Royal China @ Raffles Hotel

Royal China used to be one of my favourite dim sum place until the makeover a couple of years ago.

I know the sky blue decor is supposed to look classy, but seriously sky blue for a chinese restaurant?

But anyway, since Royal China is relatively in close vicinity to my office, I decided to give it another go. And I am glad I make the trip, for the quality of the food at least.



We ordered a couple of staple dim sum and I pretty much enjoy the consistency of the dishes and the variety offered.

The Har Kaw (Shrimp dumpling) is wrapped is a thin layer of crystal like skin with each dumpling offering a generous amount of fresh, coarsely chopped shrimps.



(And please ignore the blurry photos...am still trying my best to figure out how to operate my new camera and the very silly focal point)

Next up was the deep fried beancurd roll with shrimps. Again, this was served with a generous amount of shrimp instead of minced pork as used by some other dim sum outlets.



The seafood porridge with bits and pieces of scallop, sliced fish and prawn is definitely the comfort food of the (rainy) day.



Maybe I was half expecting these to resemble their salted egg yoke custard bun counterparts, these salted egg yoke custard layer cake was quite mild in flavour and taste.



We also ordered the glutinous lotus rice and seafood dumpling which don't quite make it on the photos.

All in all, lunch for two sums up to a reasonable $40+ taking into consideration the quality of its food. It's just a pity that service was tardy quite an almost half filled restaurant.

Lei Garden - Chijmes

(I almost completed my entry when I foolishly clicked on the exit button before saving the post so I guess with it being almost 6 in the morning and me not having a single wink as yet this shall be a short entry of my dim sum lunch at Lei Garden.)

Steamed prawn dumpling (Har Kau) has always been a staple during dim sum and with the crystalline outer layer of nicely done skin wrapped with fresh marinated prawn, this is easily the best dish of the meal.



Xiao Long Bao.



The deep fried shrimp roll with beancurd skin and avocado with prawn wrap were however not too impressive especially with oil still dripping onto my plate when served.





The lobster porridge was light and smooth with robust stock and bite size pieces of lobster.



The alaska crab claw was a recommendation by the captain which was coated with flour and deep fried, served drenched with thai sweet chilli over a piece of carrot cake and asparagus. Notice the word 'drenched'? Sadly, the thai sweet chilli was a tad too sweet for my personal liking and with the crab meat already fried and served with the sauce, there was no natural sweetness of the meat since the sauce overpowered any remaining flavour it should have.



Lastly, there's egg tarts baked with soft fluffy crust with the not too sweet custard served warm and durian pudding, both of which I find very delicious.





Generally, the immaculate service is a big pulling point. Tea was constantly being refilled, chair was pulled and napkin positioned on the lap, at the end of the meal a waiting staff walked us to the main door and a call was made to us 2 hours before the reservation asking if we wanted to pre-order any dishes in the event they sell out early. I will just make a mental note to avoid the deep fried dim sum...


Lei Garden Restaurant (Chijmes)
#01-24 Chijmes
40 Victoria Street
Singapore 187996
Tel: 6339 3822

Christmas Eve Lunch 2007

A cold and wet Christmas eve here in UK...which also marks my final year as a student experiencing winter all wrapped up in layers and layers of clothing soaked in the festive mood.

Lunch was at the usual Zing Vaa before stocking up the fridge with food since nothing will be opened on Christmas Day itself.

Seafood Treasure Fried Rice...and at 9 pounds a plate, there's a generous amount of scallops, prawns and squid, garnished with some fried mei cai to spice up the taste.



Egg Tarts - usually available during weekends of special ocassions.



Har Kau



Bai Hua Juan



Fried Custard Bun



Bai Hua Niang Qie Zi



Nice and warm lunch at 18 pounds for 2 pax...my weekly hangout with very reasonable pricing and good variety of dim sum.


55 The Moor
City Centre, Sheffield
S1 4FP

Victor's Kitchen

I first read about Victor's Kitchen from ieatishootipost and the visit more than satisfy the weekly dim sum routine as to the quality of food the small cafe located in Sunshine Plaza managed to whip up despite not in some fancy hotels or restaurants. If you are on a budget then this is the perfect alternative for some decent above average dimsum from the humble shop space converted kitchen.

It was tricky trying to get a table during weekends but the staff are more than helpful in keeping me updated constantly on the tables available and the wait was barely 10 minutes long before the aunty led me to another shop space converted dining area a couple of units away.

The fried items ordered were the shrimp beancurd roll and vegetable springroll. Both are served with a small saucer of vinegar which helps to neutralise the the fried outer skin cripsy enough not to leave any hint of oiliness after a bite.






For the cheong fun, we ordered the shrimp cheong fun and za leong which is one of the rarely seen dimsum here. The you tiao was fried just long enough for it to be crispy on the outside and chwey inside which makes the mixture of both the cheong fun and you tiao one of the best combination served with the black sweet sauce.






The steam carrot cake with dried scallops is also something not usually seen in the menu of local restauarnts but when paired with the XO sauce provided the cake cake literally melts in my mouth so this is definitely one of the must try.




The har kau was served to us with broken skin and as much as it is not appealing to the eyes, this is an okay dish especially since the prawns were serves as chopped wholes and not minced and mixed with fish paste like some places do.




The fish and century egg porridge on the other hand was nothing to rave about. I find it rather bland and the muddy taste of the fish could not be masked despite the pepper and soy sauce added to it.




Custard buns to end the meal. Another okay dish. One bun was almost overflowing with custard and salted egg yolk while the other is suspiciously lacking in generosity so depending on your luck, this might be another must try or merely another ordinay item.




A good outlet for student-size pockets so do not go with restaurant expectations and you will leave a happy patron.


Victore's Kitchen
91 Bencoolen Street
#01-21 Sunshine Plaza
Singapore 189652
Tel: 9838 2851

Imperial Treasure @ Great World City

Summer vacation weekly dim sum session again.

This will definitely be added to my Top 3 dim sum place and if you trust me enough to give it a try you'll know why it can be rated among the likes of Wah Lok and Royal China (perhaps still a slight notch below Lei Garden)... the service is fantastic from the manager to the superviser to the service crew and I enjoyed the lunch very much..

The coridoor to our private dining area (a small area enough for a table for 4 but visually enlarged by mirrors gracefully and cleverly placed at certain angles)....and the inside of the room...






The food we had...my favourite being the salt and pepper squid and the steam fish head with black bean sauce :)












I would have enjoyed the fish porridge more if not for the fish bones with almost every other sip...




Dessert time...my mango pudding with fresh mango bites and the alittle too overwhelming durian pudding...






If you are looking for somewhere private for lunch then do book their individual rooms in advance.


Imperial Treasure (Cantonese Cuisine)
1 Kim Seng Promenade
#02-06 Great World City
Tel: 6732-2232

Bosses Restaurant

When I was back in Singapore for the summer vacation and doing my internship in the meantime, dim sum was a almost weekly affair.

Bosses @ Vivocity, loosely translated as 'Secret Society' from their original Chinese name. Upon stepping into the restaurant, the only thing that caught my attention was that 90% of the decor is in black,chic black, and definitely something different from the usual lively rooms with light colour theme as per the usual Cantonese restaurants out there.




Food was generally alright...but with prices at least 30-40% higher than your hotel dim sum places, the food was nothing to rave about other than the appealing way the food was being presented and the habour view from certain parts of the restaurant.






The only thing I will come back for is the steamed beacurd roll wrapped in cheong fun...very light very smooth...and perhaps the very sinful custard bun with salted egg yolk






If you are slightly observant, you will notice that the skin of the har kau is comparatively thicker as compared to other dim sum joints I frequent




The rest of the dim sum...










Obviously the table for 2 is too small for the amount of food we ordered...but still we managed to finish everything...cos I am a big eater :P


Bosses Restaurant
1 Harbourfront Walk
02-156 Vivo City
Tel: 63769740

Wong Ting - Dim Sum

As I have mentioned in my previous post, Wong Ting only recently joined the names of Chinese restaurants here and despite its infancy, it is very popular with students, family and even the British namely because of the service and grand interior.

I am just bias but dim sum wise, I still feel that Zing Vaa will win hands down. Still, it is a good place for gatherings with more than decent good food.

Seafood Fried Noodles




Za Leong (Fried dough with riceroll)

Anyone knows apart from Victor's Kitchen where else can I find this in Singapore?




Fried Squid - I believe the kitchen added curry power to marinate them but I seems to be the only person who tasted the curry aftertaste. Very good fried dish without excessive oil on the plate.




Fried Prawn Dumpling - This is different from the Bai Hua Juan I've blogged about previously as it uses minced prawn instead.




Carrot Cake




Har Kau




Chicken's Feet - LOL I know this sounds abit gross but according to my friends, they like it very much.




Marinated squid and jelly fish platter - The squid is tender and marinated just well enough for the fresh and slightly chewy bite. Will be on my next order list definitely.




So there you have it the constant comparison between Zing Vaa and Wong Ting...


Wong Ting
6-8 Matilda Street
Sheffield S10 4QD
Tel: 0114 275 7392