Summer Palace: The Renewal of a Cantonese Icon in Singapore

Conrad Singapore Orchard, 445 Rooms in an Urban Canopy

Away from the bustle of Orchard Road, in its quieter upper stretch, Conrad Singapore Orchard is tucked within a leafy enclave that tempers the shopping and entertainment frenzy of the city’s most emblematic district. Just steps from the Singapore Botanic Gardens, this urban oasis of 445 rooms and suites cultivates a constant closeness to nature, amplified by generous views and an iconic light-filled atrium. Recently renovated, the hotel reveals modernized interiors with a contemporary aesthetic, punctuated by art and botanical touches, while preserving John Portman’s architectural signature and cascading floors that evoke hanging gardens.

The Return of an Icon: A Summer Palace for Today

Summer Palace reclaims its place as an icon with quiet elegance, like an imperial garden rediscovered in the light of the present day. Reimagined by Matthew Shang Design Office and unveiled in June 2024, the decor weaves a subtle dialogue between Chinese heritage and confident modernism: a terrace paved in silver travertine chevrons, shaded by trees, extends the serenity beneath John Portman’s atrium. From the entrance, a gallery of artworks and rare artifacts announces a place conceived as a jewel box, where every detail — oak screens, carefully chosen pieces, controlled perspectives — prepares the mind for an experience as aesthetic as it is gastronomic.

Inside, the space is composed of private alcoves, upholstered banquettes and intimate salons, orchestrating a precious sense of privacy suited equally to celebrations and everyday rendezvous. The eye is drawn to the hand-painted De Gournay wallpaper, a tribute to scenes from the original Summer Palace and Beijing’s gardens, while aubergine lacquers, taupe and lilac accents, powdery pastels and a soothing seafoam blue shape a refined palette, echoed even in the uniforms. The Venetian plaster ceiling, emphasized by deep moldings, glows with bespoke Preciosa blown-glass lighting, and the tableware — Legle and Christofle — completes this luxurious mise en scene, where the tradition of the shared meal becomes a contemporary ritual.

40 Years of Cantonese Cuisine and a Michelin Star Since 2017

At Summer Palace, Cantonese cuisine unfolds in an interpretation that is both faithful and sophisticated, carried by more than four decades of savoir-faire and crowned with one Michelin star uninterrupted since 2017. From dim sum of jewel-like precision to intensely fragrant roasts, double-boiled soups and live seafood delivered daily, each dish celebrates the purity of the produce and the exactness of the gestures. The menu, designed for sharing a la carte as well as for a nuanced tasting menu, evolves with the seasons to preserve the freshness of the ingredients and make every plate a promise of inner well-being, from the superior broth infused for 12 hours to the cast-iron wok forged in Hong Kong, where the famed “dragon’s breath” comes alive.

The experience continues in a world of beverages where Chinese tradition meets carefully mastered contemporary creativity. On arrival, the staging of an impressive wine collection faces a space dedicated to tea, announcing a complete sensory journey: fine wines from around the world, with particular attention to rare artisanal Chinese wines, and a program of exceptional teas sourced across China. Service rituals, tableside tea ceremony and tea-infused cocktails — the “tea-tails” — are orchestrated with elegance by wine sommeliers, tea sommeliers and bartenders, for gastronomy that is at once accessible, precise and intensely refined.

Chef Liu Ching Hai, From Hong Kong to Singapore

At the helm of Summer Palace, Executive Chef Liu Ching Hai embodies absolute dedication to craftsmanship and authenticity in high Cantonese cuisine. Originally from Hong Kong, he has spent more than three decades refining a philosophy guided by the timeless triptych 色香味 — color, aroma and taste — learned in childhood and matured through an international path, from Kowloon to Singapore and then within prestigious houses across Southeast Asia. A protege of great Hong Kong masters, he now creates seasonal menus, both a la carte and tasting, where the freshness of meticulously sourced ingredients nourishes a narrative of season and origin. Beside him, a brigade of artisans perpetuates the right gestures: dim sum delicately shaped by hand by Chef Leong Kwok Sing, as well as Peking duck, char siew and other roasts executed over an open flame according to traditional techniques, with irreproachable precision.

High-Flying Cantonese Cuisine

The amuse-bouche opens like a prelude of millimetric precision, accompanied by a delicately infused cold brew of Chinese white tea, designed to refresh and awaken the palate. On the tray, watermelon becomes a jewel case: cut into fine slices and filled with pumpkin, it plays on the contrast between watery freshness and vegetal sweetness, lifted by orange zest that adds a bright note. Alongside it, spiced pork belly draws inspiration from a traditional Chinese dish, but appears here as a cake, cut into neat cubes, with a melting texture and warm aromatic depth; a few crisp shards add a toasted, almost addictive note. Finished with edible flowers, the whole creates an elegant opening, playful yet resolutely gastronomic.

Following this first appetite-whetting note, the plate presents a trio of bites that cultivates the contrast between crispness and silkiness. The crispy suckling pig arrives as a small golden square, topped with a dome of Kaluga caviar with briny relief, lifted by a touch of shrimp paste and a few almond shards that extend the bite. Beside it, the Peking duck roll, wrapped in a fine sheet, encloses duck with crackling skin, refreshed by cucumber and bound by a house truffle sauce, deeper and more earthy. Finally, the crispy prawn is coated in a mango and passion fruit mayonnaise, bright and tangy, which illuminates the palate and balances the frying with a perfectly measured exotic note.

The table turns toward the delicacy of a broth, with double-boiled treasures of the sea, presented like a pumpkin jewel box: first steamed, it offers golden flesh forming a velvety rim around a clear broth, infused at length according to the double-boiling technique. Inside, the soup reveals delicate marine treasures — prawn, crab meat and scallop — barely touched by gentle heat, preserving their pearly texture and briny sweetness. The herbal chicken broth brings elegant depth, while the pumpkin diffuses a subtly sweet roundness, creating a refined harmony between land and sea, as comforting as it is precious.

In this marine momentum, the progression gains intensity with the braised 3-head South Australian abalone, which arrives like a treasure placed at the center of an immaculate plate: a lacquered abalone, deep amber-brown, coated in a supreme oyster sauce whose shine promises both marine and buttery intensity. The texture, patiently tenderized by braising, plays on the contrast between softness and slight resistance; the sauce, concentrated yet elegant, extends the flavor into a mouthwatering finish. The pairing with a 30-year-aged pu-erh tea completes the experience: its notes of undergrowth, soft leather and damp earth envelop the iodine, polish the richness of the sauce and leave an impression of hushed luxury.

The baked stuffed crab shell follows, like a small vessel set at the center of the immaculate plate, its beautifully gratinated surface leaning toward amber gold and promising comforting warmth. Beneath this lightly crisp crust hides a generous stuffing of crab meat, blended with finely softened mushrooms and onion, bringing sweetness, woody fragrance and a touch of natural sugar. On tasting, the whole cultivates elegance without ostentation: the crab’s delicate brininess, the roundness of the woodland notes and the softness of the preparation come together perfectly.

The “braised Inaniwa noodles, lobster, scallop, conpoy” continue the dinner. The fine, silky Inaniwa nestle within the dish with almost airy elegance, punctuated by pearly scallops and firm-fleshed pieces of lobster, while a shower of spring onion brings freshness and relief. The conpoy, discreet yet decisive, infuses briny and smoky depth, giving the dish that haute couture atelier length on the palate.

Finally, to close the story on an infused sweetness rather than sugary opulence, double-boiled hasma appears as an amber broth, clear and delicately syrupy, where small translucent pearls of hasma float like a silky jelly. Red dates bring fruity, lightly caramelized sweetness, while ginseng leaves an elegant herbal, almost medicinal note in the background. Served in immaculate porcelain, the dessert plays the card of refined comfort, halfway between a precious infusion and a light entremets, before gracefully giving way to a petit four service: miniature flaky bites and golden-hued jellied confections, accompanied by a dark tea with roasted accents.

New York’s Golden Age Rediscovered at Manhattan Bar

Manhattan Bar revives New York’s cocktail golden age with panache in a hushed atmosphere where olive leather banquettes, polished tables and an elevated marble bar compose a decor as glamorous as it is contemporary. Ranked among Asia’s best bars, it cultivates the art of bringing forgotten recipes back to life through artisanal spirits and in-house precision, while offering a cellar of more than 220 American whiskies. The new Seasons of Manhattan menu presents 31 creations that capture the rhythm of the seasons in New York, not forgetting a non-alcoholic chapter. In this spirit of storytelling and staging, I chose Where the Boys Are, a bold alliance of tequila and mezcal energized by melon, plum, blackberry and citrus, while my husband preferred the Blooming Daisy mocktail, all freshness, blending Crossip House Blend, bee pollen, alcohol-free curacao, pineapple oleo and citrus; all accompanied by bites worthy of the occasion, designed to bring gourmandise and glass into conversation, season after season.

My Review

At Summer Palace, the experience asserts itself with rare clarity: a decor reinvented with tact, where Chinese heritage converses with hushed modernity, and Cantonese cuisine conducted with absolute precision by Chef Liu Ching Hai, distinguished with one Michelin star since 2017. Everything here is a matter of rightness — the jewel-like precision of the dim sum, the brilliance of the flame-roasted meats, the depth of long-infused broths, the clarity of textures and the poise of the sauces — while the service, tea ceremony and pairings around fine wines and exceptional teas transform the meal into a ritual. It stays with you for a long time.