Cherry Garden by Chef Fei

Cherry Garden by Chef Fei

Mandarin Oriental

5 Raffles Ave., Floor 5

Singapore 039797

Cherry Garden by Chef Fei at Mandarin Oriental Singapore reopened in July 2025 with a refreshed modern look featuring the hotel's updated MO modern colour palette. The restaurant has contemporary touches with subtle oriental design. We thought it felt more elegant and serene as compared to the previous dark wood theme.

Chef Fei is a Michelin-starred chef who was originally from the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and has been involved in driving the culinary direction at Cherry Garden. He shuttles between his restaurants and the current lead of the kitchen in Singapore is Steven Luo, also from Guangzhou.

I must say, the restaurant is absolutely gorgeous and with its private dining rooms, I can imagine it to be a place for first introductions between families, business meetings and the lot. It definitely has the right atmosphere for hosting a sophisticated dinner.

We went for the dim sum menu this time round, having a selection of steamed as well as baked morsels:

• Shrimp dumpling

• Crystal dumpling with prawn and chives

• Steam xiao long bao with crab meat in lobster bisque

• Wagyu beef tartlet with onion and black pepper

• Salted egg puff

• Slow cooked cordyceps flower and hand peeled crab congee

The hits and the misses. I liked the fact that the weekend dim sum is no longer served as a buffet and that the service staff was really attentive and ensure we always had everything we needed. The miss is that each item is around 12-15 SGD, which places it in the premium range for dim sum. However, we didn't feel that the food we had justified that price tag. There was a clear lack in flavour despite the premium ingredients used. Exceptional dim sum for us, is when you don't reach for the sauce platter. Unfortunately in this case, we relied heavily on the chilli to enhance the flavours. A little unfortunate, we thought.

What Cherry Garden did really well, was the curated tea selection. We tried 2 different teas. The Golden Monkey, where the tea leaves resembles monkey claws, hence the name. The tea was malty and sweet with some honey flavours. The other was a Kwai Flower Superior Oolong tea. This one was really spectacular, with mild and subtle aromas of ripe Tuscan peaches.

Snacks at the end of the meal

Booking

There are seats still available just a day out on a weekend, so it doesn't seem particularly difficult to get a booking at the moment. However, reservations are still recommended to prevent disappointment.

Accessibility

Access to Cherry Garden can be via City hall and Promenade. Just follow the signages for Mandarin Oriental and it will bring you there. Unfortunately there is no direct access from the train station and involves a couple of flights of stairs to reach the main entrance. But otherwise, it is easy to get to.

The Damage

At ~ 140 SGD for 2 pax, it is considered reasonable for a hotel dim sum.

Would We Recommend?

Perhaps. We didn't think the quality of the food was exceptional and there are definitely better places for good dim sum. However, the place and the ambiance was exceptional. If there is a visitor that you would like to impress, this is definitely that venue.