If you haven't been to National Gallery Singapore lately, then we suggest you plan a trip there not just to check out the museum but to also be impressed with all the restaurant choices it has. One of these is Yàn, a Cantonese restaurant which we recently visited to check out its delicious offerings. 

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Picture Perfect

Modern Chic

Light-filled and with a palette dominated by soft and bright colours, this restaurant at the National Gallery Singapore is a cheerful space void of any fine dining stuffiness. It also bustles with artistry: from a Chinese scroll-like ceiling light hanging above the entranceway, to striking stringed booth dividers inspired by the silk weaving technique, to interesting signature Cantonese dishes concocted by master chef Chan Kung Lai, who hails from Hong Kong. Chef Chan also has a penchant for using ingredients he has on hand to create new dishes that aren’t on the menu.

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Go With The Flow

Husk Secret

The whole coconut combination—braised hot and sour broth with crab claw and scallops served with a glass of coconut juice and crispy breadstick—is an appetising signature that awakens the taste buds with a seamless brew of sweet, sour and savoury flavours, and warms the heart as much as it does the stomach.

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Daily Roast

Signature Meat

The Yàn Peking Duck served with homemade crepe and traditional garnishes is prepared in the style of a Guangdong recipe, not the usual Beijing one. The duck is less fatty than usual but its meat bursts with flavour. Adding to the pleasure, the skin is air-dried before being cooked, rendering a delicate crispness.

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Comfort Food

Hong Kong Classic

A must-try is the Bi Feng Tang crab—Bi Feng Tang, which translates as “Typhoon Shelter”, is a method of cooking popularised in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay area in which seafood is jostled with ingredients such as garlic, red chilli, scallions and black beans. For Yàn’s tasty rendition, crab (or your Peking duck meat, if you’d like) is deep-fried with very aromatic garlic, which has been minced and soaked in black bean sauce overnight.

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Twirl, Slurp and Relish

Final Course

Pack on the carbs last with the fried live prawn with crispy noodle, but just enough—a fist-sized sphere of crispy noodles, softened upon serving with a shallow pool of rich gravy made from chicken consomme. Accompanied by coils of sweet prawn and a side of cauliflower, the dish is simple and well prepared.

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Yàn: 05-02 National Gallery Singapore, tel: 6384 5585