On & On Diners review - CNY Full Buffet Catering

Here at On & On Diners, they serve up amazing Halal-certified food! Recently they sent us their Chinese New Year Buffet in view of the festive season. We loved how they paid attention to the details, for example arranging the cutlery in a flower-like fashion, which makes the entire set-up look that much posher. Also, they have sent us 3 of their NEW food items for tasting that were very well-received by our whole team! One of it was the Mala Xiang Guo – one of the latest food trends to have taken Singapore by storm, and I have a hunch that it will probably be one of their most ordered items on the menu in time to come.

The package allows you to choose from different dishes, but our team has chosen the following dishes that we think make the best combination!

• Wok Fried Cai Poh Diced Chicken Fried Rice
• Braised Seafood White Bee Hoon
• Australian Broccoli with 12 Head Abalone
• Seafood Beancurd Roll in Chilli Crab Sauce (served w golden man tous)
• Malaysia Style Creamy Butter Chicken
• Szechuan Gong Bao Chicken w Cashews
• Buttery Salted Egg Yolk Fish
• Cantonese Typhoon Shelter Prawns
• Imperial Wanton w Kewpie Mayo
• Bo Bo Cha Cha (hot)

New Items:

• Ma La Xiang Guo (New)
• Limited Edition Dim Sum Set (New)
• Wasabi Prawn Balls (New)

Wok Fried Cai Poh Diced Chicken Fried Rice

I feel that what makes a good fried rice is partially the rice itself. The rice grains were firm yet fluffy at the same time, giving the fried rice a really good overall texture. The “Cai Poh” or preserved radish, added a lot of flavor to the rice! Preserved raddish on its own can be a little salty and slightly sour but when fried together with the rice, it provided a rich unami flavour to the entire dish. There were loads of chicken bits used too which you can taste in every bite. As a whole, this was a very hearty plate of fried rice and I enjoyed this dish a lot.

Braised Seafood White Bee Hoon

They always say to not judge a book by its cover. And I think this saying is so apt on this dish. At first glance, the bee hoon looked rather plain and dry. But after having a mouthful, you'll be surprised to know that it was actually really flavourful! The bee hoon wasn't dry at all and was very well-seasoned. A very generous amount of seafood was used for this dish so you'll be able to taste a variety of seafood with every bite. This dish was so satisfying to have!

Australian Broccoli with 12 Head Abalone

A really simple dish, with the taste of home-cooked goodness. The addition of the glorious abalones really transformed the dish into a "luxurious" one. The abalones were decorated in the shape of a lotus flower, an auspicious symbol for the Chinese! Not just serving its aesthetics purposes, the abalones tasted really good too. They were naturally a little salty and I thought the richness of the abalones almost felt "buttery".  The broccoli were really well cooked, slightly tender yet still maintaining its crunch. Yum!

Seafood Beancurd Roll in Chilli Crab Sauce (served w golden man tous)

When we opened the lid, we were greeted by what seemed like an entire tray of chilli sauce. It was only when we used a ladle to stir the sauce that we find all the Beancurd rolls drowned in the sauce! Firstly, the sauce wasn’t as spicy as it looked, it was more on the sweeter side, with a tomato base. It was savoury and thick, comparable to the usual chilli crab sauces that you get in restaurants. The Beancurd rolls were layered thinly and was very soft and went perfectly with the thick sauce. The man tous were soft and fluffy yet slightly crisp on the outside as they were deep-fried. Worry not though as the man tous did not taste like oil as a result of great skills executed by the chefs of On & On Diners!

Malaysia Style Creamy Butter Chicken

This dish could almost pass off as a salted egg dish on first look but it is not! The main difference here is that butter was used here instead of salted egg yolks. The chicken pieces were beautifully coated in this golden glaze which doesn’t overpower the butter taste. The glaze tasted both sweet and savoury, with a distinct kick from the bird's eye chillies and curry leaves used. This dish as a whole was very aromatic and rich. I love this dish a lot!

Szechuan Gong Bao Chicken w Cashews

This dish is commonly found in hawker centres and coffeeshops in Singapore. Having tried so many renditions of this dish, I can safely say that On & On Diners has done a rather good job with this one. Loaded with peppers, this dish definitely came with a spicy kick but no worries as I feel that the average person should be able to handle this bit of spice. The soy-based sauce coated the chicken cubes nicely and would be best enjoyed with rice.

Buttery Salted Egg Yolk Fish

The salted egg craze is definitely here to stay! This salted egg fish dish from On & On Diners really deserve some praise! The fish fillet pieces tasted almost like fish nuggets, crusty and well seasoned on the outside but soft and flaky on the inside. It was really tasty as the batter was really flavourful and the salted egg taste was prominent in every bite.

Cantonese Typhoon Shelter Prawns

As a Hong Kong classic, this was a simple yet really yummy dish! These prawns were so fragrant that you can smell them from afar. The fragrance came from the liberal use of garlic that the prawns were fried in. It was exactly that, that gave the prawns their flavour too. The prawns were also very fresh and the texture was firm and chewy.

Imperial Wanton w Kewpie Mayo

The wantons were fried till crispy on the outside, but still remained soft and juicy on the inside! The mixture of fillings in the wantons was mildly spiced and really meaty which I love. In addition, the wanton skin was relatively thin, to ensure a crunchy texture all around.

Bo bo cha cha (Hot)

This was a really rich and creamy dessert, which is made using coconut milk so it has a quite a strong coconut taste. The sweet potatoes and yam pairs so well with the coconut flavour! The dessert served here is slightly thick, and really sweet! There are variations of this dessert and some choose to serve it cold but I personally feel that it is best served warm.

Mala Xiang Guo (New)

This was the most anticipated dish from the menu. It is a new addition to the menu for Chinese New year, and we were all so ready to try it out for the first time. With a few Mala lovers in our team, we let them try it first to give their thoughts about it. Their first impression was that it is really spicy! It can be compared to other Mala stalls that has around medium to high spiciness levels. As we dug deeper there were noodles inside, as well as other meats like chicken and sausages. Overall we feel that it is a really good dish, probably something that will be well received by most people, just that the spiciness might hurt for some.

Limited Edition Dim Sum Set (New)

The Dim Sums here were quite huge! I took me 2 bites just to finish one piece. Being a Halal Caterer, the Dim Sums do not have any pork in it so it is replaced with chicken instead. Though chicken is usually less juicy as compared to pork, their Siew Mai was pretty close to the pork ones! The other dim sums had fillings like prawn and black sesame paste.

Wasabi Prawn Ball (New)

Initially, when we looked through the dishes sent to us, we couldn't find these "prawn balls" at all. It came as a pleasant surprise to us that these “prawn balls” were actually fresh prawns that were battered up nicely to a "ball-like" shape. Fear not, despite what the name of this dish suggests, the wasabi taste in these prawns was actually very mild and light which was I felt was actually nice as I do not like the "nose tingling burn" that excessive wasabi can give you.

With the addition of the 3 new items to the menu, it adds uniqueness to the On & On Diners. I think that you should definitely give the Mala Xiang Guo a try! There are also mini buffets for this menu should you require a smaller portion with the same items! Order here - CNY Buffets

*All prices and menus are accurate as of 15th Jan 2019.