Ding Tele 鼎特乐

We visited Ding Tele 鼎特乐 when it first opened and have been back numerous times ever since. There can be a quite a queue on weekends so do come early. There is not much ambience to speak of in the restaurant and the tables are closely packed together. But it is definitely worth a trip. 

We started off with the Appetising Platter ($9) where you could choose 4 side dishes. We went for the Original Shanghainese Drunken Chicken Wing, Coriander with Bean Products, Wheat Gluten and Shiitake Mushrooms and Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs. This is probably good for 2-3 people to share. While these dishes were decent, they were nothing to shout about.

Ordering the Signature Steamed Pork & Soup Bun ($5.40) is always a no brainer. We saw a table of 4 have at least 6 of these bamboo baskets stacked up. It is difficult not to compare these to the benchmark of Din Tai Fung and these little dumplings certainly hold their own weight.

I find that the Signature Pan-Fried Crispy Pork Soup Buns ($5.40 for 4 pieces) are one of the best, if not, the best in Singapore. They are so good that I can't resist sinking my teeth into these little goodies once they arrive at our table, despite knowing that they will probably burn my tongue if I don't exercise some patience.

Five out of five times, I burn my tongue, each time knowing that this is the consequence of greed. Besides the fact that the soup inside the buns is incredibly hot, there is a lot of soup in each bun- be careful not to spill the soup on yourself. What I like about these soup buns is how they manage to be chewy at the top and crispy at the bottom, with generous pork fillings and soup, all at the same time. The soup is a little too salty for my liking, but it does not negate how delicious these pork buns are. We could each easily eat 3 pork buns each, even with other dishes.

We rounded off the meal with Crispy Rice Dumpling with Red Bean Paste ($4). After the fantastic sheng jian baos, these were again, decent but nothing extraordinary.

Value for money, and definitely come here for the sheng jian baos.

Ding Tele 
949 Upper Serangoon Road
Singapore 534713
Tel No: 6282 4380 

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Tung Lok Signatures (Changi City Point)

Tung Lok used to be a place that we would go if we wanted the best dim sum. Unfortunately, it has disappeared from our radar for a while because there are simply too many dim sum places to try. Lunch at Tung Lok today, however, was rather average. 

The Century Egg Porridge ($6) was enough to fill 4 small bowls. Plain, old, healthy tasting porridge.

The Tempura Prawns with Wasabi ($4.50) were average- the wasabi taste was muted.

The Crisp Banana Roll ($4.20) was essentially goreng pisang with lotus paste in it- this wasn't the best combination because the sweetness of the lotus paste was competing with the sweetness of the bananas. The texture of both also added to the mushy factor of the roll. It would have been better if they just stuck to the banana without the lotus paste.

The Shrimp Dumplings ($5.50) were average- big and bouncy prawns but they weren't juicy or exceptionally fresh.

Inevitably, comparisons with Tim Ho Wan would arise when eating the Baked Honey Pork Bun ($4.80). We unanimously agreed that those at Tim Ho Wan are better- softer interior and sweeter pork fillings at Tim Ho Wan.

Lastly, the Lotus Paste Pancake ($10) was average.

The Baked Mini Egg Tarts ($4.20) were also over-baked.

All in all, you could find better dim sum at other places at this price. Two places that I will definitely recommend at a similar budget are Summer Pavilion and Royal China.

Tung Lok Signatures (Changi City Point)
Changi City Point
5 Changi Business Park Central 1
#01-26/27 

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Hua Ting 华厅

I always thought it was 华亭 instead of 华厅. In any case, doesn't the former sound better than the latter? 

Please place reservations here or it's unlikely that you will be able to get a table on weekends- it was fully packed when we went!

We ordered Seafood Roll ($1.80 each)- golden little deep fried packets containing cold fruit salad.

The Steamed Prawn Dumplings ($1.80 each) had huge, juicy dumplings. Pity the skin was a little thick!

The Pan Fried Carrot Cake ($1.40 each) was rather forgettable.

I loved the Scallop Siew Mai ($1.80 each). The scallops were fresh and juicy. I should stop using the word "juicy" so often in the same post, but really, that is simply calling a spade, a spade.

Eating the skin of the Char Siew Bao ($1.40 each) was like sinking your teeth into a feathery pillow- that was how light and fluffy the skin was. Sweet pork filling.

These Egg Tarts ($1.50 each) were above average. Wobbly egg filling which was not too sweet, filled in a crusty tart- you won't be able to stop at one!

The Vegetarian Cheong Fun ($5.60) was an interesting break from the normal char siew or prawn filling. Light and refreshing.

Finally, I got to taste some good Red Bean Pancake ($12) after so long! These things might look easy to make but they are easy to taste mediocre as well. Hua Ting does this really well, thick skin crust which is crispy but not oily, does not deflate into some lifeless skin after a while, with lots of red bean filling.

The dim sum here is good. Service was not attentive though.

Hua Ting
Orchard Hotel
442 Orchard Road
Tel No: 6 739 6666 

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Grand Shanghai

This place seeks to bring you back to old Shanghai- the chandeliers, the stage where the band performs, everything about it just feels like this is not a typical Chinese restaurant. 

Other than the atmosphere, the dim sum was pretty average. The Siew Mai ($4.50) was my favourite of the lot with juicy fillings.

The Egg Tarts ($1 per piece) are a far cry from what any good egg tart should be like- the egg yolk didn't melt instantly and the crust did not have the aromatic buttery kick to it.

We ordered Steamed Crabmeat Dumplings ($8) but couldn't really taste the crabmeat.

The Braised Ee Fu Noodle with Crabmeat ($22) was moist and pretty good.

The Crispy Pancake Stuffed with Red Bean Paste ($12) was average. 

I wouldn't recommend getting the dim sum here because for the same price, you can get something better elsewhere. Service is nearly non-existent during weekend lunch hours.

Grand Shanghai
King's Centre
390 Havelock Road
#01-01
Tel No: 6836 6866

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Summer Pavilion

This place blew me away with its top-notch service. The service is just so amazing that everyone at the table had nothing but praise for all the servers here. 

We wanted to celebrate a birthday and decided to come to Summer Pavilion since the prices were pretty competitive, compared to our favourite dim sum haunts. 

Beautiful surroundings and natural light flooding the interior of the restaurant. 

The Century Egg Congee ($4.50) was enough for two to share. This was the first time I have ever seen the deep fried dough fritters being put in a separate dish- makes perfect sense because you can decide whether to have it crisp or soak it in the porridge. The porridge bordered on being a little too salty though.

The Prawn Dumplings ($5.20 for 4), unsurprisingly, belonged to the top league of har gows- bouncy, juicy with a thin skin.

Same goes for the Pork & Prawn Dumplings (Siew Mai) (4 for $5.20).

We also had a go at the Deep Fried Lobster Roll (1 for $3). The server was helpful and informed us that we didn't really need to order so many because one lobster roll could be cut into two. This was unfortunately a little disappointing- while the vermicelli was light and non-oily, there was no hint of any lobster.

The BBQ Pork Bun (3 for $4.50) had a fluffy skin and sweet pork filling.

We also ordered something we had never tried before- Egg Tart with Coconut (3 for $3.60). While it was an interesting twist to the egg tarts I so love, I still prefer the original egg tarts when the egg yolk part is wobbly and melts the moment it enters your mouth.

Without a trace of doubt, the food here belongs to the top league of dim sum players in Singapore. However, it is not the best of dim sum I've eaten to date.

The service, nonetheless, is really in line with the 5/6* rating of Ritz Carlton. From the changing of plates, to the refilling of tea, to the serving of a new cup of hot tea at the end of the meal, to their mannerism- everything was just flawless.

Summer Pavilion
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia
7 Raffles Avenue
Tel No: 6 434 5286 

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Ba Xian 八仙

I have been eating too much dim sum for my own good. But here's one more to add to the list. The first time we went to Ba Xian, it was pretty good. But this time, we felt like the dim sum was nothing special. Furthermore, I wouldn't pay a price premium just to get a view from the 62nd floor. Weekend dim sum is cheaper. 

1) Steamed Siew Mai with Dried Scallop ($3.60 for 3 pieces) 

It was an interesting combination with the dried scallop, as compared to the normal roe. Fresh juicy prawns. 

2) Mini Egg Tartlets ($5 for 3 pieces)
These had lotus seeds embedded within the egg. Not the best combination I would think. Furthermore, the egg was overcooked.

3) Steamed Har Kow with Asparagus ($3.60 for 3 pieces)
The asparagus didn't add any flavour to the har kow. The prawns were good though.

4) Steamed Chee Cheong Fun with Prawns, Scallops and Pork Char Siew ($5 per portion)
The fresh ingredients were wrapped snugly within the smooth skin of the chee cheong fun.

5) Pork Congee with Dried Scallop and Century Egg ($4.50 per portion)
This has to be one of the most boring porridge I have tried. It tasted like nothing was added to the congee. Good for the health conscious. But it was very bland and lacking in ingredients.

6) Stir-Fried Carrot Cake with Prawns in X.O. Sauce ($5 per portion)
It used to be one of our favourite dishes here. While still good, it just didn't strike us as being as wonderful as the previous round. Slightly spicy.

7) Pan-Fried Chee Cheong Fun with Sesame and Seafood Sauce ($5 per portion)
The accompanying sauce was delicious- how can a combination of sesame and seafood sauce not be? Other than that, it was just plain old boring chee cheong fun, where the highlight is really the sauce.

8) Deep fried dumpling 
Pretty standard.

Service was so-so, where we only got a refill of our tea cups one throughout the whole meal. Food took quite some time to come when we ordered a second round. As I said earlier, I probably wouldn't pay this amount for the view. Please note that dress code applies. 

Ba Xian @ Tower Club

Republic Plaza

9 Raffles Place

#62-64

Tel No: 67373388 

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Lei Garden

I haven't been to Lei Garden for almost a decade. It was due time to visit Lei Garden when I read Bern's post on it on the exact day my friend told me about his visit there. As it's the Chinese New Year period, the human traffic was quite heavy and there were three time slots we could choose from. We chose the earliest timing of 11.30 a.m. 

Always comforting, a bowl of piping hot Rainbow Egg and Shredded Pork Porridge ($4.80) can't go wrong.

We then had some Panfried Carrot Cake with Waxed Meat ($5.80). I found this a little salty although my friend didn't find it so. Anyway, it's not oily so it's pretty good.

The obligatory Steamed Fresh Shrimps Dumplings ($.580) and Steamed Pork Dumplings with Black Mushrooms ($5.80) were fairly typical of good dim sum restaurants- fresh, juicy and bouncy shrimps encased within the skin of the dumplings.

I have a particular aversion to parsley so I didn't take a liking to the Steamed Cheong Fun with Honey BBQ Pork ($5.80).

We ordered a Deepfried Spring Roll with Fresh Lobster Meat ($6.80). I couldn't really detect the sweetness of the lobster meat but the springroll itself was good because it was thin, crispy and not oily.

The Baked Mini Egg Tart ($4.80) was very average and was nothing like the melt-in-your-mouth egg tarts at Royal China. Seems like it will take a lot to meet the standard at Royal China!

Service was efficient and friendly. Overall, the food is typical of a good dim sum restaurant, but nothing to rave about.

Lei Garden
Chijmes
30 Victoria Street
#01-24

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