Taste Paradise

Heard that the dim sum here was good, and it was! Probably just became one of my faves at the moment.

Decor inside was very Chinese-styled including the cups. We were served some pickled radish.

We ordered a XO Carrot Cake. This was mildly spicy, with bean sprouts and some leek. The carrot cake was very soft, and the texture was very slightly powdery, which made it somewhat unique, possibly home-made by the restaurant.

Smoked Duck fried spring rolls. I could taste the smoked duck, but I thought the amount inside was a little lacking. Would have been better if the filling was more generous.

Har Gao. The skin here was very soft, and the prawns very fresh and succulent.

Cod Fish Dumpling in silken egg white. This was a very light but delicious dish. The crystal skin was very soft, and inside contained pieces of cod fish and gourd vegetables.

Roast Pork. The skin was very crispy. Again, am no expert on roast pork, but it did keep me going for a couple more pieces than usual.

Siew Mai. I like this more than what I had at Wah Lok or Asia Grand. Very generous serving of roe on the top. I could taste the individual pieces of pork and prawn inside. Very juicy and hearty.

Beef Balls. The menu stated mandarin peel, but I could taste none of it. Only a slight hint of coriander; not as strong as the ones at Asia Grand.

Steamed honey pork buns. The filling was the usual and they were up to standard. I did think that the skin was very fluffy and soft. Absolute delight.

Pan fried pork dumplings. These were pan fried on the underside.

Inside, the filling was moist and savoury. I like the differences in texture and taste between the steamed portion and the pan fried portion.

Custard buns!

Ooey gooey goodness. Definitely pass the taste test. Not too overly sweet, and you can still taste the buttery goodness and the sandy texture from the yolks.

Steamed rice rolls with prawn. Skin here was up to standard - soft and delicate.

Overall a very satisfying dim sum lunch, and prices here are pretty similar to Wah Lok and Asia Grand. Will be back again, I'm sure.

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Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant (2nd visit)

Back to Wah Lok for a quick lunch on one afternoon.

One of the perennial orders - Har Gao.

And Siew Mai...

My favorite steamed carrot cake and prawn rice rolls.

It was close to the dumpling festival, and we were recommended this limited edition dumpling which was probably twice the size of the usual ones. It contains pork, duck, mung beans and chestnuts. It came served with sugar and soy sauce, and you choose which you prefer to dip in. In fact, the dumpling itself was quite bland. I personally preferred dipping it the soy sauce. This was quite filling, hence we only ordered so few dishes this time.

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Asia Grand Restaurant

Had a dim sum lunch at Asia Grand Restaurant located at Odeon Towers.

Har Gao - the skin was quite soft; better than what I had at Dim Joy in my opinion.

Siew Mai - the insides were quite 'solid', and you can feel the pieces of meat.

Beef Rice Rolls - I thought that the skin was not soft enough, and I think prawn still goes best in rice rolls.

Fried Shrimp Dumpling - the usual here; nothing extraordinary.

Steamed carrot cake - I prefer this version which is more paste-y, as opposed to the julienne radish version at Dim Joy.

Beef Balls - I kinda like this, although the presence of coriander inside might turn some people off.

I cannot remember the name of this, but its skin was a chewy texture and the insides were filled with marinated meat and mushrooms.

Steamed BBQ Pork buns - these were tasty and fluffy - what you would expect from Hongkong-styled buns.

Fried Banana & Shrimp - I remembered eating something similar at a restaurant called Oriental Restaurant in Bedok when I was young, and I loved it. But I think the texture of this skin was not to my liking.

Saw good reviews of their custard bun. Their version here is actually a Pineapple Bun with custard inside.

However, their custard was way better than Dim Joy's, and did not have the sugary feel to it.

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Dim Joy

Had dim sum lunch at Dim Joy at the corner of Neil Road and Teck Lim Road. It's a little out of the way, and is housed in a shophouse-like place with a little yard. You might miss it if you did not look close enough.

Steamed prawn rice rolls. The skin of this is not the extremely soft kind, but still good enough. The medium sized prawns were fresh and the soy sauce was not too salty.

Steamed radish cake. Actually, this was more like julienne radish, and not the usual starchy cake-like texture you usually get. It was nice, but i personally prefer the usual kind like the one I had a Wah Lok.

Siew Mai. I did not quite like the texture of what they had here. It centre felt a little too mushy for my liking.

Har Gao. Prawns inside were fresh, but I would prefer a softer skin.

Lotus leaf wrapped chicken glutinous rice. This was good. The glutinous rice was very soft and moist, and the chicken was well marinated.

Fortune Dumplings, which was like a crepe-like skin wrapping a braised mixture of mushrooms and chestnuts within.

Traditional Layer Cake containing coconut and egg yolks.

This was very soft and fluffy; you can see the layers in this pic.

Lastly, we had Custard Buns a.k.a Liu Sha Bao. Actually, not quite considered the usual kind custard I think, as the recipe I found seemed to be of egg yolks and butter.

Fresh out of the steamer and the insides are oozing out. Somehow, this seem to contain sugar, and I can actually feel the crunch of the sugar as I bit into it, which was something I did not quite like.

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Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

Been some time since I had proper dim sum meal. Came here as I had a good experience here before.

I don't actually eat fatty pork, so I can't quite say how this stacks up against other places.

Steamed carrot cake which I rather like. Reminds me of a similar one at Victor's Kitchen. Carrot cake was very soft and the sauce was not too salty.

This was probably one of our favorites - Char Siu Bo Luo Bun. The fillings inside was quite tasty. On the outside, crust was sinfully good, while the bread was thin and soft. We had 2 servings of this. I still miss the Bo Luo Yao in Hong Kong, though.

We ordered 2 types of steamed rice rolls - Char Siu and scallops.

Steamed glutinous rice with chicken inside. Nothing to shout about.

I like the Har Gao. The prawns were succulent and fresh, and the skin was not hard nor too chewy.

The Siew Mai tasted pretty good too.

Fried prawn dumplings with mayonnaise.

Egg tarts. The pastry was extremely fragile and literally breaks apart in your mouth.

Beancurd Skin which I found to be too hard.

Ended off the meal with desserts. The almond cream on the left seemed pretty watery, but I did not taste it so I have no idea how good it was. I took the Mango & Pomelo Sago. It was fairly thick and full of sago, and not too sweet. Overall, I thought it was quite nice although maybe it would have been a little better with more mango.

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