Tucking into a warm bowl of double-boiled winter melon soup at The Fullerton Hotel's Jade Restaurant brought back memories of childhood for Mr Tay Soo Sin.

The 55-year-old freelance sports commentator recalls how his mother would dutifully prepare the same dish for him, with sliced scallops and mushrooms, at least once a week when he was growing up.

He was one of the 15 winners of ST170 Treats, a year-long campaign to mark The Straits Times' 170th anniversary.

They enjoyed a 10-course SG50 Nostalgic Feast Menu dinner for two, worth $276++, at Jade Restaurant on Monday night.

Each winner took a guest to the dinner.

The menu featured traditional Cantonese dishes from the 1960s to 1980s and is a tribute to Singapore's Golden Jubilee.

It was co-curated by Jade Restaurant's chef Leong Chee Yeng, 48, and Straits Times' food critic Wong Ah Yoke, 54.

Both wanted to bring back the familiar tastes of long-forgotten Cantonese dishes from the early years of Singapore's independence.

These included pan-fried king prawns, steamed Badin fish with special sauce, Chinese eight treasures duck and double-boiled winter melon soup.

"My mother doesn't cook this soup much for me now as she is getting old. I also cannot find many restaurants here which offer a good version of it," says Mr Tay, who dined with his wife.

Executive secretary Chris Choo, 55, is glad she got to introduce many of these Cantonese favourites to her 25-year-old son Nicholas, whom she attended the dinner with.

She remembers dining at the Cantonese Majestic Restaurant at Majestic Hotel (now known as the New Majestic Hotel) with her family in the 1980s.

She says: "The menu today is good. At least the younger generation will know that these were the dishes we had at wedding dinners in the past."

Until July 31, diners who show a printed copy of The Straits Times at Jade Restaurant can enjoy 15 per cent off the SG50 Nostalgic Feast Menu.

PAIGE LIM