I am sure you know that I am on a quest to try all the dim sum places in Singapore. My latest adventure brings me to Imperial Treasure Nan Bai at Ngee Ann City.

I have been wanting to go there for a while, but never had the chance until recently. Judging from the crowd on the weekend, Imperial Treasure Nan Bei seems to be extremely popular, especially with families.

Even though I am quite adventurous with food, I like to keep it safe when it comes to dim sum. I will always order the standard items like Har Gau, Siew Mai, as well as my favourite Custard Bun, Char Siew Sou and Egg Tart.

That’s exactly what we had at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei.

We started with the Char Siew Sou ($3.6), Steamed Rice Roll with Shrimp ($5.5), Steamed Prawn Dumpling ($4.8), Steamed Pork Dumpling ($4.4), and Xiao Long Bao ($4.4). Most of them were not too bad, but definitely not life-changing. I did however, think that the Char Siew Sou, was the best tasting among the five items.

The Custard Bun at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei was decent, but in no way comparable to the really good ones that I’ve had before.

Without a doubt, the far and away winner for that day was the Baked Egg Tarts ($3). It was just damn good! I’d come back to Imperial Treasure just for this.

While everything that arrived at our table was well-executed, they didn’t have the wow factor to make it memorable for me. I wouldn’t mind coming back if my friends want to try, but I wouldn’t suggest it on my own.

That said, Imperial Treasure Nan Bei at Ngee Ann City is always full on the weekends, so they must be doing something right. It is impossible to get a table without reservations, so make sure you call well in advance to book a date.

After trying Imperial Treasure Noodle and Congee House, and Imperial Treasure Nan Bei, my next stop will be Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck at Paragon!

Singapore Food Blog Review
Imperial Treasure Nan Bai
391 Orchard Road
#05-12 Ngee Ann City
Tel: +65 6738 1238
Daily: 11.30am – 10.30pm

10 Tampines Central 1
#02-04 Tampines 1
Tel: +65 6484 3323
Daily: 11am – 10pm

For more recommendations, please read my list of Dim Sum Places in Singapore

East Ocean Teochew Restaurant at Shaw Centre has always been known as one of the top restaurants in Singapore serving Hong Kong style Teochew cuisine. It is the place that most people mention when you ask them what their favourite Teochew restaurant is.

Besides serving traditional Teochew favourites, they are also very popular for their dim sum. For several months, friends have been telling me that I simply have to go there during weekend for dim sum.

I finally made a trip there recently, and the nostalgic atmosphere really reminded me of Red Star Chinese restaurant. If you are still thinking of where to go for dim sum brunch this weekend, why not check out East Ocean?

Weekends are meant for dim sum.

On weekdays, East Ocean restaurant has an ala carte menu to order from. But come weekends, staff will bring out trays of dim sum to every table for customers to choose from.

They have a good variety of dim sum, and prices range from $4.8 for a basket of siew mai, to $5.8 for the baked BBQ pork pie.

The Po Luo Bun was very good. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it is one of the best Po Luo Buns in Singapore.

Like many dim sum restaurants, East Ocean has three different kinds of Cheong Fun – char siew, prawn, and scallop. We had the char siew one; it was decent but not something that I’d stop to notice.

And of course, the famous Custard bun ($4.8) that everyone is talking about. East Ocean’s rendition was pretty good, but I don’t think that it is the best custard bun that I’ve had.

The other dim sum that we had include: Mini Crispy Egg Tarts ($5.8), Scallop Tofu ($5.8), Pan-fried carrot cake ($4.8), Steamed BBQ Pork Bun ($3.5) and Deep-fried Crispy Prawn Dumping ($5.8).

The dim sum at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant is not particularly outstanding. Moreover, prices are about the same as some of my favourite dim sum restaurants like Royal China, Paradise Pavilion and Yan Ting.

Having said that, East Ocean has a nostalgic feel, and this probably explains why it is so popular. It is quite fun to order directly from the dim sum trays going around. But like Red Star restaurant, the queue is really long during weekends. I won’t go back just for the dim sum, but I think it is a nice place to bring your friends for the dim sum trolley experience.

Singapore Food Blog Review
East Ocean Teochew Restaurant
1 Scotts Road #02-18 Shaw Centre
Tel: +65 6235 9088
Weekday: 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm
Weekend & PH: 10.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm

For more recommendations, read my list of the best dim sum restaurants in Singapore

Man Fu Yuan at Intercontinental Hotel – one of Singapore’s top Cantonese restaurants – has undergone a refurbishment earlier this year and it has since returned with a stunning decor and a new emphasis on Chinese tea.

While I liked their dim sum, I didn’t frequent the old Man Fu Yuan because the decoration was kind of boring. Boy was I impressed when I went there for lunch recently. The restaurant now has a nice contemporary look with classy butterfly chandeliers, exquisite hand-painted wall coverings, and natural timber floors.

With new Chinese executive chef Chan Siu Kong helming the kitchen, Man Fu Yuan has a new focus on tea pairing. Some of the chef specialty dishes with premium Chinese tea include: Wok-fried Garoupa with White Peony Tea Leaf ($30 per portion), Stir-fried Scallops with Long Jin Tea Leaf ($38 per portion) and the beautiful Pork Ribs with Pu Erh Tea Leaf ($10 per piece) which you see in the photo above.

The dim sum at Man Fu Yuan is good, but the prices are slightly higher than most dim sum restaurants. Besides the typical offerings like Prawn Dumpling ($6.8), Pork Dumpling ($6.8) and Honey Glazed Pork Bun ($5.2), they also have some interesting items like the Baked Lobster with cheese ($6.8), Pan-fried Black Pepper Venison Dumping ($5.2) and Chilli Crabmeat Bun ($6.8). Most of the dim sum are priced between $5.2 to $6.8 per basket.

If you are at Man Fu Yuan for dim sum, remember to check out the custard buns ($12 for 6). They are one of the better custard buns that I’ve had. It is also one of the few Chinese restaurants in Singapore that serves the Deep-fried Glutinous Rice Dumpling traditional style, also known as Ham Sui Kok.

Among the dishes that we tried, I liked the Wok-fried Pork Ribs ($10 per piece) infused with Pu-erh tea leaf in lemon sauce. While it was a shame that the overwhelming lemon sauce completely covered the Pu-erh flavour, the fork-tender pork ribs were heavenly.

By the time we had the Stewed Noodles with Lobster ($12 per 100g lobster), our stomachs were already almost filled to the brim. Nonetheless, we slurped down the lobster noodles and ended the meal with two desserts – Cream of Pumpkin with ice cream ($8) and Chilled Mango Pudding with Pomelo Sago ($8).

Man Fu Yuan at Intercontinental Hotel is a nice place to have a quiet lunch near the town area. Prices are what you’d expect for a fine dining Cantonese restaurant. I like the new interior, so I can see myself going back for dim sum.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Man Fu Yuan
80 Middle Road
2F Intercontinental Hotel
Tel: +65 6825 1062
Daily: 11am – 2.15pm, 6pm – 10.30pm

Note: This was an invited media tasting.

For more recommendations, please read my list of best dim sum restaurants in Singapore

The problem with having good food is that you have a standard and it often results in the never-ending hunt for something better, if not equally good.

I have a love affair with custard buns. It is not a secret that I have been on a quest to find the best custard buns in Singapore.

A good custard bun (also known as Liu Sha Bao) has soft pillowy dough which is filled with egg custard and salted duck egg’s yolk. There are plenty of dim sum restaurants in Singapore that serve it, but most of them are only mediocre. Where can you find good custard buns? Where can you go to satisfy your cravings for this popular dim sum?

Here’s my list of the Best Custard Buns in Singapore.

Man Fu Yuan

The newly renovated Man Fu Yuan at Intercontinental Hotel serves two kinds of custard bun ($12 for 6) – deep fried and steamed. Both are equally good, but I prefer the latter.

80 Middle Road
2F Intercontinental Hotel
Tel: +65 6825 1062

Custard bun from Paradise Pavilion

Paradise Pavilion

This is the best custard bun in Singapore.

8A Marina Boulevard
#02-01 Marina Bay Link Mall
Tel: +65 6509 9308

Peach Garden

I love the custard buns at Peach Garden. I really do. But the problem is, most of the dim sum items at Peach Garden are rather ordinary, so I haven’t been there for quite some time. Maybe I should give them another chance and go back again.

65 Chulia Street
#33-01 OCBC Centre
Tel: +65 6535 7833

Mandarin Court Restaurant custard bun

Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant

At $12 for a basket of four, Mandarin Court’s custard buns are not cheap. I was quite hesitant to pay $3 for a bun, but the waitress convinced me that they are well worth the price.

Looks-wise, I’m very sure that this basket of custard bun would win any dim sum pageant. Taste-wise, I thought that it would be perfect if it had a stronger salted egg yolk flavour. That said, they are still one of the better ones that I’ve had, and it is a bonus that they are so pretty.

333 Orchard Road Level 35
Orchard Wing Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6831 6262

Custard Bun from Royal China

Royal China Restaurant

“I poked a hole into the liu sha bao to take a peep at the magnificent custard fillings. The Salted egg yolk custard buns ($4) were too hot to eat, but I put it into my mouth anyway. The golden liquid burnt my tongue, but it felt so good.”

The ones at Royal China came with enough oomph to elevate it to something better than your usual custard bun. You must try them when you are there for lunch.

1 Beach Road
#03-09 Raffles Hotel
Tel: +65 6338 3363

Custard bun from Taste Paradise

Taste Paradise

Both Taste Paradise and Paradise Pavilion serve the same custard bun ($5.5 for 3). If Marina Bay Financial Centre is too inaccessible, go to Taste Paradise at Ion Orchard to satisfy your cravings for the molten custard bun.

2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9660

Custard bun from Tung Lok Signatures

Tung Lok Signatures

For something different, Tung Lok Signatures has a pan-fried version of Custard Bun.

1 Harbourfront Walk #01-57
VivoCity Singapore
Tel: +65 6376 9555

For more recommendations, read my list of dim sum places in Singapore

It’s no secret that I love dim sum. I’ve been on a quest to find the best dim sum in Singapore and I’m happy to introduce you to my new favourite dim sum restaurant – Paradise Pavilion at Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC).

If Taste Paradise is a gorgeous fine dining Chinese restaurant with oriental decorations, Paradise Pavilion would be its westernised sibling, with a stunning French-inspired neoclassical ambience.

The restaurant on level 2 of the Marina Bay Link Mall also has an excellent view of the Marina Bay area, making it a great place to watch fireworks.

When you ask around which restaurants serve the best Beijing Roast Duck in Singapore, chances are, people will reply either Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck or Paradise Pavilion. It comes as no surprise as the latter actually constructed the wood fired ovens using apple wood from China. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to try the famous Peking duck as there was only two of us during both visits, so I can’t tell you whether Paradise Pavilion indeed has the best Peking duck in Singapore.

What I can tell you is that they have good dim sum, and the lovely interior makes the food even better. You’d think that I’m an expert judging from all the dim sum places that I’ve been to, but no, I’m actually quite ‘safe’ when it comes to dim sum. When I like something, I’ll keep eating it. It’s quite clear by now that there are certain items that I’d always order when I eat dim sum – custard bun, char siew sou, egg tart, custard bun, char siew sou, egg tart…

But I am getting better at trying new things. I figured that it’s probably quite weird if I go into a restaurant and just order baskets of char siew sou, egg tart, custard bun and nothing else.

Under the dim sum menu, there are eight items under “recommended dishes” section, which I believe is a list of dim sum items that are exclusive to Paradise Pavilion. Unless I am mistaken, most of the other dim sum dishes are also available at Taste Paradise.

Among them, I’ve tried the Pan-Fried Bun with Sliced Peking Duck, Bacon & Pineapple ($5.6), Siew Mai Skewers ($5.8), Black Truffle Chicken Pie ($6), Sesame Pastry with Sauteed Peking Duck ($6) and Crystal Dumpling with Peking Duck ($4.8). I’d highly recommend the Pan-Fried Bun with Sliced Peking Duck and Siew Mai Skewers.

There was silence when the Siew Mai Skewers arrived at the table. Siew Mai on a stick looked mightily impressive. Wow. It tasted even better. The Pan-Fried Bun with Sliced Peking Duck, Pineapple and Bacon was also very good! It was simple, yet very satisfying.

My dining companion was quite taken with the Crystal Dumping with Peking Duck ($4.8), but I thought it was a tad too salty. In any case, it is one of the three dim sum dishes that has Peking Duck.

From the recommended dishes, the Dragon Beard Flaky Roll with Eggplant ($5.6) sounds really interesting, but we had too much food on both visits, so we skipped that.

I like Cheong Fun. Really, I do. But I find it a little disturbing to stuff Cheong Fun with deep-fried veg spring roll ($5.8), so we skipped that and went for the normal Steamed Cheong Fun with scallop filling ($6.3).

I know I shouldn’t judge a dim sum by its name, but I thought it was puzzling to list the Original Steamed Carrot Cake ($4.8) as one of the recommended dishes. Maybe the chefs at Paradise Pavilion have found a way to master steamed carrot cake. In that case, shouldn’t they name it as the ‘Best‘ Steamed Carrot Cake instead of ‘Original‘ Steamed Carrot Cake?

Another dim sum that came with Peking Duck was the Sesame Pastry with Sauteed Peking Duck ($6). Even though I love duck meat, we couldn’t finish the dish.

We were intrigued by the name of the Black Truffle Chicken Pie ($6). I know, we are such superficial creatures. Put anything-black-truffle on the menu and you can get our attention. Sadly, the chicken pie filling wasn’t exactly out-of-this-world good. The puff pastry, on the other hand, was amazing – it felt as though we were in pastry heaven.

The Baked BBQ Pork Pastry was good, as expected. I’ve said it before, and I shall say it again – Paradise restaurant has the best char siew sou in Singapore.

Only the Steamed Custard Bun ($5.5) from Taste Paradise can make my heart go pitter-patter, so boy am I glad that I can now get it at Paradise Pavilion MBFC too. Best Custard Bun in Singapore? Definitely!

It seems somewhat ironical that Paradise Pavilion at Marina Bay Financial Centre has replaced Taste Paradise as one of my top three dim sum restaurants in Singapore. But at the same time, I’m glad that Paradise Pavilion is the one as I’m a fan of the Paradise group of restaurants. It will be interesting to see how much further they can push the culinary boundaries of Chinese cuisine.

For more recommendations, please read my list of best dim sum in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Paradise Pavilion
8A Marina Boulevard
#02-01 Marina Bay Link Mall
Tel: +65 6509 9308

I’ll be honest. The only reason why I went to Old Hong Kong Legend at Raffles City Shopping Mall was because Royal China was fully booked that day. Surprisingly, they have pretty good dim sum at reasonable prices.

If you have not heard about the Old Hong Kong Group, they currently have four restaurants: Old Hong Kong Kitchen at Novena Square 2, Old Hong Kong TasteMyVillage at Serangoon Gardens, Old Hong Kong Teahouse at Katong Village and of course, Old Hong Kong Legend at Raffles City Shopping Mall.

The dim sum menu at Old Hong Kong Legend has around 20 items, with prices ranging from $3.2 to $5.5 per basket. From the steamed items like Steamed Shrimp Dumping, Steamed Beef Balls, and Steamed Glutinous rice; to deep fried items like Deep Fried Prawn Dumpling, Deep Fried Spring Roll and Deep Fried Chives Dumpling; and baked items like Mini Egg Tarts, Baked Bo Lo Bun and Barbecued Pork Puff Pastry – there are options for every one.

Ever since I tried the Chicken Feet from Tim Ho Wan (One Michelin-Star restaurant in Hong Kong), my opinion about the dish has changed. For me, it used to represent one of those gruesome punishments in Fear Factor, but now, it is more like a yummy dim sum treat. Old Hong Kong Legend’s Steamed Chicken Claws with Black Bean Sauce ($3.2) was the perfect way to start one’s meal.

The Steamed Egg Yolk Custard Bun ($3.2) was good, but not life changing (read: not the best custard bun in Singapore). That said, I’ve paid $3 for one custard bun before, so the ones here are worth a try. Imagine: taste of happiness for merely a dollar each.

Three dim sum items arrived in quick succession: Steamed Glutinous Rice ($4.5), Pan Fried Radish Cake ($3.2), and Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun ($3.2). Except for the Glutinous rice in lotus leaf, the other two items were run-of-the-mill and nothing worth mentioning.

When I was scanning through the menu, the baked items like Char Siew Sou, Egg Tarts and Baked Bo Lo Bun were screaming ‘EAT ME’. Unfortunately, the oven was spoilt that day and we couldn’t order any of them. I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but it is not a nice feeling to see something, and not being able to eat it.

Thankfully, the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($5.5) and Steamed Pork Dumpling ($5.5) were decent and we quickly forgot about the baked dim sum.

All in all, Old Hong Kong Legend at Raffles City Shopping Mall (City Hall) is a competent restaurant to have dim sum. If not for the fact that there are so many good dim sum restaurants like Royal China, Man Fu Yuan and Wah Lok in the area, I’d come back more often for lunch.

For more recommendations, read my list of dim sum restaurants in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Old Hong Kong Legend
252 North Bridge Road
#02-18 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Tel: +65 6336 3038

Singapore is a foodie paradise. It is not exaggerating to say that eating is part of the Singapore Spirit. Since we will be celebrating National day in a month’s time, I thought it would be nice to write about some of the must-eats in Singapore.

Here’s my list of 10 Things to Eat in Singapore.

For first time visitors, it is a must to try all the popular hawker food from places like Chomp Chomp Hawker Centre and Old Airport Road Market. If you are willing to spend more on food, Singapore has many excellent fine dining restaurants, like Les Amis and Iggy’s. And of course, we mustn’t forget about the Celebrity Chefs Restaurants like Waku Ghin, Santi, CUT at the swanky Marina Bay Sands; Osia and L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at Resorts World Sentosa.

However, I’ll not be including Singapore’s best restaurants in this post. Instead, I want to share about some of the food that I miss whenever I am out of town. For non-food recommendations, please read my list of 10 Things to do in Singapore.

Chicken Rice

If you ask around which is the most famous Singapore food, chances are, people will reply with either chilli crab or chicken rice.

Amongst the many good chicken rice stalls in Singapore, I’d suggest going to either Tian Tian Hainanese chicken rice or Boon Tong Kee. I like Tian Tian’s chicken rice, but I hate the queue. If you are lazy to queue like me, go to Maxwell market before or after lunch hour. Tian Tian is definitely one of the best chicken rice in Singapore.

Boon Tong Kee, on the other hand, is a tricky one. Many people would argue that it is a commercialised restaurant, and there are probably lots of places that have better chicken rice. Let me explain. With six branches around the island, Boon Tong Kee is much more accessible, and you can have your chicken rice in a clean environment (not everyone is willing to brave the heat in hawker centre). It is a relatively safe option to bring your overseas visitors there for their first taste of our famous Singapore chicken rice.

Boon Tong Kee
425 River Valley Road
Tel: +65 6736 3213

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice
Maxwell Road #01-10 Maxwell Food Centre

Chilli Crab

As mentioned, Chilli Crab is probably the most famous Singapore food. It is the face of Singapore Cuisine, the must-try food for tourists. You cannot visit Singapore without having Chili Crab. There are many Chinese seafood restaurants in Singapore serving this popular dish, but my favourite is No Signboard at Geylang.

Fresh meaty crabs in a spicy-sweet chili sauce with deep-fried mantou – this is one of the most satisfying experiences in life.

No Signboard Seafood
414 Geylang Road
Tel: +65 6842 3415

Kaya Toast

Kaya is a coconut jam made from coconut milk, eggs which are flavoured by pandan leaf and sweetened with sugar. It is easily one of the best jam spread ever created.

Spread the kaya on the toast with a generous slab of butter – this is a very delicious thing for breakfast, tea, or supper. All you need is kaya toast, soft-boiled eggs and a cup of coffee. This is the best local breakfast.

Chin Mee Chin Confectionery
204 East Coast Road Singapore

Ya Kun Kaya Toast Singapore
18 China Street #01-01
Far East Square Singapore
Tel: +65 6438 3638

Tropical Fruits

There are plenty of tropical fruits to eat in Singapore, so it is a good idea to head to the markets if you are not from the region. Some of the must-try fruits are: rambutans, mangosteen, longan, lychee, durian, and mango.

Even though I hate durian, I think it’s a pretty cool experience to visit Geylang and sit by the roadside to try the king of fruits.

Fish Head Curry

Fish Head Curry is a dish created by Singapore’s Malayalee. Cooked in a hot and spicy Indian curry, the large fish head is usually eaten with white rice or bread. Try the one from Muthu’s Curry at Race Course road.

Muthu’s Curry
138 Race Course Road #01-01 Singapore
Tel: +65 6392 1722

Laksa

Laksa has a rich coconut-based curry soup with rice noodles alongside ingredients like cockles, shrimp, tau pok and fish cake.

The first time I had a bowl of laksa (many years ago) was a total revelation. It was like taking a plane for the first time; the first sip of champagne, or having the first ever taste of foie gras. It was something very special.

Without a doubt, Laksa is one of the Singapore’s must-eats.

328 Katong Laksa
51 East Coast Road Singapore
Tel: +65 9732 8163

Zi Char

Zi Char (also known as Zhi Char/Cze Char/Tze Char) is a Chinese stall (in a coffee shop) that serves a variety of ala carte dishes at affordable prices. Different ‘restaurants’ have their own unique signature dishes, but a typical zi char place will usually has the following: meat items – pork ribs, har cheong gai ($8 – $20); vegetables – sambal kangkong, kailan ($6 – $12), side dishes – beancurd, noodles, rice ($4 – $20) ; and seafood – prawn, fish, crabs ($15 upwards).

There are many good zi char places in Singapore, but I’d recommend Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon (for har cheong gai), Keng Eng Kee Seafood and for a slightly more upmarket option, Ming Kee Live Seafood.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Jumbo Coffee Hub
Blk 19A Dover Crescent

Keng Eng Kee Seafood
Blk 124 Bukit Merah Lane 1
#01-136 Alexandra Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6272 1038

Ming kee Live Seafood
556 Macpherson Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6747 4075

Peranakan Cuisine

Peranakan Cuisine, also known as Nyonya food, is the result of blending Chinese ingredients and wok cooking techniques with spices used by the Malay/Indonesian community. There are plenty of Peranakan restaurants in Singapore serving fantastic nyonya food, you can check out the fairly new Candlenut Kitchen by Malcolm lee – one of the up and coming chefs in Singapore; and Ivin’s – a popular and no frills place for families to have dinner.

Candlenut Kitchen
25 Neil Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6226 2506

Ivin’s
19 Binjai Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6468 3060

Dim Sum

Hong Kong might be the land of dim sum, but I feel that some restaurants in Singapore serve very good dim sum too. I’m sure everyone knows by now: my favourite dim sum restaurants in Singapore are Royal China at Raffles Hotel, Yanting Restaurant at St Regis, and Taste Paradise at Ion Orchard.

Royal China
1 Beach Road
#03-09 Raffles Hotel
Tel: +65 6338 3363

Taste Paradise Ion Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9660

Yan Ting Restaurant
29 Tanglin Road
The St Regis
Tel: +65 6506 6888

Char Kway Teow

“What food do you miss the most when you are away from Singapore?”

This is a simple question. My answer is definitely Char Kway Teow. The stir-fried noodle is artery clogging, but it is very, very tasty! For me, the best char kway teow in Singapore will be the one from Zion Road. You MUST EAT it!

No 18 Zion Road Fried Kway Teow
Zion Road Riverside Food Centre

I wrote this list of 10 Things to eat in Singapore for the NDP 2011 Official Website, but this is not a sponsored blog post and I have not received any monetary benefits in return. That said, I got two tickets to the NDP preview and I’ll be writing a second post to share more about the Singapore spirit during the parade.

Besides all the good food, what do you think defines the Singapore spirit? Share your thoughts at the NDP website and NDPeeps Facebook page!

It has been two years since my last visit to Royal China Restaurant at Raffles Hotel, and I was glad to finally make a trip there for dim sum during lunch recently.

I’ve said it before and I am happy to say it again. Royal China Chinese Restaurant is definitely one of the best dim sum places in Singapore.

Much has been said about Royal China’s gorgeous interior – it is impossible not to like the Tiffany blue themed restaurant. Prices are very reasonable for the quality of the dim sum, they range from $3.6 to $4.8 for a basket.

We took a quick look at the menu and made our orders: “please give us siew mai, har gau, char siew bao, custard bun, cheong fun, char siew soh, egg tart, and carrot cake.”

Everyone was very excited when the waitress brought the dim sum to our table.

After having the Cheong Fun and Siew Mai, we proceeded with the Baked Pork Bun ($3.6), and it was good enough to make me order it again next time. But if you do not want too many pork items, skip the Char Siew Bao and get the delicious Baked BBQ Pork Puff ($4) instead.

When it comes to Char Siew Sou, I’d rank Royal China’s rendition as my top 3 in Singapore, with the other two being Yan Ting and Taste Paradise.

Having tried the best pan-fried carrot cake from Si Chuan Dou Hua, I felt that the one from Royal China was mediocre.

The few of us were debating on where to find the best custard buns (liu sha bao) in Singapore. Names like Taste Paradise, Si Chuan Dou Hua, Mandarin Court and Peach Garden were mentioned, and after trying Royal China’s version, it is definitely in the same league.

I poked a hole into the liu sha bao to take a peep at the magnificent custard fillings. The bun was too hot to eat, but I put it into my mouth anyway. The golden liquid burnt my tongue, but it felt so good. It was hard to resist ordering a second portion.

Royal China’s Baked Egg Tarts ($3.60) were also very good. Delicious little devils.

If you are planning a visit to Royal China after reading this post, make sure you order their Steamed Prawn Dumplings ($4.8).

They were amongst the best I ever had: the skin of the har gau had the right consistency and thickness, and each dumpling came with a big shrimp which was fresh and crunchy.

Like the other dim sum places in Singapore, Royal China at Raffles Hotel only has dim sum during lunch, and it is a must to make reservations in advance. The must-try dim sum items are custard bun, har gau, char siew sou and egg tart.

For more recommendations, please read my list of dim sum restaurants in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Royal China Restaurant
1 Beach Road
#03-09 Raffles Hotel
Tel: +65 6338 3363

Operating Hours:
Mon to Sat: 12pm – 3pm
Sun & PH: 11am – 3pm
Mon to Sun: 6pm – 10.30pm

Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant (formerly known as Pine Court Chinese Restaurant) has undergone a revamp, with Chef Sunny Kong taking over the helm of the kitchen.

Nestled at the top of Mandarin Orchard Singapore (previously Meritus Mandarin) on the 35th level, the Chinese restaurant has a good view of the town area. It is currently one of my new favourite dim sum places in Singapore.

The weekday ala carte dim sum menu has over 20 items, with average prices between $5 to $5.7 per basket. Stand-out dishes include Steamed Pumpkin Dumpling, Crisp-fried Thousand Filo, Steamed Shark’s Fin dumpling, and Chinese Pancake with Bacon & Pork Floss. Since it was our first time to Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant, we proceeded to order the popular (but safe) choices.

The Baked Barbecued Pork Pie ($5.7) was quite different from the ones that I’ve had before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Anyway, they were not out-of-this-world good, but they were tasty, and that was enough.

At $12 for a basket of four, Mandarin Court’s custard buns are not cheap. I was quite hesitant to pay $3 for a bun, but the waitress convinced me that they are well worth the price.

Looks-wise, I’m very sure that this basket of custard bun would win any dim sum pageant. Taste-wise, I thought that it would be perfect if it had a stronger salted egg yolk flavour.

I thought that the Steamed Crystal Prawn Dumplings ($5.7) were average; the translucent skin was slightly torn before we had it.

Given that most places charge around $5-6 for Steamed Cheong Fun, I thought that Mandarin Court Restaurant’s rendition was overpriced at $8. The rice rolls were slightly too thick, and I would probably skip it next time.

Also on Mandarin Court’s dim sum menu, the Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun ($5.70) – sweet savoury char siew fillings within fluffy buns; Steamed Shanghainese Pork Dumpling ($5.70) – piping hot dumplings that were perfect with shredded ginger and Chinese black vinegar; and Steamed Siew Mai (5.70) – the ever reliable dim sum topped with pretty fish roe.

For those of you who want to indulge in a feast, Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant has a new Weekend Dim Sum Brunch Buffet which comes with 120 items, at $68++/pax.

I feel that Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant is one of the most underrated restaurants in Singapore. I’d definitely recommend coming here if you are looking for a restaurant in Orchard Road to have lunch.

For more recommendations, please read my list of dim sum restaurants in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant
333 Orchard Road Level 35
Orchard Wing Mandarin Orchard Singapore
Tel: +65 6831 6262

Operating Hours:
Weekday Lunch: 12pm – 2.30pm
Daily Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Weekend Dim Sum Brunch: 11am – 12.30pm, 1pm – 3pm

Within the edgy New Majestic Hotel is The Majestic, a modern restaurant with a causal yet classy vibe. The boutique hotel is located in Singapore’s historic Chinatown, a 5-minute walk from Outram Park MRT Station.

Majestic Restaurant is known for their Cantonese cuisine and it has been around since 2006. Chef Yong Bing Ngen (who also runs Jing Restaurant at One Fullerton) is no stranger in the Singapore Food scene. Previously from Doc Cheng’s and Hai Tien Lo, he led Majestic Restaurant to clinch the Asian Restaurant of the Year title during the WGS 2010.

I was at Majestic Restaurant on a Sunday for dim sum brunch. With only 13 items on the Weekend ala carte dim sum menu, there is not much choice. Most of the dim sum are priced at $4.50 for a basket of 3 pieces.

Even though I’ve eaten at many dim sum restaurants in Singapore, I have yet to taste a 10/10 Siew Mai. Nonetheless, I am happy to say that Majestic Restaurant’s Steamed Pork Dumpling is better than the average ones that I’ve had.

The Custard Bun ($6 for 3) at Majestic Restaurant comes in two options: steamed or deep-fried. Evidently, we had the steamed ones, and it was quite a moment as the molten custard flowed out. Majestic Restaurant’s Custard buns were good, but not great.

Next up, we had the fluffy and soft Steamed Barbecue Pork Buns ($3 for 2).

We also had the ubiquitous Steamed Prawn Dumpling ($4.50 for 3 pcs). As much as I think that Har Gow is boring, there’s something profoundly reassuring to see a basket on the table. The mere presence of it makes you feel that you are really having dim sum.

I had just one Char Siew Sou with buttery flaky crust and savoury Char Siew fillings. They were so good! Maybe I should have gone for a basket of four Baked Honey Pork Puff ($4.50 for 3) instead. Hmm…

I have a soft spot for Roast Duck ($20), and the one I had at Majestic was good. I think the picture of the Roast Duck tells you everything.

It was impossible to stop at one cube of Roast Pork ($12), but thank God the portion was tiny so it made us less guilty of having more.

The Deep-fried Baby Squid ($12) was a great appetiser. It was strangely addictive and we couldn’t stop eating it.

All in all, Majestic Restaurant is a stylish Chinese Restaurant and it is an ideal place for a quiet business lunch. Most of the dim sum items that we had were decent, nothing particularly outstanding. If you are thinking of visiting Majestic Restaurant for dim sum, do note that they only have 5-6 selections on the weekday menu. I’d probably come back again and order their signature dishes from the Majestic Restaurant’s main menu.

Read my list of Dim sum Restaurants | Brunch Places in Singapore

Singapore Food Blog Review
Majestic Restaurant
31-37 Bukit Pasoh Road
New Majestic Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6511 4718

Happy Easter Day!

It’s time to wake up and go for your Easter Brunch. Whatever it is, I hope you are eating well. Anyway, just to give you a quick update, I am currently working on a few projects for the food blog, and I will be unveiling them very soon. Meanwhile, you can always find me on twitter or drop me an email at bradleyfk@gmail.com. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

If you are new to my food blog, do check out the following list posts:

Best Cafes in Singapore
Best Desserts in Singapore
Brunch Places in Singapore
Buffet Places in Singapore
Dim Sum Places in Singapore
High Tea Places in Singapore

I have been wanting to try the other Tung Lok restaurants after my previous visit to Tung Lok Classics. When my friend asked me to suggest a place to have Dim Sum for lunch, I immediately thought of Tung Lok Signatures at Vivocity.

Like what I’ve previously mentioned, Tung Lok Signatures serves all the signature dishes from the various Tung Lok Restaurants  – it is like the best of Tung Lok under one roof.

Tung Lok Signature currently has two branches at The Central and Vivocity. Most of the items on the Dim Sum menu are reasonably priced around $4-$5 per basket.

My friend was quite disappointed that the Mini Egg Tart was really ‘mini’. But for what it lacks in size, it makes up for with taste. Oh boy, it was good!

I am more of a Siew Mai person than a Har Gau person. I love shrimp, but Har Gau can be quite bland sometimes. I often find myself staring in disbelief when my friends eat the Steamed Prawn Dumplings with chilli. I know many Singaporeans cannot live without spicy food, but it just feels wrong to have dim sum with chilli.

In any case, Tung Lok Signature’s Har Gau had fresh and crunchy shrimp, but the translucent skin could be better. It seems really hard to find a good Har Gau nowadays.

There are two options when it comes to the Carrot Cake, choose either the Pan-Fried or Steamed version. We had the Pan-Fried one and it was decent.

I was quite puzzled when I read that Tung Lok Signature has Fried Custard Buns on the dim sum menu. I mean, Steamed Custard Buns are very popular, but a fried one?

Apparently, they ‘pan-fried’ the Custard Buns until they get a slightly golden-brown surface. It was pretty satisfying, but definitely not the best Custard Buns that I’ve had.

As much as I love my Egg Tart, Char Siew Sou, and Custard Bun, I will always order Char Siew Bao when I am having dim sum.

The joy of having Xiaolongbao is to put the whole thing into your mouth. Never mind about getting scalded, this is the best way to enjoy it!

I used to have a poor impression of Tung Lok Restaurants. After going to Tung Lok Classics and Tung Lok Signatures, I must say that they have good Chinese food.

Tung Lok Signatures is definitely worth a try if you are looking for a Chinese restaurant in The Central/Vivocity area.

On a side-note, there are many new restaurants in Vivocity and you will probably be seeing my food reviews on them soon. If you’re still feeling hungry after dim sum at Tung Lok Signatures, pop in to neighbouring Max Brenner for desserts.

For more recommendations, read my list of Dim Sum Restaurants in Singapore.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Tung Lok Signatures
1 Harbourfront Walk #01-57
VivoCity Singapore
Tel: +65 6376 9555

Amongst the Crystal Jade Fine Dining restaurants, there are Crystal Jade Golden Palace at Paragon (contemporary Cantonese & Teochew cuisine), Crystal Jade Dining In at Vivocity (modern Cantonese cuisine) and the flagship Crystal Jade Palace at Ngee Ann City.

There are 35 items on Crystal Jade Palace’s dim sum menu, with the usual suspects like rice roll cheong fun, deep-fried shrimp dumpling, baked egg tart, siew mai, har gau, and steamed pork ribs. The prices are very reasonable for a Chinese fine dining restaurant, with most of the dim sum ranging from $3.60 to $5 per basket.

The Char Siew Sou ($4) had buttery and flaky pastry, and I love the sweet yet savoury char siew fillings. I’d think that Crystal Jade Palace’s char siew sou is on par with the ones that I’ve had at Taste Paradise and Yanting restaurant.

There were so many different types of steamed dumplings on the dim sum menu and we were spoilt for choices. Since it was our first time to Crystal Jade Palace, we took the safe option and went for the ubiquitous Steamed Prawn Dumplings ($5). It was fairly decent, the translucent skin was not too thick, and came with fresh crunchy shrimp.

Similarly, the Steamed Pork Dumplings with mushroom ($4.8) were not out-of-this-world good, but they were tasty and that was enough.

And what’s dim sum lunch without Steamed Rice Roll cheong fun ($4.8)? We easily finished it and only decided against ordering another portion as we had other dim sum coming.

When broken with a pair of chopsticks, the Xiaolongbao ($3.9) released the tasty stock into the spoon. Paired with vinegar and ginger, it was satisfying to swallow the whole pork dumpling.

My friend was feeling a little health conscious that day so we went for the Steamed Carrot Cake instead of the pan-fried one. It would not win a food photography competition, but the steamed carrot cake definitely tastes good.

* * *

With the fairly good dim sum at reasonable prices and its convenient location at Orchard road, Crystal Jade Palace has joined my ranks of my favourite dim sum restaurants in Singapore. If you don’t feel like having dim sum, there’s always Crystal Jade Korean Restaurant as well as the more affordable Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao at level four of Takashimaya.

The fine dining restaurant was packed when we went there on a weekend, reservations are highly recommended.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Crystal Jade Palace Restaurant
391 Orchard Road #04-19
Ngee Ann City Singapore
Tel: +65 6735 2388

Operating Hours: Daily 11.30am – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm

When I started this Singapore Food Blog, I would have never expected it to become what it is today, for that I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities that I have been given. Even up till now, I’m still amazed that there are people who actually want to read about how hungry I am every day.

In the past twelve months, I travelled quite a bit. I made new friends, and lost some. I learned many new lessons, and grew up a little. My new mantra in life is to experience all the new things in this world. What’s there to lose when I don’t have anything?

To summarise everything that I ate and blogged in the past year, I’ll like to share with you the top 10 most popular posts on ladyironchef for 2010.

It is actually quite interesting to see the search terms that people used to find my blog. Instead of ladyironchef, there are some who typed ironladyironchef.

10. Japanese Restaurants in Singapore

I’m not surprised to see my list of the Best Japanese Restaurants in Singapore as the tenth most-read pages on my food blog. Japanese cuisine has always been very popular in Singapore, and I know a lot of my friends can eat Japanese food everyday without being sick of it. I think I’m starting to appreciate this popular cuisine.

9. Guide to Dempsey Hill Restaurants

This year, I started a few guides to introduce some of the well-known dining destinations in Singapore like Holland Village, Rochester Park, Greenwood Avenue. Among the Singapore restaurant guides, Dempsey Hill was by far the most popular. Many people know of the atas restaurants at Dempsey road even though some of them have never been there before. Whenever people want a nice restaurant with ambience for dinner, I’m sure Dempsey road restaurants are definitely among their consideration.

8. Melt the World Cafe Buffet at Mandarin Oriental Singapore

I am not exactly sure how to approach this topic, so I am going straight to the point – Melt the World Cafe at Mandarin Oriental is the best buffet in Singapore.

My opening paragraph for Melt the World Cafe sums up everything you need to know. The prices are not cheap, but it is definitely a top-quality buffet restaurant.

7. Afternoon High Tea Places in Singapore

I need to blog less on Afternoon High Tea Places and desserts in Singapore, otherwise people will always assume that I’m a tai-tai in her mid 30s who has afternoon tea every day.

6. Gong Cha Bubble Tea

Gong Cha has been extremely busy this year. From their original outlets at City Square & Novena Square, they have added many new branches within a short period of time. Their strategy is slightly different from KOI Cafe. Most of the KOI outlets are in the heartlands area, while Gong Cha has been opening in shopping malls like Plaza Singapura, Vivocity, Raffles City, Orchard Central, Bedok Point & The Central.

5. The Singapore Food Blogger Saga

Everything you need to know about truth of this Singapore Food Blog has already been said. I learned valuable lessons from this incident, and at the same time, it showed me who are my real friends.

4. Dim Sum Restaurants in Singapore

When I blogged the list of Dim Sum in Singapore back in January, my original intention was just to use it as a reminder post. I hope that the list is useful whenever you need to satisfy your dim sum craving.

3. Brunch Places in Singapore

It is heartening to see that the All Day Breakfast trend is picking up in Singapore this year. With new breakfast restaurants like Wild Honey, Hatched & Strictly Pancakes — we have more options for breakfast food during anytime of the day.

2. Buffet Restaurants in Singapore

To be honest with you, I was expecting my list of Buffet Restaurants in Singapore to be the most-read post on my food blog. After all, it is a fact that Singaporeans love their buffet.

What is the #1 post on ladyironchef for 2010?

1. KOI Bubble Tea

Is KOI the best bubble tea in Singapore? It’s very subjective, but there’s one thing I can tell you for sure, KOI Cafe is the #1 search page on ladyironchef for 2010.

* * *

So many things have happened this year, and I’m thankful for the help and support from my blogging partners: Mr Gadget, Dweam, Monoxious and all the nuffies from Nuffnang.

Most importantly, I’m very grateful to all my readers – without you guys, I’m nothing. It is a joy to be able to do something that I really like, and it has been a fantastic year for my food blog. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for everything, and have a great 2011!

Champagne Dim Sum Brunch buffet at Cherry Garden

After I took sip(s) of champagne, someone stared at me for giggling, but ten seconds later, she did the same thing. Champagne does funny things to people, and you know what? Weekends are meant for Champagne Brunch!

I never liked the idea of Dim Sum Buffet. Before my virgin attempt at Cherry Garden’s Champagne Dim Sum Brunch, that is. It seemed ridiculous to me that I’d have to fork out 50 bucks just to gorge myself silly, when I could have treated myself better by going ala carte style and probably pay a lot lesser.

But I know better now. Weekend brunch is indeed different from the usual Dim Sum Lunch. On our regular sessions, the practice is to savour a few baskets of our preferred dim sum over a pot of good tea. But everyone should deserve something special for a weekend brunch.

The brilliant minds behind Cherry Garden created a whole new sensation by introducing the pairing of Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut champagne with dim sum! The idea of sipping champagne together with the partake of dim sum may come across as peculiar. But hey! Think about it this way – Everyone loves dim sum, and nobody will refuse champagne. Won’t having them together make an extraordinary Weekend Buffet Brunch? Sounds like a splendid way to go, yes?

You can have any excuses for drinking champagne. Allow me to toast a glass in your honor, allow me to toast another glass because it’s the weekend!

… And Oh my juicy Xiao Long Bao, steamed har gau, and steamed dumplings!

With over 50 dim sum items on their menu, Cherry Garden takes pride in presenting their buffet in an orderly fashion for optimized dining pleasure. The items are dished out in individual portions with every allowance for slow appreciation and indulgence in each delicate piece of dim sum. Coupled with free flow of champagne, what better way to spend a lazy afternoon than enjoying the goodness of Cherry Garden’s Champagne Dim Sum Brunch Buffet with your loved ones?

Feel free to make your second, and third orders of the same items that you enjoyed. Technically speaking, this is an all you can eat buffet since there’s endless flow of dim sum. But you probably want to go easy on the dim sum since there’s other main courses to choose from too!

It was a shame that the famous Cherry Garden’s roasted pork wasn’t available on the Champagne brunch dim sum buffet menu. Luckily, there’s the Honey-glazed Kurobuta pork char siew, which was a very competent replacement for the roasted pork. It was sweet, and tender, and extremely juicy. Yum! The braised soya chicken was not too bad, but it was largely overshadowed by the fantastic kurobuta pork char siew.

We also had the Roasted pork ribs in spicy Sichuan sauce from the Poultry section of the Buffet Brunch menu. The portion of the Wok-fried Kurobuta pork was pretty substantial, but it was slightly over-done and had this rubbery taste.

Other than the dim sum items, the Champagne Dim Sum Brunch Buffet at Cherry Garden also offers Sour & Appetizers. Their soups include: Hong Kong style minced pork and shrimp dumpling soup (very delicious), Double-boiled fish broth (light, and refreshing), Imperial hot and sour seafood soup, and the Double-boiled trio mushroom soup.

We didn’t order all of the appetizers as we really had too much food. But some of the signature ones that we had: Crispy eggplant tossed with chicken floss and Braised beef fillet with five spices & Sea Salt.

For completeness sake, they also have a Congee/Rice/Noodle section: Shredded pork and century egg congee, Kurobuta pork char siew egg fried rice and Braised Ee-fu noodles. But no one in their right mind would want to order them. Skip the carbs, and save the stomach for the other good food!

The Crisp Wasabi-aioli prawn with fresh mango and fish roe was excellent. The prawns were fresh and crunchy, while the mango and wasabi sauce added to the intensity of the flavor — it was so difficult to stop eating them!

The Beauty Blogger enjoyed the Steamed scallop with silken tofu in black bean sauce, which was surprisingly meaty. We didn’t order the Crisp-fried shredded squid and Steamed patin fish from the Seafood menu, so be sure to check them out if you are there for the buffet brunch!

The Deep-fried potato dumplings are available on their normal ala carte menu. Stuffed with cheese crab meat and onions, the potato dumplings were crispy outside, and mushy inside. You like the combination of fried food and cheese? You’d like the Deep fried potato dumplings.

The Steamed radish cake is among the 20 items on the dim sum buffet menu.

Joy has many interpretations and comes in all aspects. To some, it may mean a hearty bowl of Cereal with Milk or a sinful slice of Chocolate Cake. To others, it can be having a drink after a long day of work, or having the girlfriends over for a Girls Night In. But to me, Joy is having Champagne Dim Sum Brunch Buffet at Cherry Garden.

If you don’t drink champagne, or find that the $118++ Champagne Brunch is too pricey, you may choose the normal Dim Sum brunch buffet at $48++ per head. Note that the dim sum brunch (without champagne) comes with endless flow of dim sum, but only one order of soup, appetizer, main course and dessert per person, which is available for two seating: from 11am to 1 pm. and from 1.30pm to 3 pm. While the Champagne dim sum brunch has essentially the same menu plus champagne, and the fact that there’s endless flow of everything, and you can feast from 12 noon to 3pm.

// Read my list of buffet restaurants here, brunch places here and dim sum restaurants here.

Singapore Food Restaurants Review
Cherry Garden
5 Raffles Avenue
5F Mandarin Oriental
Tel: +65 6885 3538
Note: This is an invited tasting session.

I remember my first time to Victor’s Kitchen two years back. It was a long walk from Plaza Singapura, past PoMo (formerly known as Paradiz centre) and down Prinsep street to Sunshine Plaza. My first reaction was: “what kind of place is Sunshine Plaza?”

Stepping inside the building, there was a couple of printing companies and some random shops. Victor’s Kitchen is like a Hong Kong Cha Chaan Ting with minimum decoration. Fast forward to the present, Victor’s Kitchen looks exactly the same, except that they have expanded to a bigger shop space.

To me, having a custard bun is like a sacred ritual. It always begins with the same procedure: when the basket of buns come, first we pray. Whisper softly into the ears of whoever-in-charge-of-prayers-and-good-food, and sincerely ask that they be merciful and grant us a good custard bun that flows. After that, use a pair of chopsticks and carefully poke a hole inside the white pillowy bun. The rest, is really up to heaven — please, let it flow, please let it flow.

Many people raved about the dim sum at Victor’s Kitchen and claimed that they have the best custard buns in Singapore. Two years ago, I went there with high expectations, only to be disappointed by a Nai Wang Bao (custard bun) that didn’t have a flowy center. I swore never to go back again.

I came back for the famous Victor’s Kitchen custard bun. I gave it a second chance but I was disappointed again. The most terrible thing in this world must be surely hope. We poked a hole into the bun, but nothing happened. No golden liquid flowed out — nothing at all.

Then, of course, there was the har gau and siew mai – the dim sum classics. I took a few quick shots of the steamed shrimp dumpling and tucked in. It’s crucial to have the har gau hot from the steamers, otherwise the skin would become heavy after a while. My friend enjoyed the shrimp dumpling, but I thought it was decent – nothing fantastic.

The Siew Mai, on the other hand, was porky and tasty (for the lack of a better word). The texture had the consistency of how a good siew mai should be.

I like the unpretentious feel of Victor’s Kitchen. It is a place where a celebrity can walk in and nobody will bother to disturb him/her. I like how the aromatic smell of the stocking milk tea swirl in the air. I like the greasy oil stains of the siew mai at the metal bottom of the basket. Most of all, I like how the atmosphere reminds me of Hong Kong.

The prices of the dim sum here are around $3-4 per basket. While they are not extraordinary, people come to Victor’s Kitchen for the down-to-earth atmosphere (which reminds me of Red Star restaurant). I can probably get a better basket of dim sum elsewhere, but if you are craving for dim sum after lunch time – Victor’s Kitchen is the place to go in town. But do not order their custard buns, you have been warned.

Restaurant Review
Victor’s Kitchen
91 Bencoolen Street #01-21
Sunshine Plaza Singapore
Tel: +65 9838 2851

When I was a kid, my parents used to bring me to Red Star Chinese Restaurant during the weekends for yum cha. It was the place where I had my first taste of dim sum, and I remember the huge crowd at the restaurant everytime we were there. A lot of things changed over the years, but Red Star Restaurant has remained the same throughout.

When I was much younger, I used to believe that Red Star Restaurant at Chin Swee road served the best dim sum in Singapore. But I wasn’t so convinced after I tried better ones elsewhere. It has been a long time since my last visit to Red Star Restaurant, and when my friend mentioned that she has not been there before, it’s finally time to make a revisit again.

“Shall we get the Char Siew Sou?”

When the staff came to our side with the push-cart, I was having an internal struggle. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting great things from Red Star Restaurant’s Char Siew Sou since I had very good ones before.

The first bite of the Char Siew Sou took me completely by surprise. The pastry skin was flaky and it was filled with the sweet and hot char siew, making it unexpectedly delicious.

The Egg tart is definitely the most popular dim sum on Red Star’s menu. We had to order and wait a good ten minutes for it. To be fair, it was baked fresh from the oven and the egg custard was soft, eggy and yummy. It was a shame that the pastry crust wasn’t the flaky type that I liked.

We were very excited when the Chee Cheong Fun (rice rolls) push-cart came our way. Piping hot from the steamers, the smooth rice rolls were drizzled with a light sauce. Be it prawn or char siew fillings, chee cheong fun always make me so happy!

While having the Fried Prawn dumplings, I always find myself wishing that there’s more of the mayonnaise to go around. This is the perfect excuse for having mayonnaise without feeling guilty. Who cares about deep fried prawn dumplings? It’s all about the mayonnaise baby. On the other hand, we enjoyed the taro rolls which were crispy on the outside, and sticky on inside.

I felt that the platter of char siew and roasted pork wasn’t worth the try. It was somewhat cold, and while the roasted pork was pretty decent, ten bucks can get you another three baskets of dim sum.

From top right clockwise: Crab meat dumpling, glutinous rice, century egg congee

The only reason I come to Red Star restaurant is because of the nostalgic atmosphere and the push-carts that serve dim sum. Other than that, the dim sum is pretty average, and prices are not exactly much cheaper than the good dim sum restaurants like Taste Paradise, or Yan Ting restaurant. Furthermore, the queue is really long if you come here for yum cha on a weekend.

Red Star Restaurant definitely does not have the best dim sum in Singapore, but if you have not been here before, then it’s definitely a must to experience the Red Star atmosphere at least once. Otherwise, you are probably better off elsewhere at the other dim sum places without queuing.

// Just in case you are wondering, Red Star restaurant does not serve dim sum buffet, the ala carte dim sum menu is available daily. Most of the dim sum items are priced between $3.6 – $4 per basket.

Restaurant Review
Red Star Chinese Restaurant
Blk 54 Chin Swee Road #07-23
Tel: +65 6532 5266

Most Singaporeans will have probably heard of Tung Lok group of restaurants, which serve a range of food from vegetarian to seafood. From upmarket Chinese restaurant My Humble House, to the family-friendly Tung Lok Seafood restaurant, Lingzhi Vegetarian restaurant, or the causal dining Zhou’s Kitchen – there are options available for everyone.

For a long time, I was confused by Tung Lok Signatures and Tung Lok Classics. The former is about gathering the signature dishes and putting them together in a menu – it’s like the best of Tung Lok under one roof. On the other hand, Tung Lok Classics offers timeless classic Chinese dishes from Shanghainese, Sichuan, Hubei and Cantonese dishes.

It seems like my memory is starting to fail me. I can’t recall if this is fish, prawn or crab, but I remember that the deep fried cheesy coating was absolutely delicious with the meat beneath retaining its juicy and moist texture.

I was secretly hoping that there’s roasted pork, but we had the Char Siew in the end. Slightly charred on the edges, the char siew was soft, and chewy and sweetly succulent. It was decent, but definitely not the best char siew I had before.

Even though I have been to Tung Lok Seafood restaurant for their dim sum buffet, I never knew that Tung Lok Classics served dim sum too. I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress presented a basket of har gau and siew mai to our table. Evern though the shrimp was fresh and juicy, the steamed prawn dumpling’s translucent skin torn easily. I preferred the steamed pork dumpling which had a good balance of pork-and-shrimp.

Tung Lok Classics is all about the visual impact and the dessert that we had was the best testimonial to that. See that red test tube in the picture? It’s a shot of extremely potent beetroot juice — the perfect ending to the end of a good meal.

Which Tung Lok Restaurants have you been to before, and which is your favorite?

Restaurant Review
Tung Lok Classics
1 Tanglin Road #02-18
Orchard Parade Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6834 0660

21 Amber Road #03-01
Chinese Swimming Club Singapore
Tel: +65 6345 0111

“Where’s the best dim sum in Singapore?”

Even though this is the 12469th time that I’m blogging about Yan Ting Restaurant at St Regis Hotel, I get this question from my readers all the time. If you have not heard of Yan Ting before, I’m sorry to say that you are missing out on some of the best things in life.

Most people has the misconception that Yan Ting is expensive since it is located within St Regis Singapore. I usually spend around $20ish per person for a good dim sum lunch, and the prices are similar to other reputable dim sum restaurants like Cherry Garden, Royal China, and Taste Paradise.

Both the Steamed Shrimp Dumpling ($3.80) and the Pork Dumpling ($3.80) were top-notched. I enjoyed the former for its crunchy and fresh shrimp in the semi-translucent skin, and the latter for its right proportion of shrimp and pork.

There simply are not enough superlatives in this world to properly describe Yan Ting’s Char Siew Sou ($4.20). Good? Superb? Fantastic? My dear, go down to Yan Ting and take a bite of the char siew pastry, and you will know what I mean.

Sweet and succulent bits of char siew were carefully hidden within the soft and warm Char Siew Buns ($3.80). They were like fluffy white clouds in the sky, screaming at us: GRAB ME!

From Yan Ting’s dim sum menu, we also ordered the mushy-but-delicious Yam Croquette ($4.20), the fluffy Radish Pastry ($4.20) that was deep-fried but not too oily, and the popular Radish Cake ($3.80) that I had every time.

Accompanied by the mayo sauce, the Deep-Fried Shrimp Dumplings ($4.20 for 3 pcs) were fried to a gorgeous golden brown, with the surrounding crust of the dumpling being incredibly crispy. Beneath, the shrimp filling was fresh and sweet. It’s really difficult not to like this, unless you do not eat prawns.

I will definitely be going back to Yan Ting Restaurant whenever I’m craving for dim sum, but this is probably the last time I will blog about them unless there’s new addition to their dim sum menu. At $98++ per person, Yan Ting’s weekend dim sum brunch buffet is priced out of my league, but do let us know if you have tried it before.

Restaurant Review
Yan Ting Restaurant
29 Tanglin Road
The St Regis Singapore
Tel: +65 6506 6888

A couple of weeks ago, the kind folks at Hungrygowhere invited me to join them for a food tasting session, and when I heard that they were going to Summer Palace at The Regent Singapore — I agreed immediately.

Among The Regent Hotel Restaurants, I have always wanted to try the Afternoon high tea at the Tea lounge, Basilico Italian Restaurant, and of course the Cantonese food at Summer Palace Chinese restaurant.

After a quick glance at the menu, we were very excited as there’s a long list of food waiting for us. The Media Degustation menu started us with the Dim Sum platter which included a Baked Chicken Tart with Baby Abalone ($9 per piece), Shrimp dumpling with Bird’s Nest ($8 for 3 pieces), Deep-Fried Yam with Garoupa ($5 for 3 pieces).

Baby abalone and bird’s nest with dim sum? Oh boy, it’s so extravagant!

I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I felt that the baby abalone was rather out of place alongside the baked chicken tart. The savory-savory combination didn’t really work for me, but I like the shrimp dumpling with Bird’s nest. A morsel of the delicate bird’s nest was placed nicely on top the open-shrimp-dumpling, while I couldn’t really taste the fineness of the Chinese delicacy – it’s kind of nice to know that we just had something supposedly good. On the other hand, the Deep-fried yam with garoupa really opened up my mind. While I had Steamed grouper dumpling before, it was my first time having deep-fried yam with garoupa, and to be honest, I’ve never imagined that garoupa could actually be used as the ingredient for deep-fried yam balls.

The Braised Superior Bird’s Nest with Lobster and Gold Leaf at $88 per serving was expensive, but it was really worth every cent. I don’t know about you, but gold foil never fails to portray the luxurious feel to me. We could taste every strand of the bird’s nest with the chunky lobster meat, and together with the (literally) superior stock – this was the highlight of our dinner.

It was a shame that the Wok-fried Wagyu Beef ($68) was prepared in huge blocks. It’d definitely be a lot better if the premium beef was sliced thinner to showcase the marbling of the meat.

I was confused when the waitress read out the name of the dishes at machine-gun-like speed. Hold on a second, which is the scallop and spare ribs? Both of them looked rather similar to me! You know, deep fried food always appear to be the same.

Okay, so there’s the Crispy Scallop with fresh pear ($36 for the normal portion), and the Deep-Fried Spare Ribs with Shrimp Paste ($22 for normal portion). In case you are wondering, we only had a tasting portion of both dishes. By then, we realized that the Chef likes to play with many different contrasting flavor combined into one dish, and the Crispy scallop with fresh pear was the prime example of that. Broken down into three different components, there was ham on top of the meaty scallop with the pear and there was a surprise layer of powdered dried shrimp enveloped between the two.

On paper, the Deep fried spare ribs was like what the name suggested – something shrimp paste. But it was slightly more than that. The Deep fried spare ribs were coated with a layer of shrimp paste, giving it the luscious and fragrance texture. Inside, it was rewarding with the meat being juicy and so succulent.

I used to have crocodile meat when I was a kid, as it can cure asthma. Even thought Summer Palace’s rendition was wok-fried, the finely sliced crocodile meat tasted somewhat more like shabu-shabu. Have you tried crocodile meat before? Go to Summer Palace restaurant for their Wok-fried crocodile meat with spicy sauce ($40).

All of us thoroughly enjoyed the Eight Treasures Fried Rice ($26) that had ingredients like scallop, roasted duck, char siew, olives, brown rice, and dried shrimp.

I know It’s kind of early to have moon-cakes in July when the actual Mid Autumn festival is in September, but the folks at The Regent Hotel gave us a sneak preview of their new moon-cakes for this year. If you are keen to sample some of the mooncakes, they will be available at The Regent Singapore from the 25th August to 22th September.

It was quite hilarious that a few of us actually arranged a date during the dinner, to come back and try their dim sum offerings. We went back for the dim sum last week, most of them was pretty good, but unfortunately my camera was sent for repair and I didn’t manage to get any photos. If you had tried their dim sum before, check out my list of Dim Sum Restaurants in Singapore for other options.

Restaurant Review
Summer Palace Chinese Restaurant
1 Cuscaden Road 3F
The Regent Singapore
Tel: +65 6725 3288