[FOOD] Celebrates the Lunar New Year at Yellow Pot, Six Senses Duxton

Yellow Pot, located at Six Senses Duxton is a contemporary Chinese restaurant with a thematic colour of yellow, black and gold. Giving off a luxurious feel, this place was apparently designed by the highly acclaimed British designer Anouska Hempel. It was a strong contrast compared to the rest of the shops nearby.

To celebrate the Lunar New Year, Yellow Pot had specially designed four lunch and dinner menus that were focused on natural ingredients, local food production and sustainability. Helmed by Singaporean Chef Sebastian Goh, the dishes were defined by flavours and refined preparation techniques that steered clear of unhealthy additives such as flavour enhancers, lactose, gluten and sugar. In other words, you won't be able to find any MSG in your dishes.

The tasting session was a small and intimate event with my family and another couple whom we chatted merrily over the meal. I really appreciate the last minute special arrangement for me to bring my girl along. I think she must be the youngest diner that night in the whole restaurant.

We began our dining experience on an auspicious note with Yellow Pot's house-made King Ora Salmon Yu Sheng. The medley of colourful salad was prepared with fresh and organically grown vegetables and sustainably sourced seafood. One would know the difference straight away between a fresh yu sheng and non-fresh yu sheng. This was definitely one of the best Yu Sheng I had. The crispy gold crackers were exceptionally yummy.

The Yellow Pot Roast Duck must be eaten with the plum sauce which was a good mix of sweet and sour. I loved the crispy roasted duck skin and the meat was not too tough either. One of the best roasted duck meat I ever had.

For soup, we had the Double Boiled Chicken Soup with Fish Maw, Cordyceps Flower, Morel and Yellow Fungus (Tremella Frondosa). The taste of the soup was very well balanced that made it both delicious and nutritious. After finishing the soup, I feel healthier already.

The Baked Toothfish Vegetable Reduction was one of my favourite dish of the whole meal. Majority of us thought that it was a cod fish because of how it was presented but it's was actually a toothfish which is also part of the cod fish family. The tender and soft flesh was marinated with soy glaze which made the fish taste a little sweet on the outside and juicy on the inside. This type of fish is mainly used in French chain restaurant thus it is special that it appeared in a Chinese restaurant.

Thorny Sea Cucumber with Abalone and Fish Maw was served next. We had a very difficult guess as to what was the white colour ingredient which tasted soft and slimy. When the waitress gave us the introduction of the ingredient, we were shocked. It was actually Fish Maw. Yes, fresh fish maw instead of the deep fried one. An additional point to the abalone which was extremely huge.

Another of my favourite dish was the X.O. Tiger Prawn. I was so happy to see this when it was served. Like all the other dishes, the prawns are so fresh and it's the special sauce that brought out the flavours.

When it was time to serve the staple of the meal which was the Wok Fried Rice with Seafood, Crabmeat and Salted Egg Yolk, the whole table was already quite full. I felt that the salted egg yolk was not too overpowering and taste of the seafood was evident.

Poached Spinach with Braised Bailing Mushroom and Sun-dried Oyster was the only vegetable dish of the meal and was served last. After eating so much meat and seafood, it's good to have a change to some vegetables. That was a generous serving of oysters I would say but I am not a fan of oysters so I only took the spinach.

We had the Steamed Chinese Sweet Cake and Red Tea with Sesame Glutinous Rice Dumpling as dessert to end the meal. It was delicious and I was able to stuff the whole sweet cake into my mouth in just one bite.

Throughout the meal, we had the Dian Hong Pure Gold as tea. There are 14 different kind of tea to choose from thus I asked the waitress there to recommend which was good. This is a premium Chinese Black Tea whereby only the tea buds are used in the processing. Grown in Yunnan, the tea has a unique sweet taste.

I would highly recommend this place to go to for Chinese New Year reunion meal as the price is pretty reasonable considering the kind of fresh ingredients you can get. The restaurant also has a bar inside and is able to serve alcohol making it a great chilling venue where diners are not rushed to go back but stay for drinks and chit chat.