Nestled within the elegant Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel along Orchard Road, Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant (萬豪軒) stands as a beacon of refined Cantonese gastronomy. As the Year of the Horse approaches, the restaurant unveils its carefully curated Lunar New Year offerings, transforming traditional festive dining into an experience of opulent sophistication and culinary artistry.
Dishes:
- Wan Hao Prosperity Yu Sheng (4.2/5) – Loaded with premium seafood including Rock Lobster, Hokkaido Scallop, Japanese Yellowtail, Sturgeon Caviar, Salmon and Salmon Roe. Presented in a horse shape for the Year of the Horse.
- Tea-Smoked Grain-Fed Duck (4.8/5) – The standout dish. Marinated and air-dried for 24 hours for crispy skin, then smoked with osmanthus, Long Jing tea leaves, and sugarcane. Available for takeaway ($78 nett for half, $138 nett for whole).
- Wan Hao Bird’s Nest Eight Treasures Pot (4.8/5) – Features 5-Head South African Abalone, Sea Cucumber, Fish Maw, Prawns, and other premium ingredients in a rich collagen-packed broth.
- Stewed Lobster with Trio Onion in Spicy Superior Light Soy Sauce (4.5/5) – Succulent lobster with balanced flavors.
- Cantonese-Style Claypot Rice (4.5/5) – Mixed with foie gras and Superior Light Soy Sauce, topped with cured duck and Chinese sausage.
- Trio of Desserts (4.2/5) – Red Bean Glutinous Rice Ball, Deep-Fried Sesame Ball with custard, and Chilled Bird’s Nest with Snow Pear.
The restaurant is located at 320 Orchard Road (Orchard MRT station) and is open daily from 11:30am-3pm and 6pm-10pm.
The Setting: Timeless Elegance Meets Modern Comfort
Stepping into Wan Hao is like entering a sanctuary of understated luxury. The restaurant embodies the classic principles of Chinese fine dining spaces while incorporating contemporary touches that appeal to modern sensibilities. Rich wooden accents create warmth throughout the dining room, while strategically placed lighting casts a soft, flattering glow that sets the stage for an intimate celebration.
The ambience strikes a delicate balance between formality and comfort. Unlike overly stiff fine dining establishments, Wan Hao manages to feel welcoming and celebratory, particularly fitting for the Lunar New Year season when families and friends gather to usher in prosperity and good fortune. The table settings reflect meticulous attention to detail, with pristine white linens, elegant porcelain, and polished silverware that speak to the restaurant’s commitment to excellence.
During this festive period, subtle decorative elements celebrating the Year of the Horse add seasonal charm without overwhelming the space’s inherent sophistication. The atmosphere hums with quiet conversations and the gentle clinking of fine china, creating an environment conducive to both business gatherings and intimate family reunions.
The Celebrations of Abundance: A Six-Course Journey
At $268.80++ per person for groups of 5-10, the Celebrations of Abundance menu represents a significant investment. However, from the moment the first dish arrives, it becomes evident that this is not merely a meal but a meticulously orchestrated celebration of premium ingredients, traditional techniques, and contemporary refinement.
First Course: Wan Hao Prosperity Yu Sheng (4.2/5)
The meal commences with what is perhaps the most iconic dish of any Lunar New Year celebration: Yu Sheng. However, Wan Hao’s interpretation elevates this tradition to extraordinary heights. The presentation alone commands attention, with the ingredients artfully arranged in the shape of a horse, a creative touch that honors the zodiac year while showcasing the kitchen’s artistic capabilities.
What truly distinguishes this Yu Sheng is the uncompromising quality and abundance of its seafood components. Rock Lobster provides sweet, firm chunks of meat that contrast beautifully with the delicate texture of Hokkaido Scallop. Japanese Yellowtail contributes its characteristic buttery richness, while Sturgeon Caviar adds briny pops of luxury. Premium Salmon and glistening Salmon Roe complete this seafood symphony, creating layers of flavor and texture that transform the traditional Lo Hei into a genuine gourmet experience.
The accompanying vegetables remain crisp and fresh, providing essential textural contrast, while the plum sauce and various condiments are carefully balanced to enhance rather than overwhelm the premium seafood. The enthusiastic Lo Hei ceremony, led by attentive staff, infuses the dining experience with festive energy and auspicious beginnings, setting an optimistic tone for the courses to follow.
Second Course: Tea-Smoked Grain-Fed Duck (4.8/5)
If one dish could be singled out as the evening’s triumph, it would be the Tea-Smoked Grain-Fed Duck. This preparation represents everything exceptional about traditional Chinese culinary techniques refined through modern precision and elevated ingredient selection.
The symbolism of duck during Lunar New Year extends beyond mere tradition; it represents good health and fortune for the year ahead. Wan Hao honors this symbolism while delivering a technical masterpiece that engages all the senses. The preparation process itself tells a story of patience and precision: the duck undergoes slow marination to infuse deep flavors into the meat, followed by a crucial 24-hour air-drying period that transforms the skin into a golden, paper-thin shell of incomparable crispness.
The final smoking process elevates the dish into the realm of the extraordinary. Using osmanthus flowers, Long Jing (Dragon Well) tea leaves, and sugarcane, the kitchen imparts a fragrance that is simultaneously subtle and captivating. The osmanthus contributes delicate floral notes that seem to float above the dish, while the Long Jing tea adds a gentle vegetal complexity and the sugarcane provides whispers of natural sweetness. This aromatic profile complements rather than masks the duck’s inherent richness.
When you bite through the crackling skin into the tender, succulent meat beneath, the interplay of textures is sublime. The duck remains moist and flavorful throughout, a testament to careful cooking that respects the integrity of the grain-fed bird. Each bite offers layers of flavor: the savory depth of well-seasoned duck, the smoky-sweet aromatic notes, and that satisfying textural contrast between crisp skin and tender meat.
The fact that this exceptional preparation is available for takeaway ($78 nett for half, $138 nett for whole) makes it accessible for home celebrations, though experiencing it fresh from the kitchen, presented with ceremony and precision, remains the superior option.
Third Course: Wan Hao Bird’s Nest Eight Treasures Pot (4.8/5)
Tradition dictates that prosperity comes in many forms, and the Eight Treasures Pot embodies material abundance translated into culinary terms. This dish represents the pinnacle of Chinese celebratory cuisine, where premium ingredients converge in a single vessel to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
The first thing that captures attention is the broth itself, a vibrant, golden liquid that speaks of hours of careful simmering and the natural release of collagen from multiple high-quality ingredients. This is not a timid stock but a boldly flavored, nourishing elixir that coats the palate with silky richness. The depth achieved here suggests a base built from superior bones and aromatics, reduced to concentrate flavor while maintaining perfect clarity.
Within this magnificent broth swims an impressive array of treasures. The 5-Head South African Abalone, classified by its relatively large size, offers that characteristic firm-yet-yielding texture and subtle ocean sweetness that makes this ingredient so prized in Chinese cuisine. Sea Cucumber contributes its unique gelatinous quality and delicate flavor while being celebrated for its nutritional properties and textural interest.
The Black Moss Dace Fish Bean Curd Skin Bag represents culinary ingenuity, packaging multiple elements into a single component that releases flavor gradually into the broth. Pork Tendon adds collagen and a pleasantly chewy texture, while Free-range Chicken provides a foundation of clean, honest poultry flavor. Japanese Shiitake Mushrooms deliver earthy umami depth, Fish Maw contributes additional textural variety and collagen, and plump Prawns offer sweet punctuations throughout.
The genius of this dish lies in how each ingredient maintains its individual character while contributing to a harmonious whole. Nothing is overcooked or underwhelming; each element has been added at precisely the right moment to achieve its optimal texture and flavor contribution. The result is a pot that rewards multiple tastings, as each spoonful offers a different combination of ingredients and discoveries.
The nourishing quality of this dish cannot be overstated. In Chinese culinary philosophy, dishes like this represent not just sustenance but genuine health-giving properties, with ingredients chosen for their ability to strengthen the body and promote vitality. During the Lunar New Year, when wishes for good health dominate toasts and blessings, serving such a dish carries profound meaning beyond its impressive taste.
Fourth Course: Stewed Lobster with Trio Onion in Spicy Superior Light Soy Sauce (4.5/5)
Following the richness of the Eight Treasures Pot, the Stewed Lobster provides a masterclass in balanced flavor development. The presentation showcases the lobster’s natural beauty, with generous portions of meat that have been carefully extracted and prepared to maximize visual appeal while maintaining the creature’s innate elegance.
The lobster itself is impeccably fresh, evident in the firm snap of the meat and its pristine sweetness. The cooking technique employed here demonstrates considerable skill, as lobster notoriously crosses from perfectly cooked to rubbery in mere seconds. Wan Hao’s kitchen navigates this challenge with expertise, delivering meat that yields gently to the bite while retaining its characteristic sweetness and delicate ocean flavor.
The Trio Onion component adds complexity and aromatic layers to the dish. Different varieties of onion, each contributing its own flavor profile ranging from sharp and pungent to sweet and mellow, create a supporting cast that enhances the lobster without competing with it. The onions have been cooked to varying degrees of tenderness, providing textural interest and preventing monotony.
The Spicy Superior Light Soy Sauce represents the dish’s boldest element, introducing controlled heat and the deep, fermented complexity that only quality soy sauce can provide. “Superior” light soy sauce refers to the first extraction, which captures the purest and most refined flavors of the fermented soybeans. The spice level is carefully calibrated to provide warmth and excitement without overwhelming the delicate lobster meat. This sauce penetrates the lobster, seasoning it from within while creating a glossy coating that catches the light beautifully.
The harmonization of flavors showcases the chef’s understanding of ingredient relationships. The lobster’s natural sweetness plays against the savory depth of the soy sauce, while the onions bridge these elements and the controlled heat animates the entire composition. It’s a dish that demonstrates sophistication through restraint, allowing premium ingredients to shine while showing the transformative power of skillful sauce work.
Fifth Course: Cantonese-Style Claypot Rice (4.5/5)
Claypot rice holds a special place in Cantonese cuisine, representing comfort, tradition, and the alchemy that occurs when rice is cooked in close contact with an earthenware vessel. Wan Hao’s interpretation respects these traditions while introducing luxurious elements that elevate the dish beyond its humble origins.
The foundation begins with the rice itself, which has been cooked to develop the prized “guo ba,” the golden, crispy layer that forms against the claypot’s sides and bottom. This textural element is essential to great claypot rice, providing crunchy contrast to the tender grains above. The rice has been mixed with foie gras, an unexpected but inspired addition that introduces silky richness and a subtle liver flavor that complements rather than dominates.
Superior Light Soy Sauce, the same quality ingredient featured in the lobster course, seasons the rice with savory depth and creates that characteristic glossy appearance and irresistible fragrance. This sauce permeates the rice, ensuring that every grain carries flavor rather than relying solely on toppings for seasoning.
The toppings continue the theme of quality and tradition in harmony. Cured duck, with its concentrated flavor and slightly chewy texture, provides savory-sweet notes that echo the earlier tea-smoked duck course. Chinese sausage (lap cheong) contributes its characteristic sweetness, fat content, and aromatic spices, creating pockets of intense flavor throughout the rice. Hong Kong Chye Sim, a variety of Chinese flowering cabbage prized for its tender stems and sweet flavor, adds freshness and a slight bitterness that cuts through the richness.
What makes this dish particularly successful is how it manages to feel simultaneously luxurious and comforting. The inclusion of foie gras pushes it into fine dining territory, yet the fundamental preparation and flavor profile remain true to the beloved street food and home cooking that inspired it. This is the kind of dish that resonates with diners on multiple levels: it satisfies sophisticated palates seeking complexity while triggering nostalgic responses to familiar flavors and textures.
The aromatic experience deserves special mention. As the claypot arrives at the table, wisps of fragrant steam carry the scent of soy sauce, rendered duck fat, sweet sausage, and toasted rice. This olfactory announcement builds anticipation and demonstrates how great Chinese cooking engages all senses, not just taste.
Sixth Course: Trio of Desserts (4.2/5)
Chinese fine dining traditionally concludes with sweet offerings that provide palate cleansing and symbolic significance, and Wan Hao’s Trio of Desserts fulfills this role with style and variety. By offering three distinct preparations, the restaurant ensures that diverse preferences are accommodated while maintaining the festive abundance theme that runs throughout the menu.
The Red Bean Glutinous Rice Ball coated in shredded coconut represents a classic Cantonese sweet preparation. The glutinous rice exterior provides that characteristic QQ texture, chewy and satisfying with a gentle resistance that yields to reveal the sweet red bean filling within. Red bean paste itself carries significance in Chinese culture, symbolizing good fortune and happiness. The shredded coconut coating adds textural interest and a subtle tropical note while preventing the balls from sticking together. The sweetness level is carefully moderated, sweet enough to satisfy without cloying, allowing the natural flavor of quality red beans to shine through.
The Deep-Fried Sesame Ball with custard filling (煎堆/Jin Deui) offers dramatic textural contrast and the kind of indulgent satisfaction that only deep-fried sweets can provide. The exterior achieves a delicate crispness, shattering gently under tooth pressure to reveal the warm, flowing custard within. This contrast between crisp shell and molten interior creates a dynamic eating experience that engages attention. The sesame seeds studding the exterior contribute their nutty fragrance and additional textural dimension. The custard filling, presumably egg-based, provides richness and a gentle sweetness with subtle vanilla or egg notes. Timing is crucial with this dessert, as it’s best enjoyed while still warm from the fryer, when the textural contrast is most pronounced.
The Chilled Bird’s Nest with Snow Pear and Rock Sugar provides a refreshing conclusion that cleanses the palate and offers a cool counterpoint to the meal’s richer elements. Bird’s nest, one of Chinese cuisine’s most prized ingredients, is celebrated for its delicate texture and supposed health benefits. In this preparation, the translucent strands of bird’s nest are suspended in a lightly sweetened syrup made with rock sugar, which provides clean sweetness without the mineral notes of regular sugar. Snow pear adds its characteristic crisp-tender texture and subtle sweetness while contributing cooling properties according to traditional Chinese medicine principles. Served chilled, this dessert feels almost medicinal in its refreshing, restorative quality, leaving diners feeling cleansed and balanced rather than overly full.
The trio approach demonstrates thoughtful menu planning: something warm and chewy, something crispy and indulgent, and something cool and refreshing. This variety ensures that the final course provides satisfaction while acknowledging that different diners prefer different dessert experiences.
Service and Overall Experience
Beyond the food itself, Wan Hao’s service standards significantly enhance the dining experience. Staff members demonstrate genuine knowledge about the dishes, explaining ingredients and symbolism when appropriate without being intrusive. The pacing between courses is carefully managed, allowing adequate time for conversation and digestion while maintaining momentum that keeps the meal engaging.
The attention to detail extends to small gestures: timely tea refills, immediate removal of finished plates, and the ability to anticipate needs before they’re expressed. This level of service creates an atmosphere where diners can relax and focus on celebration rather than logistics.
Value Proposition and Final Verdict
At $268.80++ per person, the Celebrations of Abundance menu represents a significant expenditure, placing it firmly in the special occasion category for most diners. However, evaluating value requires considering not just price but what is received in return.
The quality of ingredients alone justifies substantial cost. Bird’s nest, abalone, lobster, caviar, and foie gras are genuinely premium components, not symbolic gestures toward luxury. The kitchen treats these ingredients with respect and skill, highlighting their qualities rather than masking them. Technical execution across all courses demonstrates professional expertise and careful attention to detail.
Beyond tangible elements, there’s the intangible value of setting and occasion. Lunar New Year celebrations carry profound cultural and emotional significance, and having them unfold in an environment of elegance and sophistication adds meaning that transcends simple arithmetic. The meal becomes not just food consumption but a ceremony, a gathering, and a memory.
For those seeking an exceptional Lunar New Year dining experience that honors tradition while embracing contemporary luxury, Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant delivers comprehensively. The Celebrations of Abundance menu lives up to its name, providing genuine abundance in quality, quantity, and experience. While the price point makes this an occasional indulgence rather than regular dining, the combination of premium ingredients, skilled execution, elegant ambience, and cultural authenticity creates an experience worthy of life’s most important celebrations.
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
The Tea-Smoked Grain-Fed Duck and Bird’s Nest Eight Treasures Pot stand as particular triumphs, while every course demonstrates the care and expertise that defines refined Cantonese cuisine at its finest. Whether gathering family for reunion, celebrating with friends, or marking important occasions, Wan Hao provides a setting and menu that honor both the rich traditions of Chinese New Year and the sophisticated tastes of contemporary diners.