Located at Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, Singapore Bao is a popular stall which is known for its Glutinous Rice Chicken (Lo Mai Gai) and Siew Mai. Get there early as there’s a long queue at the stall every day and it is usually sold out by 10am.

Ironically, Singapore Bao no longer sells any buns (baos) and it specialises in only two items—Siew Mai & Glutinous Rice Chicken.

Each Siew Mai is priced at S$0.70 and you can get three Siew Mai at S$2. The value-for-money Siew Mai is plump and meaty.

At S$2, The Glutinous Rice Chicken comes with flavourful and not overly greasy glutinous rice, mushroom and a generous portion of chicken meat.

Needless to say, Singapore Bao is definitely worth queuing up for if you love Glutinous Rice Chicken and Siew Mai. It is so popular that there is usually a queue even before the stall opens in the morning.

Singapore Bao
#01-61 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre
Blk 29 Bendemeer Road
Singapore 330029

We are such big fans of TungLok Group’s arsenal of restaurants and one of the places we frequent is TungLok Teahouse for their delectable, handcrafted dim sum. This casual dining restaurant has extremely competitive prices—which means you can always pop by to satisfy your dim sum cravings even if you are on a budget!

TungLok Teahouse at Square Two recently underwent a transformation: From a retro old-school Chinese Teahouse, to a place which revolutionizes the way dim sum is served. Hint: there is automation and interaction involved here.

After all these years, it remains as one of our all-time favourite places for reliable dim sum.

At first look, the new TungLok Teahouse at Square 2 resembles a classic American Diner with its green and red booths. It is indeed refreshing for a dim sum restaurant.

The restaurant has implemented a new dining concept with its tray delivery system. Choose to sit where the action is at, the booths, which cater to group of four or six; or the round tables at the side of the restaurant which seat bigger groups.

The chefs will prepare the orders upon receiving the electronic orders made via an iPad at every table—this is to ensure that every basket and plate of dim sum is steamed to order and served fresh and piping hot.

Then comes the interesting part—look out for your food which will be delivered to your table straight from the kitchen via the “tray”.

We felt like we were kids again, having so much fun exploring a new game that has just been launched. This new system also means that your waiting time is greatly reduced!

SIGNATURE DIM SUM

Cartoon dim sum will always capture our hearts, which is what the Mini Piglet BBQ Buns (S$5.30++ – 3 pieces) at TungLok Teahouse did. On top of being adorable, we gave this dish additional points for its taste too.

We tore apart the soft bun and were delighted to be greeted with a generous portion of barbequed pork and sweet sauce.

TungLok Teahouse’s signature Steamed Siew Mai with Quail Egg and Truffle (S$5.80++ – 4 pieces) completely blew our minds. Who would have thought the classic dim sum could be reinvented this way?!

We loved how we were surprised by the runny quail egg yolk when we bit into the pork and shrimp siew mai. And as if the sweetness from the egg wasn’t enough, black truffle is added for an overall elevation of the taste!

We are never looking at siew mai the same way again.

Steamed Cheong Fun (rice rolls) is a staple in most dim sum restaurants and you bet it is a must-order at TungLok Teahouse.

We liked the textural variety in the Steamed Prawn Rice Rolls ‘Cheong Fun’ (S$6.80++). Imagine fresh plump prawns, vegetables and crispy vermicelli wrap, combined together in delicate rice noodle rolls before it is drenched with light soya sauce.

Many of you will agree with us that good baked pork buns should come with flaky tops and are soft to bite. Besides that, it is also crucial that the sweet and savoury bits from the bun and juicy pork have to go well together.

That is what you would get with the Baked BBQ Pork Buns (S$4.80++ – 3 pieces) at TungLok Teahouse. Since our first trip, we had concluded that this is a must-try at TungLok Teahouse and our stand remains today.

Other dim sum choices you get are Steamed Shrimp Dumplings ‘Har Gao’ (S$5.30++ – 4 pieces), Baked Mini Egg Tarts (S$4.30++ – 3 pieces), Deep-fried Yam Puffs with Truffle (S$4.30++ – 3 pieces) and Steamed Juicy Meat Buns ‘Xiao Long Bao’ (S$5.30++ – 4 pieces).

SIDES

Boxer Chicken (S$8++) is so sinfully good that it is worth every damn calorie. Although the limelight at TungLok Teahouse is the dim sum, it would be a shame to miss out on this crispy delight.

Deep fried to perfection, you can enjoy the chicken with the chilli dip for a spicy kick.

BECAUSE ROAST MEATS

The Duo BBQ Meat Combination Platter (S$20++) is a plate of roasted goodness that comes with ‘Char Siew’ and Roast Irish Duck. Roasted to a glorious shade of deep red, the best part of the roast duck has got to be its crispy skin.

Well, we don’t think you need another reason to be convinced, right? Good roast meats are worth the while.

THIS UNFORGETTABLE POT OF NOODLES

This pot of Braised Prawns with Vermicelli in X.O. Sauce (S$18++) comes with prawns and tanghoon. It was flavourful with a distinct wok hei, and as simple as it may look, it was an unforgettable item from our lunch that afternoon.

TungLok Teahouse
10 Sinaran Drive
#01-73 Square 2
Singapore 307506
Tel: +65 6893 1123
Mon to Fri: 11am – 3pm, 5.30pm – 10pm
Sat & Sun: 11am – 3pm, 3pm – 5pm (high tea), 5.30pm – 10pm
Nearest Station: Novena

This post is brought to you by TungLok Group.

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