Jumbo launches Xing Yue Xuan at Sentosa, a new premium Cantonese concept

If you love all things seafood and Cantonese, homegrown Jumbo Group has added a new premium Cantonese concept to its stable of concepts, in the form of Xing Yue Xuan at Sentosa.

Located at the new lifestyle complex Weave at Resorts World Sentosa, Xing Yue Xuan is the group’s first Cantonese concept, and its fanciest one, too.

On our various visits to Weave for its many new openings, we couldn’t help but notice this outlet, thanks to its minimalist, but stylish storefront, emblazoned with its cleverly designed logo — a combination of the Chinese characters that make up its name. 

The name in Chinese ”星粤轩”, or “Xing Yue Xuan”, is a combination of what this new outfit aspires to be — “星” (xing) for a rising star, “粤” (yue) a nod towards its fine Cantonese cuisine offerings, and “轩” (xuan) to represent an elevated dining experience. 

The outlet, which opened in late-June, is small, compared to the Jumbo Premium restaurant next to it. 

Xing Yue Xuan at Sentosa accommodates a little over 60 diners, with four tables in the main seating area, and the rest of the space dedicated to private dining rooms, which can sit anywhere from five to 10 guests. 

While you’re greeted with a big lantern overhead when you enter, the decor isn’t ostentatiously Chinese, unlike many other premium Chinese restaurants. It is decked out in dark wood furnishings, and seems more European, with the only giveaways being the lantern and the round tables in some of its private rooms. 

Xing Yue Xuan offers a six-course tasting menu at S$158 per person, a S$78 four-course executive set lunch (with the option to add a soup-course for an extra S$28), and an a la carte menu.

With its positioning as a premium concept, most of its a la carte items are priced per person, with all diners getting individually plated portions. That is, except for its live seafood items, which are priced by weight, and the prawns, which are sold in 300g portions.  

A taste of Xing Yue Xuan at Sentosa’s menu

We started things off with the double-boiled fish maw & kampung chicken soup (S$38 per person), a nourishing, creamy concoction brimming with collagen.

The soup is seemingly simple — boiled with old hen, pork and chicken feet — and topped with fish maw, scallops, morel mushrooms and wolfberry, but extremely rich and whet our appetites for the meal ahead. I’d go back to dine just for a bowl of this flavour-packed goodness. 

The dong po pork belly in Hakka style (S$38), braised in the restaurant’s proprietary soy sauce for six hours, was another highlight that was flavourful without being too cloying, though I had expected the meat to be a bit more tender, given the time it was left to cook. 

Since the concept is of the Jumbo Group, a crab dish is a must for the table. We got to try the Xing Yue Xuan fuss-free half crab (S$78), with Jumbo’s signature black pepper sauce. 

While I’m not usually one to flinch at spice, this version, where the crab meat is removed from the shell, and served meat-only, with lettuce leaves, definitely delivered a good amount of peppery heat. 

Perhaps I was more accustomed to the shelled version where the sauce doesn’t coat the crustacean’s flesh that thoroughly. There’s also something satisfying about prying the meat out of the shells that makes the whole crab-eating process a lot more fun. 

But it’s always good to know there are fuss-free options such as these that exist, when you want them. 

The second-most memorable dish for me (with the first being the soup), had to be the whole 3-head abalone & sea cucumber in fragrant rice (S$68 per person). 

The wok-fried fragrant rice comes served in a hot stone pot, topped with fork-tender sea cucumber and a whole 3-head abalone. By now we were stuffed, but the dish was so aromatic with mild wok hei notes that we couldn’t resist mopping everything up. 

Another main on the menu intrigued me — the pan-seared scallop with signature non-spicy X.O. sauce tossed mee pok (S$19 per person) — but there was next to no stomach space or time for that, so I guess I’ll just need to come back. 

Maybe with my mother for her upcoming birthday, because it’s just one of those spots that are great for impressing the elders, or maybe just for a self-care, treat-yourself type of day — because why not? 

For more ideas on what to eat, check out Paradise Group’s newest concept LeMa Dumpling at Jewel Changi, or swing by to Coach Coffee Shop at Weave for a cuppa.