We like little plates because we like to sample things.  Thus, we heard about The East Bureau and decided to give it a try as we read about some of the small plate offerings that were available.

Located in the Roof Garden at Marina Square, it’s quite a nice little location, a little removed from the mall itself.  The views are also quite nice up there.

The menu is quite diverse and they do have a set menu where you get to choose the main, with a set starter and dessert.  Therefore, we decided to try one of these in addition to some smaller plates.

The starter for the fixed menu was a Chawanmushi, a Thai Pork and Basil Dumpling and a Sotong You Tiao.

The Chawanmushi was very flavorful, but it could have gone without all the toppings.  The Dumpling was nice, but pretty average and the Sotong You Tiao was too soaked in the sweet sauce that accompanied it.

A closer look at the Dumpling and the You Tiao.

The main we chose was a Black Bean Beef Hor Fun.  Using linguine instead of hor fun, it definitely has the taste that is reminiscent of the Cantonese style Hor Fun, but it’s just not the same as using the nice soft and juicy Hor Fun that makes this dish.

Dessert was an underwhelming bit of Lime Jelly with a Brownie Bite.

The set menu was ok, not bad for a single price, but when you order the small plates a la carte, that’s where you get the nice flavors.

Here we have Ngoh Hiang Spring Rolls.  Cigar-shaped and inside is the nice juiciness of the Nhog Hiang that you know and love.  Instead of the bean curd wrap on the outside, it’s put into the spring roll wrapper, making it crispier and a nice. The inside was a nice mince of pork and prawn, with the flavors that are there.

Lychee Sweet and Sour Pork.  You know me, I love Sweet and Sour Pork.  This one had great flavor, but it has a little bit of an issue like in many places – the pieces of meat are too small, thus when you fry them and get them crispy, the meat is overdone and as a result, a little tough.  That’s what we have here.

To me, if you make the piece of meat bigger, when you fry it, you still get crispiness, but the meat inside is done nicely because it can take more time to crisp and cook.

Cereal Prawn Skewers.  An interesting take on the classic.  A little overdone, but the flavors are all there.

For dessert we tried their Menage A Trois, a mini-croquembouche with three different flavors of filling in the profiterole.  Salted Egg Custard, Orh Nee and Black Sesame.

Look at the Salted Egg oozing out. 

The Orh Nee is on the left and Black Sesame on the right.

A nice end, not too sweet and just nice.

I recommend this place, go with a few people and try the different items.  The tastes are familiar, but redone in a modern way.  Some good and some just miss the mark.