The Cathay Restaurant

I never knew that The Cathay Restaurant was so popular. By 10.30 am, we were told that there was no more space on the reservation list for 12.30 p.m. 

Interesting to note that in 1940 when the restaurant first started, it served European fare.

We ordered the Preserved Egg with Lean Meat Porridge ($5). It was enough for two to share.

I always judge a dim sum restaurant based on the egg tarts. The Baked Mini Egg Tarts (3 for $3.90) were mediocre at best. The egg portion lacked flavour and the crust did not have the melt-in-your-mouth kind of consistency that good egg tarts have. 

The Baked BBQ Pork with Honey Pastry ($3.90) was pretty ordinary as well.

The Steamed Fresh Prawn Dumpling ($5.60) and the Steamed Siew Mai with Crab Roe ($5.20) were pretty decent though. The prawns for the Har Gow were succulent and the skin could hardly contain the burst of juice.

The Steamed Char Siew Rice Roll and the Steamed Prawn Rice Roll were pretty ordinary too.

The Fried Carrot with Bean Sprout and XO Chilli Sauce ($10) was recommended to us by the waitress. It was something different from what we would order from the dim sum repertoire. Spicy and flavourful, this dish was pretty good.

Service was a complete letdown. Either get a new teapot or get new waitresses who know how to handle teapots. The first time some waitress poured tea, it made the entire area around the cup wet. The next time the same waitress poured tea, somehow it went into our Fried Carrot dish. It's okay to drip tea on our table but totally not okay to accidentally pour tea into our food and not feel apologetic about it. Wrong orders were taken as well.

Average dim sum, won't be coming back again.

The Cathay Restaurant
The Cathay
2 Handy Road
#02-01
Tel: 6 732 7888