An oasis of blue, with a glimpse of gold. Royal China. There are places which you will proudly recommend to your friends when they want suggestions for food, and I raved about the best dim sum before. Indeed, my fond memories of the exquisite Chinese-tapas still lingers in my heart. My perennial return was long overdue.

But perhaps it was my mistake not to check with the restaurant before going, that I didn’t realise they had a special dim sum menu for the Chinese New Year period. With just a selection of 12 different dim sum, all priced at $6.80++ instead of the normal price, I did feel being rip-off, but that’s Chinese New Year for you, and it was my fault for not checking beforehand.

In place of the usual red roe on top of the steamed minced pork dumpling with abalone ($6.80++, usual price $4.80), we had tiny abalones instead. Right, the siew mai was up to standard, but I’ll not say the same having pay two dollars extra for the tiny abalone on top.

From the outside, the steamed prawn dumplings with black moss ($6.80++, usual price $4.80) looked the same. The exotic ingredients kicked in with the addition of black moss (fa-cai), an ingredient that is never missing from Chinese New Year menu. I certainly understood the significant of the auspicious ingredient, but I must admit that there wasn’t any enhance in the flavour of the har gau.

The Crispy prawn rolls with sesame ($6.80++) was one of the item which I did not try before, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. Fundamentally prawn roll with mango, fried crispy with the sesame stuck on top. A dip into the mayo dressing completed the whole taste.

My love, the Baked barbecued pork puff ($6.80++, usual price $4). Royal China’s rendition was very good, with golden butter flaky skin and juicy red char siew. The only problem, this was exactly the same without any addition of “exotic ingredients” and I had to pay almost three bucks more for it.

Total bill was $43. 90 for 4 dim sum, 1 appetiser, and of course the other charges. Was I disappointed by the second visit? Certainly, counting by per piece, it’s close to $2.60 each, even more expensive than Yan Ting. But you can’t fault them for the quality in dim sum, it’s just that I’m sore over paying more than usual for my char siew sou. Will I go back again? Certainly, I still have good impression of them even though this was a bad experience.

And one more thing which I was not pleased about. For those of you who had been there, you’ll know that in their middle seating area, it used to be square tables with the nice white chairs. But they had removed them, and placed round tables with ugly brown chairs instead. I presumed this was done to increase the seating capacity,  but the different furnitures was certainly not pleasing to the eyes, and the seating arrangements were not comfortable at all. After checking with a friend who went after the cny period, it seems everything is back to normal.

One thing’s a definite. We will find out the next time I revisit the place.

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

Royal China @ Raffles exudes the prestige and grandeur as the famous colonial Raffles Hotel. Housed in the 3rd level of the hotel, Royal China definitely strikes out to be a cut-above-the-rest with its impressive name, and location. Having heard rave reviews about Royal China’s dim sum, it was about time that I patronised the restaurant, and boy I was charmed.

I decided to go against the norm this time round, usually i’ll write out my conclusion at the end, but Royal China isn’t any normal restaurant serving run-of-the-mill dim sum. I’ll rate them in the same league as Yan Ting, but definitely cheaper. Given the varsity in prices, I say Royal China certainly serves the best dim sum among the places i tried so far.

You can be forgiven if you think that Royal China comes with some Chinese background since the name China indirectly implied the meaning. In fact, The Royal China group is eminent in London, and the foray into Shanghai was just a recent event. Royal China @ Raffles remains the exclusive restaurant in the whole of South-east Asia.

Stepping into Royal China, the contemporary interior which comes in wave of ocean blue makes it a swanky restaurant. No doubt you wouldn’t believe this was actually a Chinese restaurant, and i must say I enjoyed the ambience as it’s very different from the traditional red and gold setting which you find in Chinese restaurants. The blue and white backdrop ooze a certain calm and tranquil, which made you feel right at home.

Baked Barbecued pork puff ($4 for 3)

The baked barbecued pork puff or char siew sou, was definitely the must-order dim sum at Royal China. Within the flaky, crispy pastry skin was the most delicious, sweet and juicy char siew that you could find. I regretted not having second serving of this, the next time round, i’ll have one basket for myself!

The best char siew sou that i tried so far was at Yan Ting, and Royal China’s rendition is certainly on-par with that. The thought of the excellent BBQ pork puff is enough for me to make a perennial return.

Steamed pork dumpling ($4.80 for 4)

Making a strong case for Royal China, the steamed pork dumpling, or siew mai was also another staple in the menu. Like most siew mai, the beautiful red roe adorns the top, and how can you not order this when you are having dim sum!

Steamed prawn dumpling ($4.80 for 4)

As with most, if not all good steamed prawn dumplings, a whole fresh and luscious prawn shroud within the thin and light skin had the right amount of bite. And at $1.20 each, they are really worth the money, compared with the ones at Peach Garden which are higher in price.

Steamed BBQ pork buns ($3.60 for 3)

Like i mentioned before, I love to eat char siew buns from Chinese restaurants because they are usually in three parts which have gaps to tease you with the char siew fillings. And at $1.20 each, I’ll rather have one of these any time over the sub-standard buns elsewhere.

Steamed seafood roll with minced garlic ($4.80 for 2)

Coming on the recommendation of the staff, the steamed seafood roll with minced garlic was one of the more expensive dim sum at Royal China. Each basket only serves two person, nevertheless, each serving came in the form of a huge crunchy prawn wrapped around wisp of noodles. An interesting and novelty take.

Carrot cake with preserved meat ($4 for 1)

There wasn’t anything fantastic with the carrot cake here, No complications of XO sauce, no carrot cake wannabe cheong fun just a good and reliable portion of the dish which we are all familiar with.

Glutinous rice in lotus leaf ($4.80 for 2)

We decided to have just one basket of the Glutinous rice not because it wasn’t good, but rice makes you full easily, and we wanted to keep our stomach for the other delectable dim sum. The rice was enhanced with the fragrant emitted by the lotus leaf.

Royal China Cheong fun ($4.80 for 3 rolls)

We had the Royal China Cheong fun, which was a combination of the three different ingredients, namely, prawn, char siew and scallop. You can also get just one of the ingredient in a serving, but since we wanted to try all three, this was a good choice.

The cheong fun rice rolls were silky-smooth, and encompassing within were fresh scallops, crunchy prawns and juicy char siew. I couldn’t quite decide which ingredient was better, but i’m leaning towards the crunchy prawns.

String beans crystal dumpling in chilli oil ($3.6 for 1)

This was the only upset from the otherwise perfect meal at Royal China. Coming as a last minute before the last order at 2.45pm (lunch’s from 12-3pm), the staff told us this was special because not many places uses string beans in dim sum. And i agreed, only with the part that you seldom see string beans.

The string bean crystal dumplings had fillings of string beans, and soaked in chilli oil. We did not like the combination, the chilli oil was too spicy and oily. But being the nice people, we didn’t want to waste food, so we took one each and gulped it down.

Deep fried prawn dumpling served with Mayo ($4.80 for 3)

Another of the last minute order, the deep fried prawn dumpling fared better than the string bean crystal dumpling. Covered with almonds, the inside was minced prawn. My friend was looking out for the big prawn which was evident in the prawn dumpling, and the seafood roll. But the prawn here was minced nicely and filled in the dumpling instead.

Baked duck meat roll in Portuguese sauce ($4.80 for 3)

The baked duck meat roll was also on the recommendations of the staff, it came as a surprise to us when it arrived, looking like meat roll dipped in curry-like colour sauce. In fact, it was Portuguese sauce, now i’m not too sure what exactly was Portuguese sauce, but the flavour was too strong, and overwhelmed the duck meat roll.

But eaten without the Portuguese sauce, the duck meat roll on its roll was actually quite good. The fillings were generous within the roll, pity the Portuguese sauce though.

Total Bill was $95.10 for 5 people. Most of the earlier dim sum that we ordered came in 6 portions because another friend didn’t come in the eleventh minute. I listed out the normal pricing for the standard pieces of dim sum available so as not to confuse you. You could also do it like us, say you have 5 people order 5 pieces instead of getting two basket of 3 each.

Prices are reasonable given the quality of the dim sum. We paid about $19 per person, definitely not expensive, but we didn’t exactly eat a lot, one of each dim sum. I preferred to appreciate each piece of quality dim sum than to gorge myself silly with a lot of sub-standards one.

Dim sum at Royal China was an excellent one, standards are comparable to Yan Ting, yet prices are cheaper than the latter. There are some other dim sum which i haven’t try, and a perennial return looks to be a certainty, and I’ll definitely recommend Royal China if you are looking for good dim sum. The restaurant’s also famous for their lobster noodles, but unless you got deep pockets, i suggest you stick to the dim sum. See you there!

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

Royal China is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

Seah Street Deli has an American air around it, it is after all a restaurant serving your good old American food. Don’t let the name Seah Street fool you, the place is call Seah Street deli because the restaurant is located in Raffles Hotel, which is just beside Seah Street.

Step into Seah Street Deli, and you will be transported back in time to 1950s New York. The restaurant does imitates the look of a Big Apple Deli quite well, the lightning, the decors and the furnitures all oosh a certain classical American touch.

Located at the colonial Raffles Hotel, Seah Street Deli is just a 5 minutes walk away from Raffles City. Certainly an accessible place for a meal if you are in the area and do not want to be in the crowd.

Nowadays where else can you find a jukebox? Talk about nostalgic, they certainly roll back the good old time.

Wild Pacific Dory Fillet ($18.50)

Served with natural organic vegetables, baby potatos, and lemon wine sauce. The wild pacific dory fillet comes up to be quite ordinary actually. The dory is fresh, but not much of a surprise there, and at $18.50, its a tad expensive. Serving size is definitely huge, well it should be, we are talking about American food after all.

Grilled Salmon Steak ($18.95)

Salmon marinated with mix herbs, grilled zucchini, garlic mashed potatoes and dill cream sauce. The Grilled salmon steak taste to us slightly under-flavored, it will be better if the flavor can be stronger.

The garlic mashed potatoes are plentiful, and really, you can’t finish them off unless you really got a big appetite.

Southern Style Chicken ($17.50)

Deep fried chicken, served with fries. The portion is gigantic, but really thats it. The chicken is deep fried, done in your American style, fries are decent. But at $17.50, the Southern Style chicken is a suspect for rip-off

Seah Street Burger ($14.95)

Seah Street Deli’s very own freshly ground all beef patty with lettuce, tomatoes, and onions served on a toasted sesame bun. If you think the Seah Street Burger is big, think again. You haven’t seen the bigger burger.

Their Texas Burger a 12 ounce sized beef patty. Granted i heard quite good things about the Texas burger, but the stomach didn’t have room for it, so i ordered Seah Street burger instead.

Seah Street Burger is not too bad, the beef patty is nicely mashed, put together with the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions inside the sesame bun, you will be wondering how do you start eating the whopping burger.

Having eaten burgers in restaurants like Relish and Seah Street, not at your fastfood joints, i came to realise the only feasible way to consume them will be to cut by bites, otherwise you can always choose the alternative, take a big mouthful!

Chocolate Decadence cake ($11.95)

The all time favourite chocolate decadence cake at $11.95 do seems a bit steep. But the serving size of the cake more than make up for it. The cake is ginormous (gigantic & enormous)! Seriously, i have never seen places cutting such a big size of cake.

The chocolate decadence cake is made up of 7 layers, and each layer is sweeter than the other. Even though i have a sweet tooth, i find the cake to be too sweet. But its good to indulge in such decadence once in while. After having our main courses, the four of us actually struggle to finish the cake. A must-try if you visit Seah Street Deli.

Total bill is $95.76 for 4 mains and 1 desserts. But Citibank is offering a 15% discount for Seah Street Deli, so our bill after the discount is $81.90. Prices are slightly steep here considering the fact that the food is not bad, but not to the point excellent. At around the same price, there might be some other places which can be better.

Portions are definitely huge, this is where we made a mistake. I think for 4 person, just order 3 main course to share will be more than suffice. The chocolate decadence cake is a must try for desserts. If prices can be cheaper, then i say Seah Street is a nice and cheerful place to dine out, until then, maybe once is enough.

Seah Streel Deli
1 Beach Road #01-22
Raffles Hotel

” Roll back the good old times “