, there is a chinese restaurant called 'The Eastern Restaurant' at the same level. It's Xiao Long Bao is v good!

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  5. @Charlene, we have more people. Auntie Liza was with us.

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  6. @Foodie FC, basically it comes in smaller portions whereby you can try more dishes from the menu. Example 2 dishes + 1 drink at $4.50++

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  7. Never thought of trying local food in prima taste. Will do so for the sampling deal :)

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  8. Hi Adrian, I think it is quite a good place to go for lunch too if you want to avoid the crowd at Orchard :) Hope you will like the food there.

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  9. Sounds too much like advertising Prima products.

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