Sushi~ @ Sen-ryo

Even though there are lots of small Japanese eateries that have opened up serving fresh sushi and sashimi, sometimes I just want something quick (eating time not waiting time) and reliable to soothe my sushi craving. Sen-ryo ticks the boxes on all accounts and I must say I have never had a bad experience there as of yet.

There are quite a few branches of Sen-ryo, but I tend to frequent the one up at IFC most. At peak hours, be prepared to wait for at least 45mins to an hour, but hey you are in IFC, so take a number and go shopping, they will give you a call when there are 10 tables ahead of you. 

Once seated, whisk your own green tea from the powder provided and with the hot water tap right in front of you, there is no need to worry that your tea cup will be empty. 

You can opt to pick from the dishes circling around the sushi train or place your order with the server. Generally most people seem to order from the menu even though the same items are passing by on the train as it seems that you will be getting fresher items, I do not know if that is necessarily true, but I think it is a psychological thing (yes I admit I do it too).

Sushi time~

Oyster sushi- this was Mr. C’s and it looked so good. Big and plump, Mr. C said it was very sweet and fresh.

Salmon sashimi- lusciously soft, just look at those tiger stripes of fat 🙂

Jumbo scallop sushi- Mr. C’s favourite, so meaty, its like the equivalent of two normal-sized scallops.

Sweet egg sushi- a thick slice of multi-layered sweet egg with a belly full of rice. I love this as the egg is subtly sweet with a whisper of flavour from the use of mirin.

Prime fatty tuna sushi- blushing pink, this did not melt in the mouth as I was expecting it too, but it was still enjoyable.

Sea Urchin gunkan maki- ochre yellow and a little bit runny, this was gorgeously rich with a fresh briny flavour. 

Prime salmon belly- look at those tiger stripes of fat adorning the salmon belly~ it melted effortlessly in the mouth.

Octopus sushi- I did not try this, but Mr. C seemed to like it.

Fresh octopus sushi- this was seasonal, and Mr. C explained that this was sliced while the octopus was still alive as you could see it was uneven and wrinkly in areas. This was more tender than the normal octopus sushi.

Tofu in sesame sauce- lightly chilled, the tofu was delicately soft and the accompanying sesame sauce was lovely and creamy.

Miso soup- I really like the miso soup at sen-ryo even though I am sure it must be packaged. There is an abundance of seaweed, little mushrooms and tofu cubes inside and the best thing is it seems to have minimal MSG as I do not feel thirsty afterwards.

Very satisfying 🙂

Lunch @ Linguini Fini

Looking for somewhere to have a casual lunch, we strolled up to the L Place to see what was available. The  restaurant we wanted to go to originally was not open for lunch and since there have been so many good reviews on Linguini Fini, we decided to pop in to try it out.

Up on the first floor, the elevator opened to reveal a laid-back casual dining atmosphere with quite a rustic fit out. You could tell it was child-friendly as there was a big play pen for kids to occupy themselves while the grown-ups enjoyed a lazy brunch.

We went up to the host to ask for a table for two, and it actually took him a few minutes to um and ah over what table to give us even though there were quite a few empty tables. Strange.

Anyway we were seated eventually, and looking over the concise menu, we ordered a caprese salad, eggs benedict and the aglio olio to share.

The food arrived quite quickly, the caprese salad was big in size with hefty slabs of mozzerella cheese layered with fresh tomatoes and adorned with a tiny drizzle of 30 year balsamico. It looked great, but when I cut into it, I already knew we were in for a disappointment. The cheese was stiff and relatively hard for mozzerella and it had a very rough feeling in the mouth. The tomatoes were at least fresh, and while the flavour of the balsamico was very good, they could be more generous with it.

A lot of people rave about the eggs benedict here so I was looking forward to try. Toasted homemade muffins with mortadella and softly poached eggs served with a generous pouring of ‘nduja hollandaise sauce’. I actually quite enjoyed this, and although the hollandaise sauce was lurid orange in colour, it had a spicy kick to it which was something different. Worth trying~

Our aglio oilo arrived last as a tangle of spaghetti, and since Linguini Fini prides themselves on their homemade pasta, I had quite high expectations. Unfortunately it was very disappointing, overly oily and yes, I know pasta is best when al dente, but it need not be to the point where it was still half raw and slightly crunchy.

Although the pasta was sub par, I did enjoy the eggs benedict, and the freshly made pizza looked very appetising too, so maybe I will return for that.

Something seasonal~@ L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

I always look forward to the change in seasons, not because of the erratic drop or rise in the temperature gauge, but rather the imaginative dishes restaurants conjure up with the use of newly arrived seasonal produce~ At Robuchon, they are always right on track when updating their menu to incorporate the freshest items available and my visit this time was no different 🙂

Amuse bouche was a chilled asparagus veloute with ricotta foam and a stack of chargrilled eggplant and zucchini topped with a chunk of mozzarella cheese. The veloute was smooth as usual with an intense asparagus flavour where the ricotta foam contributed a creamy undertone. The chargrilled vegetables were nicely soft and filled the palate with a smokey aroma.

My first course was the tomato millefueille and it was just so beautiful to look at~ An elegant structure of layers, alternating with ox heart tomatoes and a combination of shredded crab meat, diced avocado and granny smith apple sitting in a pool of tomato coulis. All the components worked perfectly together from the rich tangy flavour of the tomato to the sweetness of the fresh crab meat, the avocado was more subtle in flavour, but added a creamy texture, while the granny smith apples gave a pleasant sweet sour crunch. Such a refreshing summer dish, it was perfect to start the meal with~

Morel mushrooms are now in season and they serve it as a risotto dish. It arrived as a sizeable portion with a glass bowl covering the top, and as the cover was lifted, the most mouthwatering aroma of mushroom and chicken jus wafted to meet me… A generous scatter of morel mushrooms adorned the top of the risotto with a few shavings of cheese and gold foil. I savoured each spoonful, creamy with an al dente bite, it was not overly salty, and the pungent aroma of mushrooms lingered on the palate. I adored this dish, it is definitely a must try!

Something new on their dessert menu Le Foret Noir, this was their version of the traditional black forest. A dark chocolate mousse topped with Morello cherries and fresh almond cream, mini quenelles of vanilla bean speckled ice-cream accompanied this dessert and it was capped off with an artistically decorated dome of dark chocolate. The chocolate mousse was seductively smooth while the juicy cherries imparted quite a strong flavour of kirsch on the tongue. However, to achieve the perfect balance it is best to eat it together with the cream and ice-cream, otherwise it may veer towards being too rich.

And to finish, a soothing cup of camomile tea 🙂

It may seem like I did not eat as much compared to my previous visits, but it was more than enough and extremely satisfying~ The seasonal dishes are definitely worth coming for so do not miss out~!

Dinner~@ T’ang Court

The T’ang Court is situated inside the Langham hotel in Shenzhen and since Mr. C and I were staying there over the weekend, we decided it was most ideal and of course convenient to dine there in the evening.

The restaurant sits on the second floor and at the entrance you are greeted by a smiling hostess who graciously leads you to your table. T’ang Court is so elegantly decorated with high ceilings and an eye-capturing display of yellow-orange glass-like baubles dangling up above. I liked how each table was spaced out generously giving diners privacy as well as providing a comfortable seating environment. 

Once seated, we were given menus as well as a separate tea menu for our perusal. It is lucky that we have similar tastes in tea, so our standard choice is usually Tie Guan Ying, and the one served here was quite good, light, fragrant and not overly ‘gip’. While looking through the menu, Mr. C suggested we have peking duck that night since we had both been craving it recently. We decided to order a whole duck, but instead of having noodles or stir-frying the duck meat to be eaten in lettuce cups, we requested if they could make soup for our second course which they readily agreed to. Since we knew that the preparation of peking duck would take some time, we ordered an appetiser to take the edge of our hunger.

Our appetiser soon arrived. A generous serving of chilled fungus where the black fungus itself was fleshy with a soft crunch, infused with the delicate flavour of the wine marinade it was immersed in. We quite liked this as it was refreshing to eat.

As we were picking at the last few morsels of our appetiser, the arrival of the peking duck was signaled by the two large bamboo steamers brought out revealing our flour pancakes as well as assorted condiments of cucumber slices, spring onion and hoisin sauce. The duck was brought to the table already sliced into pieces and rather than just slicing only the skin to be wrapped with the pancake, they prepared it with a generous cut of meat along with the skin.

They offered to prepare our pancakes for us, but we declined preferring to be more hands on ourselves. For me, I like to spread a generous amount of hoisin sauce as a base, then placing a piece of duck and several sticks of cucumbers before rolling it up and *bite*~

The pancake was thin with a slight stretchy texture, and I loved their hoisin sauce which I suspect they used honey in the making as it was slightly runnier and sweeter than usual. The skin of the duck was crisp and there was a thin layer of fat between the meat and skin which achieved the aim of giving a richer flavour but not being too heavy at the same time.

The second course of soup was ready when we were half way through our duck, and I was really glad we opted to have soup rather than something heavier. Immensely flavourful with no hint of MSG,  there were also cubes of soft tofu hidden at the bottom of the bowl. Very good~

 We enjoyed our experience so much that night, we returned the following evening to try some of their other a la carte dishes.

When in China, Mr. C and I do like to order chicken as we find that the chicken here has a much stronger flavour than the ones in Hong Kong. That night we tried their salt-baked crispy chicken which was a recommended item on their menu. The skin was roasted to the point where all the fat had been rendered out, leaving it delicately crispy, while both the thigh and breast meat were tender with a slight salty flavour. Both of us really enjoyed this, Mr. C especially.

We also ordered their hot and sour soup which arrived with the standard  mix of diced tofu, black fungus and bamboo shoots. Both elements of spicy and sour were evident, but something seemed to be missing in terms of flavour.

I have developed a huge love for mushrooms so I had to order the stir-fried assorted mushrooms with water chestnuts. There were around four different varieties of mushrooms which were very fresh with a wonderfully meaty texture, while the slices of water chestnut were crunchy and sweet. This was really good and the lingering wok-hei flavour in the dish gave it additional points 🙂

For vegetables, we had a plate of simple garlic stir-fried tong sum choi. Vegetables in China always seems to be of good quality and this was no different, tender leaves with a crunchy stalk, it left a subtle garlicky flavour on the palate.

Our last dish was termed simply as spicy scallops, we had originally pictured the dish to be just normal stir-fried scallops with brocoli in spicy sauce, but looking closer they had stuffed the scallops with a minced prawn paste. The scallops turned out to be a little overcooked, so were quite chewy, but the brocoli was fine.

Both nights we were too full for dessert, but were presented with a fruit plate each which was a lovely gesture~

T’ang Court really is a beautiful place to dine at, food quality seems above average and service was polite and efficient. Also a special mention to one of the waitresses who was highly attentive in ensuring our tea cups were never more than half-empty 🙂

Dim Sum~@ Yu Lei

Part of the K.O. Dining Group, Yu Lei makes up one third of the restaurants they have established here in Hong Kong. With Messina covering Italian cuisine and Kazuo Okada showcasing traditional Japanese dishes featured in kaiseki, Yu Lei specialises in Chinese cuisine, namely Shanghainese where some dishes feature a twist of Japanese influence which is not surprising since Chef Miki Imagawa is Japanese himself. All three establishments are located on the 5th floor of the Harbourfront Landmark in Hung Hom and Yu Lei is off to the right once you exit the elevator. There is a long corridor which have several private rooms sectioned off and it opened up into a communal dining area which was amazingly bright with natural lighting flooding in from the full length windows. The main dining area is painted a subtle pale green with hints of light pink and combined with the serene views of the harbour, it offered a remarkably calming ambience to diners. 

We were here for lunch as a party of three, Mr. C, Mr. E and myself, and were seated at one of the more comfortable tables with cushioned sofa seats. Menus were presented to us shortly after along with their welcome appetisers of braised gluten and marinated daikon sticks. Tea was charged individually per selection so we ended up having three different types, Mr. E had pu’er, I picked Tie Guan Ying while Mr. C chose something unusual like he always does, but unfortunately I can not recall what it was. The selection of dim sum was quite large, so it was good that Mr. E joined us that day as we were able to try more items~

What we had:

Steamed prawn and spinach dumpling and steamed prawn and sai yeung choi dumpling. Both were delicately pleated and while the skin may look a little thick, it tasted anything but. Soft and slightly chewy, they encased a filling of fresh prawns and vegetables. The spinach was tender, but the sai yeung choi was quite stringy. 

We ordered a plate of char siu, but the waitress came back to inform us that they only had half a portion left and suggested that we order another selection from the roast meats to pair it with. We ended up pairing it with roast pork. The look of the char siu was quite unappetising, but Mr. C and I have learnt that the uglier the appearance the better it ends up tasting. This was no different, as the char siu was softly tender and marinated well from the sweet honey sauce while the roast pork had even layers of fat and lean meat with a wonderfully crunchy layer of crackling.

Chinese liver sausage bun. It is rare that you see this prepared with liver sausage as most places tend to use the normal pink lap cheong as the filling. I think we all enjoyed this as the sausage was savoury sweet with generous chunks of lard inside. The bun was fluffy and helped cut through the heaviness of the sausage.

 

Tomato and scallop dumpling. This sounded quite interesting and visually it was very pretty~ The skin was tinted a rose pink and the filling contained fresh scallops with a tiny sprinkling of sun-dried tomatoes on top. Although it was visually pleasant, we all thought it did not taste particularly special.

Xiao Long Bao. Since Shanghai cuisine is their specialty we decided to try this and see how it fared. The skin of the dumpling was unfortunately a little too thick, but it did retain a lot of the sweet meat juice inside the dumpling, so be careful when biting into this as it was piping hot!

We also ordered a soup course. I had the double boiled chicken drumstick and mushroom soup, while Mr. C and Mr. E had their hot and sour soup with sea cucumber. My soup was wonderfully sweet and had a depth of flavour which only comes from long hours of boiling, while the spoonful of hot and sour soup I tried was palate awakening spicy and was balanced nicely with the sour vinegary aspect of the soup. 

Siu Mai. These were very meaty and I was surprised that instead of minced pork meat used as the filling, individual chunks of pork was used together with fresh prawns creating a different sensation in the mouth altogether. 

Pork balls with sakura glutinous rice. Dense balls of minced pork coated with sakura flavoured glutinous rice.  This creation was evidently a hint to the chef’s Japanese origin, but I was not really enamoured by this as the sakura flavour did not really agree with me, but it was interesting to try.

Bean curd sheet wrapped rolls. This was prepared exactly the way I like it, where the bean curd sheets were soft with a slight chew and flavourful after soaking up the thick sauce.

Phoenix claws. I did not try this as I was already quite full from the previous savoury dishes, but Mr. C and Mr. E seemed to enjoy this, especially Mr. E since he is quite partial to this dish.

And finally to desserts~

The requisite mango pudding for Mr. C. As it came from a mould, the texture was quite firm meaning quite a lot of gelatin was used in the making. I found the mango flavour to be quite subtle and it was also a little too sour for my liking. (top left)

Mini egg tarts. These were fresh from the oven, warm, with a crumbly butter pastry and the egg custard filling was smooth and not too sweet. Good~ (top right)

Sesame paste dumplings. I have had these before in a different restaurant and my experience with these are a soft and gooey dumpling rolled in peanut dust with a mouth-burningly hot liquid sesame filling. The ones at Yu Lei were quite unlike that, big in size with a sesame filling that was paste-like rather than liquid. I found the skin to be too thick, but the sesame paste was wonderfully fragrant which can only be achieved by roasting the sesame prior to crushing. (bottom left)

Almond bun. This is their signature dessert and had to be ordered at least 15mins in advance as they made it fresh. They arrived piping hot from the oven and were about the size of your fist. These were absolutely stunning~ a crispy sweet topping draped over a toasty bun with a creamy filling of almond custard… No matter how full you are these are a must order! Highly recommended~ (bottom right)

I must say the quality of food at Yu Lei is definitely high and they really deserve their one Michelin star. Something also worth commenting on was their service which was attentive and polite to the very end even though we were the last table to leave. I very much enjoyed my experience here and look forward to returning~ 

Dinner~@ The Grand Hyatt Steakhouse

The Grand Hyatt Steakhouse has always been on my wishlist of restaurants to try, and my wish came true when Mr. C decided he had a hankering for steak one Sunday evening~

We did not make a reservation since it was a spur of the moment kind of decision, so when we asked the hostess for a table for two we were informed politely that only bar seats were left. We did take up the offer of sitting at the bar, but were later moved to a proper table when one became available. 

The menu does not have a huge variety for selection, but for a steakhouse variety is not the most important, rather the focus being on providing high quality cuts of meat is. Choosing mains was quite a no-brainer for us since Mr. C was already focused on having steak, he asked the manager who was taking our order to recommend a cut with more of a meaty texture so there would be something for him to chew while I zeroed in on the Barossa Valley lamb rack. It took us a longer time to choose what we wanted as appetisers as there were quite a few things we wanted to try, in the end we chose half a dozen oysters, three different types of appetisers that the manager agreed to serve us in minature portions as well as lobster bisque for Mr. C and french onion soup for myself. Something worth a mention is the famed Steakhouse salad bar which you can opt to have as an appetiser or as a main course if you feel the need to fill up on greens. Not only were there a number of different salad combinations to choose from, there was freshly shaved jambon, smoked salmon, foie gras terrine as well as a stand by chef ready to toss-up a Caesar salad at your request. All in all a meal in itself, so even though the name of the restaurant signifies a place for carnivours to gather, vegetarians, there is no need to worry as you are well-catered for~

Before our meal began, four thickly sliced rolls of garlic bread were served to us. Perfectly toasted and warm from the oven, this was deliciously crunchy with the fragrant garlic butter spread generously on both sides. Yummy~

Oysters~ We had three different types, Gilardeau, Fin de Claire and one more that I could not recall the name of =.= All three were fresh with a wonderfully briny taste that only needed a squeeze of lemon juice to enhance. The Gilardeau was my favourite, creamy with a slight crunchy texture.

Our trio of appetisers consisted of pan-fried diver scallops, pan-seared Maryland crab cakes and steak tartare. The scallop was seared to a beautiful golden brown on the outside while remaining softly tender inside, I adored the crab cake was which packed full of sweet bits of crab flesh, while I could not comment on the steak tartare since I am not that partial to beef, but Mr. C seemed to like it.

The lobster bisque arrived as two components, a bowl containing cream and lobster meat while the bisque itself was poured at the table. I had a spoonful, and found it to be extremely creamy with a smooth lobster flavour. I was pleasantly surprised that the bisque was not too salty which was a pleasant change from some of the overly seasoned lobster bisque I have had at other establishments, but it would have been more enjoyable if it was served at a higher temperature.

My onion soup was really good, so fragrant from the abundance of onions used, it was served piping hot with the melted cheese on top of the soup soaked toast still wonderfully soft and gooey.

Finally to our mains~ Mr. C was served a cut of US strip loin perfectly grilled to a blushing medium rare. He seemed to enjoy it as he finished it, commenting that it had a stronger beef flavour than normal cuts which was what he was after that night.

My lamb rack was nicely tender cooked to a pinky medium, with a wonderful char-grilled flavour. It was slightly gamy which gave more character to the meat and of course I remembered to eat it with generous amounts of my favourite mint jelly~ 🙂

We did not specifically order dessert that night, but the manager did give me a small portion of their vanilla soft-serve to try which was thick and creamy with a delicate milky flavour. Not too heavy, it did satisfy the inner sweet tooth and was quite a good palate cleanser to such a heavy meal 😉

Dim sum @ Cuisine Cuisine TST

Meeting Mr. C after work on a Saturday afternoon (this was around a month ago) he suggested we have dim sum as we had no prior set plans on what to have for lunch that day. I was perfectly agreeable to the suggestion, but the question was where. We were near Sun Tung Lok, but I was not feeling the craving to go there, so Mr. C suggested Cuisine Cuisine inside The Mira. Having only been there for dinner once with the experience being quite decent, I was happy to go along with the idea.

We arrived a little after two which is way past normal dim sum times, but we still had to wait while our table was being set. During that time, the hostess did inform us that their last order would be at 2.30pm and we were fine with that as we tend to order quite quickly. Once seated, our menus arrived and looking at their dim sum menu they do offer a decent amount of variety which is a pleasant change from a lot of places which only offer a one page selection. 

Having decided on what we wanted we signaled for the waitress to come over. As I was placing our order with her I did ask her some questions regarding the dim sum, most pointedly whether the birds nest egg tarts and the braised abalone and chicken tarts used ‘so pei’ (flaky pastry) or the baked biscuit kind. The reason I asked is because both Mr. C and I dislike the so pei variety and when she answered that it was not made with so pei we picked both. I was not facing the waitress when I was making my choices and by her voice she seemed polite, but Mr. C noticed the waitress looked a little impatient and seemed either annoyed at my questions or wanting to hurry us through our order. Quite rude.

Char Siu. This was one of their recommended items. The pork was thickly cut which is something I prefer and the meat was tender with thin veins of fat giving additional flavour.

Broccoli in concentrated broth. The broccoli itself was cooked to the perfect eating state where the stalks were softened enough, yet still retained a little crunchiness. Nothing extraordinary, but filled the vegetable quota.

Since we ordered two of the steamed dim sum items as a serving of two, they put them together in one steamer. I adored the assorted vegetable dumpling with truffle paste~ The vegetables were fresh and cut into perfect bite sized pieces and just one bite into the delicately chewy skin filled the whole palate with the scent of truffles. The shrimp and pea shoot dumpling was quite good too, the prawn was fresh and bouncy and the pea shoots were nicely tender.

Scallop and shrimp dumpling. This came out in its own individual steamer and looked almost exactly the same as the one served at Lung King Heen with the only difference that lobster is used in Lung King Heen’s version. The skin of the dumpling was a bit over steamed as it was a little mushy, but the scallop filling was still juicy while the prawn on top was very fresh.

Steamed ma lai gao. This arrived looking quite pitiful, small and uneven in size, it really was disappointing to look at. Fortunately tastewise it ticked the boxes, nicely fluffy and not overly sweet with a fragrant brown sugar aroma.

And then arrived the egg tarts and abalone tarts. When they were set on the table, I noticed that the tart base was made from so pei and feeling quite annoyed I told the waiter who had placed these items down to find the waitress that took our order. She took a few minutes to arrive and not only did she not ask me what was wrong or gave me time to explain the situation, before I had even said anything she was already defending herself by saying that she had told me the tarts were made from ‘so pei’. No apology or anything, she made it seem like I was in the wrong which was really unbelievable! Sensing my displeasure, she did make a move to cancel the order ungraciously, however Mr. C just told her to let it be. This was unfortunate, as the filling of the egg tarts were quite good, creamy and subtly sweet with a generous amount of birds nest on top, while the diced chicken and abalone in the tarts had a good flavour with enough sauce to make them nicely moist.

Despite the food actually being quite good, the attitude of the waitress really affected my experience there. I really would need to think twice before re-visiting this branch of Cuisine Cuisine. 

Dim Sum~ @ Cornucopia Fine Dining

There is nothing more I enjoy doing than trying out new places for dim sum, so I was quite happy when Mr. C suggested us to try Cornucopia Fine Dining which is a new establishment that had recently opened inside the Cubus building. The restaurant is on the 7th floor, modernly decorated yet was adorned with dramatic oriental accents like the big dancing lion heads hanging from the walls which I found quite interesting. Although the area was not too big, it was cleverly designed using the high ceiling and floor to ceiling windows to their advantage in creating a sense of spaciousness.

We were seated in their private room which was a cozy space, perfect for an intimate setting for two. It is possible to seat up to four people, but some may consider it a tight fit.

Their version of welcome appetisers came in the form of cucumbers with mashed garlic. Perfectly marinated, it left the palate with a strong zing of garlic which helped awaken the tastebuds. Something worth mentioning is definitely their homemade XO sauce, the dried scallops had been fried before being infused in oil so it was flavourful with a sharp kick of chili. Eaten together with the dim sum just made the food more delicious~

Our chilled appetisers arrived first. Chilled bitter gourd and chilled abalone. The chilled bitter gourd was sliced into even segments and were pleasantly crunchy. I was quite surprised there was no hint of bitterness from the gourd, but rather it had absorbed all the flavours from the sweet, salty plum wine it had been marinated in. Quite good~

The chilled abalone was marinated with what I think was a mix of soy sauce and chinese wine and lain on a bed of kale stems. The abalone was very tender with a slight bite to it while the tough outer skin of the kale was thoughtfully peeled leaving the crunchy heart of the stem.

We had soup next, their daily special which was a combination of chinese melon, dried squid and fish maw. The soup was very good, an intense depth of flavours resulting from many hours of boiling while the fish maw was cooked to a slippery soft texture which was just right in my opinion. And the best thing, not a hint of MSG.

And then our dim sum started arriving~

Prawn cheong fun. Slippery smooth rice noodle sheet encasing fresh crunchy prawns, I am normally not a fan of cheong fun, but I actually quite enjoyed this especially with the sweet soy sauce that it came accompanied with.

Vegetarian dumplings. This is my favourite type of dumpling and the one here did not disappoint at all. The dumplings were plump with a generous amount of filling and the vegetables used were very fresh.

Gung Ting Dumpling. This was quite pretty in presentation, with an assortment of colourful ingredients including crab roe, mushrooms and vegetables, decorating the tops of the delicately pleated dumpling. The skin was was thin enough to be translucent and enveloped a filling of fresh prawns and vegetables.This was very good~

Prawn dumplings and siu mai. The prawn was very fresh, with a slight bounce in texture when you bit into it. Mr. C noted the skin of the prawn dumpling was a little thicker than the Gung Ting dumpling but I found it gave the dumpling more of a chewy texture which I enjoyed.

The siu mai was surprisingly quite dense in texture and made for a meaty mouthful. A pleasant change from some of the siu mai I have eaten at other establishments as it showed that the ratio of pork used was quite high.

Fish broth stewed bean curd rolls. The sheets of bean curd were silkily soft enveloping a minced pork and vegetable filling. I quite liked this, even though it was immersed in broth, it was soft yet still had structure in the texture. Simple flavours yet satisfying.

Chicken feet in black bean sauce. Despite arriving at the table quite early, we were so occupied with the other dim sum that we did not try it until much later. By then we thought it would be cold, but surprisingly the ones on the bottom were still warm. The chicken feet were cooked to the stage where the skin and tendons were easily sucked from the bones which is definitely ideal in my opinion and even though the dish was quite strong in flavour it was not overly salty.

Always needing to have greens with our meal, we opted for the Chinese lettuce in broth. Normally when we order vegetables in broth, it only comes with exactly that, but here they served it with a generous amount of dried shrimp and mushrooms which further enhanced the flavour of the broth. The lettuce was very fresh and since it arrived on a stand with a burner to keep the dish hot, the first few pieces were more crunchy, but became softer and softer later on.

Even after so many savoury items we still had dessert to look forward to~

One of their specialties was a steamed egg white custard bun, which they claim to be a healthier version of the original egg yolk custard buns. The bun was nicely fluffy and the egg white custard, more gooey than runny, tasted quite similar to steamed milk pudding. Quite nice~

Steamed Ma Lai Gao. This arrived as a generous portion, gorgeously dark brown in colour it gave off the most tantalising sweet scent. The flavour was spot on, not too sweet, but I found it to be a little too dense. I would enjoy it more if it was just slightly fluffier in texture.

Lastly, mochi wrapped mango rolls. Since Mr. C is a big fan of mangoes, this dessert especially appealed to him. The mochi wrapper was soft with a coating of dessicated coconut where the filling was a simple chunky piece of fresh mango with mango sauce. It is best to eat this in one mouthful as the sweetness of the dessert came from the mango itself.

For a newly established restaurant I must say their quality of food was quite high and both of us enjoyed our experience there. Will definitely want to return to try more of their a la carte dishes~