By Lee Pei Qi

THE thought of ginseng in chawanmushi made me a little nervous.

It didn’t sound like a natural pairing to me.

But, you know what? It wasn’t just good, it was even better than ordinary chawamushi (Japanese egg custard).

Far from overpowering the custard, the ginseng complemented it nicely, giving it a subtle fragrance.

An added bonus? The gingko nut at the bottom of the cup.

The ginseng/chawanmushi combination is just one of the many herbal dishes you’ll find at Sakura.

The restaurant’s herbal promotion means that you can find more than 10herbal dishes among the more than 100dishes in its international buffet.

The live prawn herbal soup was another winning combination. The prawns were large, fresh and juicy – and no surprise, as they’d been caught by the chef just before they were cooked.

The soup itself was a rich, fragrant broth, thanks to the presence of red dates, ginseng and wolfberries. The herbal taste was not too overwhelming and after finishing a bowl, I found myself wanting another.

The herbal tea egg was disappointing, though.

The strong egg smell was initially off-putting. I didn’t like the bitter sauce it came in either, and found it a challenge to finish my egg.

If, like me, you’re used to the milder version at neighbourhood pasar malams, you may want to avoid ordering it here.

But I recommend the superior emperorchicken, which made up for my egg disappointment.

Just the smell of the steaming, savoury dish of chicken stewed with red dates, wolfberries and root herbs made my mouthwater.

And it tastes as good as it smells.

The chicken was tender, the sauce was of a good consistency and its herbal taste was delectable.

The herbal promotion, which ends in mid-April, is available at all eight Sakura outlets in Singapore.

My take? It’s more than worthwhile at the prices, given the good spread and excellent herbal dishes.

source : newpaper.asia1.com.sg