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Bosses – Dining in a Secret Society

Rating:

By Veron Ang

I really thought I had run out of restaurants to visit at VivoCity! But this time, I found a new place to check out — Bosses, a Chinese restaurant with a secret society (黑社会) concept. From what I saw, other than the name and the fact that all wait staff wore uniforms with the Chinese characters “黑社会”, there was nothing particularly secret society-like about the restaurant.

The place is decked out in black, with chandelier lights and beautiful spiral motifs decorating the walls (which also happen to be mirrors). The whole decor is very chic, which I find rather unusual for a Chinese restaurant. I like it very much!

And for now, tell me, are you ready for an 8-course meal?

Photo by NinjaHelloKitty

Crispy Duck Salad (香酥鸭沙)
S$25++

The duck salad was a mixture of fruits, vegetables and slivers of duck meat. While I found the portion to be severely lacking for a $25 dish, the sweetness and sourness of the fruits complemented the taste of the duck very well. Still, this is one dish I would steer clear of due to its hefty price tag.

Stir-fried Sze Chuan Prawns with Dried Chili & Walnut

Stir-fried Sze Chuan Prawns with Dried Chili & Walnut
?++

A hot favourite among all of us at the table was the stir-fried sze chuan prawns. Rather than the conventional cashew nuts, the chef had tossed in walnuts instead. It worked! The result was heavenly. The tenderness of the prawns was a perfect contrast for the crunchy and crispy fried walnuts. I could find no fault with this dish. Everyone around the table was oohing and ahhing at the delightful taste of the walnuts!

Braised Soup with Assorted Meat & Fried Scallops

Braised Soup with Assorted Meat & Fried Scallops
?++

What I did find somewhat puzzling was the braised soup. It was good and had a thick scallop taste. But I didn’t think there was any assorted meat in it despite what the menu stated; I only found strips of mushroom.

Gooseberry Beancurd Skin with Small Pak Choy

Gooseberry Beancurd Skin with Small Pak Choy (Chinese cabbage)
S$12++

The gooseberry beancurd skin with small pak choy (chinese cabbage) was easily the most forgettable dish by any standard. Despite its nice and exotic-sounding name, it was in fact very bland and lacking in flavour. This dish looked pretty cheap to me.

Steamed Cod Fish with Garlic & Chili

Steamed Cod Fish with Garlic & Chili
S$25++

Ahhh… Cod fish! That’s like my second most favourite fish in the world (after salmon). The portion of cod fish served was really generous. The soy sauce soupy base was really tasty too.

Crispy Chicken with Garlic Crisps

Crispy Chicken with Garlic Crisps (蒙古风沙鸡)
S$18/$34++

When the crispy chicken was served, it looked pretty impressive especially with all that garlic crisps.

Hold on! Is that a chicken head at the bottom left corner of the dish? I just saw it whilst blogging this post! Argh! Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Right now it looks a little disturbing.

Crispy Chicken with Garlic Crisps

As it turned out, the chicken was nothing spectacular. I think the meat hadn’t been marinaded properly or something. It was tasteless!

Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce

Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce (酱海鲜炒饭)
S$12/$18/$24++

The seafood fried rice with XO sauce was awesome! Wow, it was the most fragrant and flavourful thing ever. I didn’t know rice could taste so good. It must be the XO sauce at work!

Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce

It tasted even better with chopped green chilli! Chomp, chomp. Yum, yum.

Signature Golden Flowing Custard Bun

Signature Golden Flowing Custard Bun (招牌流沙包)
S$4.80++

But! The most interesting and noteworthy dish had to be the dessert — bosses’ signature golden flowing custard bun! Now, that’s a real mouthful.

Signature Golden Flowing Custard Bun

On the surface the buns looked plain, innocent and unassuming, perhaps even adorable. But upon piercing each bun with a fork, hot yellow paste flows out! Many diners were caught by surprise!

The yellow paste is a delightful mixture of salted egg yolk and sweet custard. Yummy! Susan hui, the restaurant manager, proudly declared that bosses is the only place in Singapore where this custard bun can be found!

Chinese Tea

Throughout the meal, there was constant free-flowing Chinese tea. I’m not a fan of Chinese tea, but I really dug the glass teapots that were used. The little blue glass leaf perched on the lid of each teapot was so intricate!

Other than the overall good food and nice ambience (the full length glass windows provide diners a clear view of the sea), service is wonderful too, and certainly very un-secret society. My only gripe is that the prices here are a tad on the high side!

I heard they serve dim sum lunch too. Maybe someone can check it out and let me know if it’s any good!

Bosses 黑社会
VivoCity
1 Harbourfront Walk #02-156
Singapore 098585
Tel: +65 6376 9740
Service:

Tags: Chinese, dinner, lunch, restaurant, Telok Blangah, VivoCity

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About the Editor

Veron Ang is the Founder and Chief Editor of Sparklette, a Singapore restaurants guide, lifestyle and travel blog. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in computer science from the National University of Singapore and runs a web design firm at Sparklette Studio. To get in touch, head on over to the contact page or follow @Sparklette and @VeronSG on Twitter.

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Responses Leave a comment

Miccheng
90 comments

The Custard Bun looks really good.
Surprising that the chicken didn’t taste good – the presentation was very well done.
Er… if my Chinese customs serves me right – if u get a Chicken head pointing at you, it means you’ll get ahead this year in life (i.e. career). :)
Mikey
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 8:36 pm
fluencev
10 comments

thx for you show me the Chinese food.
there i some problem about the dish you called Gooseberry Beancurd Skin with Small Pak Choy (Chinese cabbage)
Price: $12 + 10% Service Charge + 7% GST
Chinese cabbage 大白菜
we call the vegeteble in photo 小油菜
hoho
很好吃
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 8:39 pm
fluencev
10 comments

nice photo!
all the food are good in colour, smell, taste and appearance.
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Daniel
7 comments

ooo i tried the food there too… i agree totally on the duck. I had the wasabi style prawns instead, which was fabulous. My group didn’t like the custard bun too much.
The teas were a nice departure from the usual oolongs and jasmines!
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Veron
3439 comments

Miccheng: My sentiments exactly! The custard bun is da bomb! The crispy chicken looked great but didn’t deliver. Well I’m not one that trusts Chinese superstitions. I have never been served chicken with its severed head on the plate! Maybe I haven’t been eating at too many Chinese restaurants before.
fluencev: Oh! Thanks! I wonder what “小油菜” translates to in English.
Daniel: Wasabi prawns sounds fab! Heck, probably anything with wasabi sounds fab. I’m not too sure about the tea, but someone in my group said that there’s ginseng in it!
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 9:59 pm
ClappingTrees
2 comments

Gee, why is the restaurant called 黑社会 (Secret Society)? Kinda anti-climax. :-p
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Nicole
15 comments

“小油菜” probably refers to cai xin? Not very sure though :P The prawns with walnut dish looks so yummylicious… *hungry*
normally, chinese restaurants will serve the head along with the rest of the meat that you are eating, probably to serve you the whole thing instead of having the head missing :)
I love the blue leaf on the teapot :P
Tea drunk with chinese food helps to make the stomach less bloated, and “washes” away the oil of the rich food one has eaten :)
Reply
Posted July 10, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Miccheng
90 comments

Ha ha… serving with the chicken head is optional…
Doubt i’ll be eating much Chinese food when i’m down under… :D
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 12:06 am
aryle
1 comment

seriously, how do you maintain your weight? Do you work out a lot? Or is it just a metabolism to die for? ;p
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 12:14 am
Veron
3439 comments

ClappingTrees: Haha it’s a cool concept. A good way to differentiate them from other generic Chinese restaurants.
Nicole: The prawns with walnuts dish WAS yummilicious! Ohh, my entire mouth just filled up with saliva! Yup Chinese tea is great for cleansing the greasiness and palate too.
Miccheng: With the large Asian population Down Under, I’m sure there would be decent Chinese food around, wouldn’t there?
aryle: lol I just have to respond to this one. If you’ve seen me in real life before, you would know that I’m anything but slim! So, there you go!
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 12:22 am
Jayson
44 comments

Wow, those pictures of sumptuous meals …
are making my stomach tingles ….
and that tingling feeling inspires me to compose a haiku for you …
Ready for 8 Course?
Secret Society loh,
Stomach sure full full.
-Jayson
Leader of the Secret Society of Haiku
(^.^)v
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 3:04 am
HighwayBlogger
3 comments

Went there once 2 weeks ago for lunch – went for full set coz customer buy. Haha. Loved those custard buns :D
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 3:57 am
Cris
2 comments

I went there to eat before. And I should say that the fried rice is extremely delicious! Haha
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 7:42 am
Miccheng
90 comments

Yeah… but half of the Asian kitchens here don’t quite meet health standards… :D
Mikey
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 7:55 am
Veron
3439 comments

Jayson: lol my posts sure seem to draw the haiku-writing talent out of you. And I notice you give yourself a new title each time. (^.^)v
HighwayBlogger: What is the full set? One of the expensive x-number-course meals?
Cris: The fried rice is great!
Miccheng: Oh I see! Better avoid those then.
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 9:34 am
Rin
2 comments

I eat dim sum at Bosses quite often. It’s really good. The egg tarts, xiao long baos, and the char siew baos are must haves!
Reply
Posted July 11, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Kev
9 comments

Hey Veron!
I went there twice as well… found it to be really cool – the decor and the services were good!! But the down side is super duper ex lor!! but not as bad as the crystal jade in vivo!!
But I was really shocked the first time I went there… my gal and I orderred this wasabi prawns (can’t remember the chinese name) and it cost like $15+ (if I did not remember wrongly) and there are only like 6 prawns on the dish! I see already I nearly faint! LOL
Reply
Posted July 13, 2007 at 11:47 am
Veron
3439 comments

Rin: What are the prices of the dim sum like? I hope they aren’t as expensive as the main dishes.
Kev: lol! Daniel (above) ordered the wasabi prawns too and said that they were really awesome. Perhaps worth the $2.50/prawn price-tag? lol!
Yeah, you are right! Rather expensive place but the food is good, unlike Crystal Jade Dining IN which you mentioned (my review) where the food is not only expensive, but tasteless too.
Reply
Posted July 13, 2007 at 12:16 pm
piccola
3 comments

i went there for dinner. tried the pork spareribs, 3 egg vegetable and ma po tofu. really nice~ only thing was.. they didn’t allow photography. however, by the time that they told me.. i’ve already finished taking..
Reply
Posted August 7, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Veron
3439 comments

Yep. When I asked if I could take photographs, they said no. But the lady manager did allow me to take pictures of a few dishes that she specified. She was also nice enough to make sure the dishes looked “nice” for the camera!
I ended up taking pictures of all the dishes anyway. The other waitresses couldn’t care less!
Reply
Posted August 8, 2007 at 12:17 am