The 8, still one of my favourite places for dim sum!

A weekend trip to Macau means a morning ferry ride and arriving just on time for lunch~ And where is lunch? Why, The 8 of course 🙂

The elegant decor of the restaurant is as always stunning with the glamorous crystal hanging ball and the striking goldfish motif.

They have a great selection of dishes from their huge a la carte menu, but today is all about dim sum~

Starting with their amuse bouche

XO fried pork in a crispy nest and an individual baby abalone on a slick of yuzu jelly. Loved the freshness of the jelly paired with the tender abalone.

Signature goldfish prawn dumplings. Cute as always and so delicately detailed with their gaping fishy mouths. The skin is nicely chewy with a bouncy textured fresh prawn.

Scallop and prawn dumpling wrapped in a spinach tinted skin with a touch of truffle. Very moist with a lingering aftertaste of truffle.

These porcupine buns are possibly my favourite item here. A bbq pork and preserved vegetable filling enveloped in a perfectly steamed soft bun with a crunchy pan-fried bottom.

These crab shaped pastry puff tarts are also adorable. A fragrant Portuguese curry crab filling paired with the slightly sweet tart shell leaves the tastebuds wanting more.

A whole prawn encased in a light batter and fried to a nice crisp. Not too oily and the mayo/sweet hoi sin sauce (although no too pretty) were a nice accompaniment.

Deep fried custard mochi. Piping hot with a flowing custard filling, I wasn’t expecting it to have a katalfi like exterior, but it added more texture to the dessert.

I was looking forward to the usual petit fours of mini Portuguese tarts, but instead it had been replaced with black and white sesame roll. Soft and chewy, they packed a burst of toasted sesame flavour. Not bad, but I still miss their Portuguese tarts…

As always the petit fours are accompanied with their famous milk tea, super strong, super creamy, super sweet.

I am already looking forward to my next visit 🙂

Address:

The 8, Grand Lisboa 2nd floor

Dim sum date, Tin Lung Heen take 3!

After a couple of months in Sydney, coming back to Hong Kong meant a round of dim sum was in order. We were meeting Miss E and Mr A for a lunch date and Miss E kindly made us a reservation at Tin Lung Heen.

Always a pleasure to dine in such a lovely space. So bright and spacious, I really have a thing for high ceilings~

We left the ordering to Mr A and not too long after, our dim sum started arriving in timely succession.

Iberico pork steamed rice roll. Sweet flavourful BBQ pork tucked inside a slightly chewy rice roll wrapper.

I recommended the Iberico pork char siu and it was only when it arrived after the rice roll that we realised we had double ordered on the char siu oops. Luckily the char siu was still as luscious and fatty as I remembered with a slight char and a sweet sticky glaze.

A serving of abalone and roast goose tart. Tender abalone, but I found the roast goose filling a little dry.

Pan-fried wagyu beef gyoza. Certainly a striking appearance with its web of crispiness encrusting the bottom. It wasn’t as crispy as it looked, in fact just soft and the filling had no meat juices. Just a sad, doughy, dry mouthful…

Deep fried turnip cake in XO sauce was my favourite. Jenga chunks of turnip cake with a golden crunch and a spicy little kick from the XO sauce.

Shrimp spring roll. Thin and crunchy, I just don’t understand why they make spring rolls so thin in Hong Kong. I prefer them thicker so there is a heftier crunch when you bite into them.

Assorted siu mai. The individual portions were a high class version of the humble siu mai topped with lobster and gold leaf, while the two in the bamboo steamer were the ‘poor’ version here topped with a big prawn and scallop. Nice and moist, a solid meaty mouthful.

Contemplating dessert, it is always a bonus to dine with Mr C and Mr A as no sooner when we asked for the dessert menu, they said dessert had been organised for us 🙂

I was most excited to see the fried sesame dumpling, crunchy and piping hot with a creamy custard filling. The mango cream, pomelo, aloe vera and sago dessert had a fresh mango flavour and the juicy aloe vera pieces were a nice textural surprise. Osmanthus jelly was subtly sweet, nice and cooling and the little almond cookie was a nice finishing touch.

Quite enjoyable, and dessert was much appreciated!

102/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, TST

Sky high dim sum @ Tin Lung Heen

Having been here twice previously, the last visit a little less than a year ago, I have had disappointing experiences. Yes the views are amazing, but the dim sum were sadly lacking. I did at one point consider not returning, but when I heard Tin Lung Heen was awarded two Michelin stars this year, it did pique my interest, as surely they must have improved significantly to warrant this achievement. Thus intrigued, Mr. C and I booked for a Sunday lunch, inviting Mr. LC and Miss D to join us.

I was delighted to see that they served honeyed walnuts as welcome appetisers as they are my absolute favourite. They did not do so before, but I guess now that they are two stars, there are certain things they must offer to guests. 

We left the ordering to Mr. C who went overboard as usual, but I guess that is part of the fun when eating with him :p

Our lunch~

Fried prawn toasts: Supposedly this dish is not normally served at many places so Mr. C was quite keen to order this. I only had a small bite, the prawn was fresh and the toast was fried to a nice crunch.  It was a little oily for my liking but the accompanying sweet and sour sauce helped cut through the heaviness.

Iberian BBQ pork: This is a signature dish and wow it was amazing~ Cut thickly, it was supremely tender and juicy with a slight layer of fat adding to the richness of the flavour. Recommended!

Steamed layered sponge cake: Soft and pillowy, it had a lovely caramelised sugar flavour.

Cheese and crab tartlettes: Baked to a golden brown they seemed extremely appetising. The short pastry was subtly sweet and crumbled nicely in the mouth. The filling was generous and quite creamy, but it was a little bland and the taste of cheese was barely detectable.

Prawn and truffle cheong fun: Slippery sheets of rice noodle encasing a sizeable, fresh prawn per section. Quite good.

Shrimp and vegetable dumplings with spicy cod roe: Certainly plump with filling, but it was a little bland and too mushy for my liking.

Vegetarian Dumplings: A mix of nicely stir-fried vegetables and mushrooms, but the glutinous skin was too thick for pleasant eating.

Scallop and egg white dumpling: Prettily presented, the scallop was still tender and not overcooked, yet the dumpling skin followed the same trend as the other steamed dumplings of being too thick.

Baked BBQ buns: Warm and toasty from the oven, these were an absolute pleasure to eat~ The bun was pillowy soft with a delightfully sweet crunchy coating encasing a filling of tender char siu pieces. These are one of the better versions I have had, but they would be even better if the filling was a little more moist.

XO sauce chicken feet: Quite a generous serving. The XO sauce was deeply flavourful and the chicken feet were braised to the point where the skin and tendons were easily sucked off the bone. Perfect~

Vegetables in superior broth: Tender young shoots of vegetables immersed in a slightly thickened broth. This fit our vegetable quota nicely.

We did not order any desserts, but we were still served petite fours of osmanthus jelly and cashew nut cookies. I did not try any as I was already very full, but the others did not seem to have much comment on them.

In terms of service, it was polite yet a little detached and there were more than enough servers to provide adequate attention to each table. However, there were little things that they managed to overlook like changing plates or forgetting to offer toothpicks at the end of the meal, but at least they kept our tea cups consistently filled. There definitely was improvement in terms of food quality, but I am unsure if it was enough to award them two Michelin stars although their prices certainly reflected their increase in status.  

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~

Dim sum~ @ Tim’s Kitchen

Having heard so many positive things about Tim’s Kitchen, Mr. C and I finally went to try it over the weekend. Located in Sheung Wan, the front of the restaurant is subtle, yet well-presented and once inside the warm tan and cream tones gives it a distinctly homely feeling.

Their selections for dim sum is not huge, but we do find some favourites and a couple of items that are more traditional and not commonly seen in other restaurants like their sesame paste buns and steamed pork dumplings with liver.

Along with the dim sum we also ordered an appetiser of Chiu Chow soya bean curd. This was served wonderfully hot, and just visually seeing its smooth texture with its gentle wobble as it was set on the table we could tell it was going to be good. We were not disappointed as the silkiness of the tofu just melted in the mouth and the soy sauce was perfect in terms of its saltiness, adding flavour yet not overpowering the delicate soy bean taste.

For dim sum we had:

Pan-fried XO rice rolls. Nicely browned with a significant wok-hei flavour, the rice rolls were slightly chewy and if you needed it there was a sauce dish of sweet hoisin sauce for your dipping pleasure.

Steamed layered bean curd. Multiple layers of dried bean curd steamed till soft and interspersed with layers of minced prawn, I really enjoyed this. Biting into the bean curd it was springy and it released a wonderful aroma of soy beans on the palate. Something different 🙂

Prawn dumplings. When this was served, Mr. C already commented that he could tell it was going to be really good. By the translucence of the glutinous skin and the colour of the prawn I did not doubt him. The skin of the dumpling was beautifully chewy and each contained a large whole prawn where it was meaty with a sweetness that can only come from fresh prawns.

Crabmeat dumpling in superior soup. This was marvelous. The clear soup was piping hot and the flavour of the ‘gum wa’ ham was intense. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the dumpling with it’s generous filling of sweet crabmeat and diced mushrooms, while the skin retained its chewiness despite the high temperature of the soup.

Steamed dumplings with liver. This came out looking like two irregular balls of minced prawn and pork with two slices of pork liver draped in the middle. I was not too partial to the liver, but despite the appearance of the dumpling they tasted really good, with a slight bouncy texture when you bite into it. (Unfortunately no photo)

Steamed sesame paste buns. These came out quite early on, but since they were part of our dessert items, we ate them later which was slightly unfortunate as they had cooled down by then. Despite their lukewarmness, the buns still retained their fluffiness and the sesame paste was heady with a hint of sweetness.

Mango pudding. Mr. C’s favourite~ Made in a heart shape mold, it was a sizeable portion with a drizzling of evaporated milk.The pudding was quite firm emphasizing the amount of gelatin used and I detected a citrusy sour note among the sweetness of the mango which could have come from pomelo or yuzu. (No photo =.=)

Very good~ Definitely want to return to try out their a la carte dishes during dinner 🙂

Always satisfying dim sum @ Lung King Heen~

Lung King Heen is probably one of my most favourite places for dim sum, even though they always have a one to two month reservation wait, I always try to book so that I can enjoy dim sum here~

Up on the fourth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, what catches the eye at first glance are the floor to length windows along one side of the wall which gives diners a spectacular view of the harbour. The restaurant does not cater for many tables, preferring to give diners space for a comfortable dining environment (even for a one person booking, they give you a four-seater table, trust me this is from personal experience) and also so the staff can give attentive service worthy of a 3-star Michelin restaurant.

Normally I dim sum alone, but this time Mr. C joined me which allowed me to order more things outside the scope of what I usually have~.

Steamed assorted mushroom dumplings with gluten. If there is a vegetarian dumpling option on the menu, it is always a must order for me. Meaty cubes of mushroom and bouncy pieces of gluten with the wonderful flavour of wok hei all wrapped up in the wonderfully chewy glutinous skin that Lung King Heen does so well.

Steamed lobster and scallop dumpling. This is one of their signature items, served as an individual portion, it was slightly larger than the other dim sums. The whole dumpling essentially was made up of lobster topped with scallop and a fresh whole prawn. The lobster meat was sweet and juicy, and even for someone like me who is not particularly enamored with lobster, it really was quite good.

Steamed garoupa dumplings with shrimp and jasmine. This was not bad, the garoupa was really fresh, but I could not really taste the jasmine.

Shrimp dumpling with bamboo shoots. The shrimp was sweet with a slight crunchy texture that only fresh prawns can exhibit, drizzled with a little XO oil or chili sauce it was so good~

Siu mai. Filled mainly with prawns, if you are the type that enjoy a higher prawn to pork ratio inside your siu mai, then this is for you.

Steamed rice rolls with scallops, water chestnuts and coriander. This was ok, slippery sheets of rice noodle enveloping a generous filling of scallops and obvious green patches of coriander. I don’t tend to mind the taste of coriander as I find it to be quite fresh tasting, but Mr. C picked out all of his as he can’t stand it.

Baked whole abalone puff with diced chicken. This is another signature item and probably my favourite from the whole dim sum menu~. Firm, buttery pastry, perfectly baked holding a moist filling of diced chicken pieces topped with a succulent abalone braised in a sweetish soy sauce. The combination of both sweet and savoury is just really really good. This is definitely a must have item.

Baked scallop puffs with avocado and onions. This was something new on the menu which I had not tried. It did not look the most appealing with the funny green colour, but I have long ago learnt to not judge food by how it looks. Using the same buttery pastry as the abalone puff, that was of course good, but I found the filling to be quite bland.

Baked pork buns with fermented bean paste. They always alternate this with their baked pineapple BBQ pork buns which I was hoping to order, but this was not a bad substitute. Moist pork coated in the slightly sweet bean paste, the bun was pillow-like, and the swirls on top were reminiscent of the crispy topping found on snowy BBQ buns.

Aside from dim sum, we also order their honey glazed BBQ pork as well as pea shoots in consomme. The BBQ pork, despite being quite lean was gorgeously tender while the vegetables were very soft in a wonderfully light and savoury broth. 🙂

Even though Lung King Heen serves petite fours, we still decided to order desserts :p We shared a double boiled egg white milk custard with birds nest and a chilled mango and sago cream with pomelo. The milk custard was silkily smooth with a delicate flavour. There was a hint of ginger to it as well which I think came from the bird’s nest.

The mango and sago cream, was actually unexpectedly sour, so just after one spoonful I gave up, but clever Mr. C decided to scoop down to the bottom where he uncovered his favourite mango pudding hahaha… Paired with the sweet mango pudding, the rest of the dessert tasted much much better~

In addtion to our original desserts, we received two more varieties compliments from the manager~ Steamed milk custard layered cake and glutinous dumplings. I really liked the layered cake, soft and spongy with a seductively sweet custard flavour. I am not particularly partial to ‘lor mai chi’, so I did not try this, however Mr. C said it was just ok.

Finally to petite fours~

A chilled passionfruit jelly (if I remember correctly) and baked custard puffs. The passionfruit jelly was lightly tart, but quite refreshing after such a heavy meal and I absolutely adored the custard puffs, so buttery and sweet, they tasted exactly like custard mooncakes 😀

Such a satisfying dim sum lunch~ Outstanding food, attentive service and relaxing surroundings. If you ask me whether Lung King Heen is worth the one month plus wait, I would answer you in the affirmative 🙂

Dim sum @ Sun Tong Lok~

I have to admit that this post is an amalgamation of several visits in one, since I do have a habit of having dim sum on my own, it was necessary for me to return a number of times so that I could try something new each time.

Situated on level four inside Miramar, patrons need to cross the footbridge in order to reach the renowned Chinese restaurant Sun Tung Lok. Initially awarded three Michelin stars in 2011, it unfortunately lost a star this year, however with what I have tried so far, it definitely ranks quite highly for me in terms of taste and quality of food.

First impressions of the restaurant, the dining area is not large with several tables comfortably spaced out, but I came to realise that there is another section to the dining area on the far side which is half hidden by a wall. I am usually seated in the first section of the restaurant inside one of the couched areas on the side and I find the atmosphere to be quite comfortable with a hint of casual elegance.

As a pre-meal appetiser, a small saucer of plum dust coated guava is usually served. I really enjoy this as the guava is always pleasantly sweet and the slight sourness of the plum dust enhances the flavour of the guava which never fails to open up the appetite.

The XO sauce braised ox tongue seemed to be quite a signature appetiser and had been praised in many reviews. The ox tongue was cut into perfectly bite-sized cubes and presented pyramid style. The tenderness of the ox tongue varied pending on which parts of the tongue you pick up. Generally I find that the center of the tongue is the softest and most fatty area while the outer parts tend to be more meaty and slightly tougher. The cubes of tongue were quite flavourful from the marinade and the XO sauce was spicy enough to give a mild burn. I would say it was decent, but I have had better ox tongue elsewhere.

On one of my visits, I had a big craving for ‘phoenix claws’. I wanted to order them with the traditional black bean marinade, but Sun Tung Lok only offered them braised in abalone sauce so I had to make do instead. It was served piping hot in a small claypot and there were around seven small sized chicken feet. The texture was perfect. Braised until silkily soft, the skin and tendons were so easily sucked from the bones and all the collagen goodness just melted in the mouth. It was an absolute pleasure to eat~

The steamed minced beef balls were also very good. Two generously fist sized balls of finely minced beef had a pleasant bouncy texture with the occasional crunch of water chestnuts. The addition of 15-year aged mandarin peel gave off a heady fragrance as it reached the table, and served to enhance the flavour of the beef. On its own, the beef was already tasty enough, but a small spoonful of the slightly sweet vinegar sauce ‘git jup’ gave it an extra oomph especially since they added pepper to it. Unfortunately I do not have a photo of this.

Steamed dim sum, well dumplings to be exact are always a must order for me at any dim sum outing. Aside from the fillings meeting the requirement of being fresh and of quality, the outer glutiinous skin needs to be of the perfect thickness where it is translucent enough to glimpse the filling and it must be soft yet retaining a slight chewiness. Sun Tung Lok excelled at this. Of the four types of dumplings I have sampled so far, none have disappointed.

The scallop and shrimp dumplings were pleasantly plump with filling providing a meaty mouthful with each bite. Even though I am not a fan of mentaiko, it was good to see that they added it after the dumplings had been steamed saving them from being overcooked and becoming rubbery in texture

Vegetarian dumplings are my standard. Whenever I see this on a menu it is almost an automatic response for me to order them. I quite liked the version here as the mushrooms and bamboo shoots were nicely diced and still retained shape unlike some other restaurants where the filling is just mushy. The filling also emanates ‘wok hei’ which adds more flavour to the dumpling in general.

The shrimp dumplings were chubby in appearance with pretty pleats and showed the slight blush of the shrimp beneath the skin. The freshness of the shrimp was evident from the crunchiness in texture and the juiciness of the dumpling was pleasant, no doubt from the pork fat used.

The steamed garoupa and vegetable dumplings were part of their specials menu. Appearance wise they were quite interesting, but a little odd with the addition of the black glutinous skin. As with the trend, they were generously filled with a mixture of garoupa and what I assumed was garlic chives. They were decent, but I think I would have liked them better if they used another type of vegetable.

So far so good, I have yet to be disappointed 🙂

Dim Sum at Yan Toh Heen

After work, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I made my way to the Intercontinental for a late dim sum lunch at Yan Toh Heen to celebrate T’s birthday. I had always wanted to try the dim sum there, but had always thought it quite difficult to make a spontaneous booking. So I was quite surprised when my Miss K, told me that she had managed to make a late booking that Saturday. I think it’s because of the late time too, since we booked for 2pm and last order is at 2:30pm, but I can tell you that there is definitely a difference in service between dining in at a normal lunch time and when the restaurant is about to close for dinner preparations.

Originally we were a party of 5, and Miss and Mr. K who arrived earlier ordered servings for 5 people. However, one friend was unable to make it so we ended up having quite a lot of food left over. But anyway, once we had all sat down, we asked the waiter to bring the dim sum. It was brought out quite quickly one after another and very soon our lazy susan was crowded with steamers and dishes haha..

First was their signature Steamed Seafood Dumpling in Soup with King Crab Leg and bamboo pith (Goon Tong Gao). The dumpling was generous in size, and the filling of crab meat was tender, but quite standard in terms of taste. What I find most important in Goon Tong Gao is the broth, it must be clear and flavourful due to the concentrated quantities of ingredients used in the preparation. Here it was both, which resulted in me drinking all the soup, but leaving most of the dumpling behind.

The siu mai was generous in filling in terms of the prawn to pork ratio. Most places use more pork as a cheaper alternative, but here Yan Toh Heen places emphasis on the prawns. Quite good, as the whole package retained it’s juiciness.

The har gao, looked good in appearance, with a translucent skin veiling the prawn filling. I didn’t try this, but there was no negative comments made by those that tried.

The assorted mushroom and string bean dumplings arrived in disarray, but what lacked in presentation made up in taste. The skin was thin with a slight chewy texture and the bounciness of the mushrooms contrasted with the slight crunch from the string beans. 

The braised abalone and seafood on crispy taro nest was another signature dish. It was surprisingly big in size, almost equivalent to a tennis ball. I didn’t try the crispy taro nest as I am not a fan of fried food, but the abalone was tender enough. I must say, I think after eating one of these you wouldn’t be able to eat much more afterwards.

Their honey BBQ pork is supposedly quite renowned as well. But I was very disappointed. The texture of the meat was quite tough, not tender at all, I have had much better char siu elsewhere for a fraction of the price.

The baked roast goose and taro buns looked exactly like baked BBQ pork buns. And according to my friends it tasted like it too. It also veered a little on the sweet side.

The poached tofu sheet rolls with fungus and shrimp in chicken broth was quite light. The shrimp was fresh and the tofu skin was just the right texture, not too mushy.

We also ordered the wok fried turnip cake with XO sauce as well as the wok fried cheong fun with soy sauce. Both came in generous servings, but I can’t comment as I was already too full to try.

Overall, I would say the steamed dumplings are quite good, but nothing was really spectacular. I must say the service was a little unprofessional though and that one of the waiters very clearly did not understand what the meaning of discretion is. Miss K had wanted to quietly ask one of the waiters behind her to bring out the cake we bought for T’s birthday, but rather than that waiter responding, another waiter came from the opposite side exclaiming loudly ‘Miss Miss, what can I get for you?’ which made it difficult for Miss K to quietly ask for the cake, and once she did, the loud waiter verbally directs the other staff to go and get the cake, all of this said across our table. Extremely disappointing. I mean yes, we were practically the last table to leave and we understand that you need to make preparations for dinner, but operating inside a renowned hotel like the Intercontinental we would expect you to show a little more courtesy to guests.