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It’s a shame that Dim sum isn’t getting the recognition as its Sushi counterparts. The Japanese sushi is also like what Dim sum is to the Chinese cuisine, just that it comes in the form of vinegared rice topped with ingredients like fish, various meats and vegetables.
With the entrée of more Spanish restaurants in the local dining scene, more people knows about tapas, and degustion has always been a firm word on the menu of the French restaurants here. How about dim sum? I think that most youngsters nowadays are not really into dim sum, since it’s often seen as a more traditional meal. Youngsters want to break out of the tradition, they want something hip and cool, and dim sum is not that. Which is cooler, saying you had dim sum, or tapas at the latest Spanish restaurant and a 6 course degustion dinner?
Dim sum is akin a piece of artwork crafted by the chef, so exquisite and refine. No offence to the Sushi-fanatic, but give me dim sum over sliced raw fish anytime.
Every hotel will have their own flagship restaurants in the different cuisines, and at Carlton hotel, Wah Lok is the Cantonese representative. Our latest dim sum adventure brings us here, together with hautestuff and ladies, we had a great time over our dim sum lunch.
Wah Lok is located on the second level within the Carlton hotel, the high ceiling of the restaurant makes the interior looks very spacious. The decor is typical of most Chinese restaurants, with a very comfy and homely feel. There are two different dining halls and can easily fill up on a normal day, which shows the popularity of the restaurant.
Char siew sou ($3.80 for 3)
The Baked BBQ pork pastry or more affectionately known as char siew sou, has always been one of the dim sum that i will order first. Wah lok’s version of the char siew sou did not disappoint, within the buttery surface of the pastry were juicy and sweet char siew fillings.
The rendition at Wah lok may not be as refine as the one i had at Yan Ting, nevertheless it’s still better than most char siew sou that i had before, and all of us were tempted to order second helpings.
Baked BBQ pork buns ($3 for 2)
We asked the captain for recommendations, and he promptly suggested that we have Wah Lok’s signature, char siew bao. We were rather surprised when the char siew bao came, as it’s not the normal steamed buns which has white pillowry exterior. Instead, the baked counterpart is browned and glazed, more like bo luo bao.
The juicy and sweet char siew was enveloped within the baked pastry. Although we just had the char siew sou which is a different variety made with puff pastry, the pork buns were gone in an instant.
Baked egg tarts ($3.20 for 3)
The petite baked egg tarts had smooth and eggy fillings within the puff pastry. The miniature size of the egg tart was the only problem as we only had one each.
Steamed prawn dumplings ($5.40)
The steamed prawn dumplings, or “Har Gao” at Wah Lok had fresh, succulent prawns contained by the thinly light skin. Solid and reliable prawn dumplings.
Steamed pork dumplings ($4.60)
The steamed pork dumplings or “siew mai” is another dim sum which i would not fail to order. The siew mai was well-balanced, not too porky.
Fried XO carrot cake ($10)
The fried xo carrot cake was off-the-menu, which we requested for instead of the steamed carrot cake. However this was a mistake as the carrot cake was bland and too soft for my liking. We couldn’t taste much of the supposedly “oomph” xo sauce. At $10, we would be better off ordering two other basket of dim sum.
Steamed chicken claw with chili ($3)
I am never a fan of chicken claw, but the three ladies certainly enjoyed it, munching the chicken feet and spiting out the small bones.
Deep fried beancurd ($5.6)
We wanted one more dim sum after our first round, and the waiter recommended this. The deep fried beancurd skin with prawns was excellent. Normally, the beancurd skin would be more than the prawn, but in this instance, the succulent prawn fillings threatened to overshadow the beancurd skin.
Fried mango ice cream ($6)
We ended off our dim sum lunch with a very non-chinese dessert. Fried ice cream was a craze a few years back, and i remember there’s even a store at the Tiong Bahru market which used to sell fried ice cream. But not anymore, where can you still find fried ice cream nowadays?
The crispy exterior had a strong hint of coconut taste, while the interior was icy cold ice cream, simply magic, how did they do that?
Total bill was $63.75 for 4 person, which worked out to be around $16 per person. We didn’t really ordered a lot, so the price might seem deceptive, nevertheless, the dim sum at Wah Lok is still priced reasonably given their quality. The portions are quite petite, but it will do for our ladies. I foresee i’ll be coming back to Wah Lok quite often in the near future to try out the rest of the dim sum.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Bobo had the chance to be invited for food tasting at Village Wok. Initially this bimbo was afraid that she would have problems finding the place, with it being in CBD and all. But it was really easy to locate. It's quite near the Food Centre just slightly off the main road.
Upon entering the place, Bobo was slightly surprised. The signboard and the decor of the place itself wasn't like other Chinese restaurants. It's not like pretentiously posh but very very simple.. like a family business sorts. It was later when the lady boss (a pretty one) explained, that Bobo understood that this place is more of a B2B sort of business, selling its famous sauces to other eateries.
It was empty that day... CBD, on Sundays, is a ghost town as every one knows. So they had all the space to ourselves and the freedom to make noise. Fantastic! haha.
Popiah DIY $20 /set
Completely healthy with stewed vegetables in prawn stock and condiments.
Honestly Bobo thinks it is a little expensive considering it's just vegetables and stuff. BUT try preparing all these things at home then you would know what a hassle it is. It's not only good and healthy to eat, it's like an activity for family and friends to do. The good thing about DIY is that you can put whatever you want in it and leave whatever you want out. Yummy!
Chilled Crab with Special Vinegrette Sauce @ $30 /crab
Bobo doesn't really like crab. Simply because it's troublesome. But the nice thing about this one was that they cut it up properly, so that it's easy to eat! They didn't need to use the hammer or weird tools to pry the meat out to eat. That aside, the flesh was sweet and fresh, tasty even without the sauce. They were told that the crabs were from Sri Lanka.
The Phoenix Soars @ $21
Yin-Yang boneless Village Wok Chicken
Bobo loved this one. She liked its tasty flesh and there was plenty of breast meat for her to pick. Yummy.
Village Wok Celebration Parade @ $22
A combination of VW award dishes, VW Mustard Roast Crispy Pork and Village BBQ Pork
Firstly, Bobo has to admit that she's not the sort who go for such meat. But she did try the Char Siew which was ok. The presentation of this dish is pretty special in that it looked like the chinese word "fortune". Cool eh.
Fried Brinjal with Crispy Squid in BXO Sauce @ $15
Bobo likes Brinjal! Initially she thought that this dish was carrot cake because it reminded her of the one at Taste Paradise. But it's brinjal much to her surprise. It was quite tasty but a little bit too sweet though.
Steamed Pating Fish with Preserved Vegetable @ $44
Preserved Vegetable... that's Chai Por, the thingy you have on chwee kueh? Bobo loves chai por. This particular version is not as salty as what people normally have which makes it seem healthier. But Bobo (being unhealthy) do likes salty chai por. The fish was normal she thinks.
Black Pepper Ham Leg @ $23
Voted The Travelling Gourmet’s favorite dish
Bobo had a very small bit of this. As above, she's not a fan of pork so she shouldn't comment on this, having not tasted enough versions.
Smiling Fortune Noodle @ $8
Tangy noodles harmonized with delectable fresh prawn essence, topped with prawns.
The serving given to them was slightly smaller that day as they already had plenty to eat. Each person had a pot to themselves. It was served nice and hot with a little tealight below. Bobo liked the soup base a lot and the noodles were served at the right time, so they weren't mushy. But she doesn't remember eating many prawns. One maybe. or was it two?
VW Desserts - Sampler size
Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut Ice-cream @ $4.80
Lemongrass ice-cream
Kaya with bread
Bobo liked the Black Glutinous Rice with Coconut ice cream the best. The other ice cream had a nice tinge of lemongrass in the aftertaste. But otherwise it was normal. Bobo isn't quite a fan of Kaya but she enjoyed it all the same. It wasn't the ultra sweet sort you get from the supermarket.
The prices might seem a bit high but it IS a chinese restaurant after all and such prices are pretty common for this kind of food served there.
We had the chance to taste many of their sauces which was really nice. Bobo wanted to buy the salted fish one home but she forgot. SIGGHHH.
For more pictures, click here
Rating given:
Fisherios Fish N Chips is one of the many new-comers in the busy basement of Bugis Junction, which has seen the arrival of many food & beverage entrées after the demolition of the food court. Personally, i welcome this move and the management of Parco Bugis Junction is indeed moving in the right direction by providing a good mix of food.
I reckon it will take quite a while before conquering all the stores at the basement level, any takers want to volunteer to explore the area? Anyway, my friend and i decided on Fisherios because i saw it previously at Ngee Ann city basement, and also heard some rather positive comments online about it’s fish & chips.
The seating arrangement did remind me about the one at Bratwurst, simple furniture in a small enclosed area. The similarity between the food basement of Bugis Junction, Plaza Singapura, and Ngee Ann city is very apparent to all.
Fish fillet beer battered ($7.90)
For all the different type of fish, you can have it done in three different ways, breaded, grilled, and in our case, the beer battered method. Price varies of course, with beer battered being the more expensive option. Choose from fish, salmon or snapper fillet.
Service was prompted and quick, but my first reaction when the dish came, what’s with the wrapping paper? Was the wrapping paper there to absorb the oil, or was it there so as to make it some sort of “fast food” type (pun intended). In any case, if they wanted to absorb the oil from the fish & chips, I’ll preferred it to be done before serving, so that customers won’t actually see all the oil stains on the paper.
The difference between wrapping it in the paper, and laying it out nicely on the plate. The presentation of the fish was poles apart. I found the beer battered fish to be quite strong, au contraire my friend thought that the beer flavor was acceptable.
In conclusion, the fish wasn’t really worth the price tag of $7.90, and with the small servings of the fries, we could easily got better fish and chips elsewhere. But i guess if you want a quick meal and don’t really mind the quality of fish, it is decent enough, which reminds me of Fisherman’s Wharf
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Rong Guang BBQ seafood has two outlets where you can enjoy your fix on barbecue seafood, one at Ulu Pandan road near Sunset way, and the other at Alexandre Village. Dinner was at the latter, and they are the only stall selling barbecue seafood in the whole food centre.
Alexandre Village like most food centres are divided into three parts, the right, centre and the left. When you got almost all the tables on one side of the food centre eating from a particular stall, you need not guess the popularity of it. BBQ seafood in hawker centres are always a common sight, especially in well-known ones like Chomp chomp, and Newton market, they always draw in the crowd, we just love our sambal chili don’t we!
BBQ stingray ($8)
The obvious choice when ordering BBQ seafood, people just love their BBQ stingray, it almost seems like when you mentioned BBQ seafood, stingray will immediately spring to your mind. The sambal chili packs a whole punch, plus the accompanying sauce which is sourish, goes every well together with the hot spicy chili.
We regretted ordering the small portion at $8, with the medium and big is $10 and $13 respectively. My brother finish the stingray in double-quick time and i only managed to get two bites. And i craved for BBQ stingray now.
Sambal potato leaves ($6)
I know people usually order sambal kangkong which is an extremly popular dish, and so do we. But this time we decided to have a change and ordered sambal potato leaves instead. I’m not exactly sure about the name of the vegetable, but potato leaves is the direct translation from Chinese.
The belachan, strong fried prawn sauce is hot and spicy, i’m not really a chili person, but i can’t help eating more of it while sweating profusely at the same time.
Fried rice ($3)
Surprisingly, the fried rice was actually quite good. I wasn’t expecting much and just thought that its normal fried rice when i happened to see another table ordering it, so i thought we would have fried rice instead of plain rice. The fried rice was very fragrant, i felt that it wasn’t the ingredients that made it good, but more of the skill in cooking the fried rice in the wok.
Total bill was $18.19 for 2 person, the pricing is similar to most zi-char stalls, and is definitely good for your pocket. The BBQ seafood is excellent even though i only try one of them, but i guess most of them are the same since the sambal chili is the key, and the rest will only depends on the freshness of the seafood.
I’ll certainly go back to Rong Guang again for my BBQ seafood cravings, and the one at Ulu Pandan is so near to my place. Look out for the next post on it!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef
for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Rong Guang BBQ seafood has two outlets where you can enjoy your fix on barbecue seafood, one at Ulu Pandan road near Sunset way, and the other at Alexandre Village. Dinner was at the latter, and they are the only stall selling barbecue seafood in the whole food centre.
Alexandre Village like most food centres are divided into three parts, the right, centre and the left. When you got almost all the tables on one side of the food centre eating from a particular stall, you need not guess the popularity of it. BBQ seafood in hawker centres are always a common sight, especially in well-known ones like Chomp chomp, and Newton market, they always draw in the crowd, we just love our sambal chili don’t we!
BBQ stingray ($8)
The obvious choice when ordering BBQ seafood, people just love their BBQ stingray, it almost seems like when you mentioned BBQ seafood, stingray will immediately spring to your mind. The sambal chili packs a whole punch, plus the accompanying sauce which is sourish, goes every well together with the hot spicy chili.
We regretted ordering the small portion at $8, with the medium and big is $10 and $13 respectively. My brother finish the stingray in double-quick time and i only managed to get two bites. And i craved for BBQ stingray now.
Sambal potato leaves ($6)
I know people usually order sambal kangkong which is an extremly popular dish, and so do we. But this time we decided to have a change and ordered sambal potato leaves instead. I’m not exactly sure about the name of the vegetable, but potato leaves is the direct translation from Chinese.
The belachan, strong fried prawn sauce is hot and spicy, i’m not really a chili person, but i can’t help eating more of it while sweating profusely at the same time.
Fried rice ($3)
Surprisingly, the fried rice was actually quite good. I wasn’t expecting much and just thought that its normal fried rice when i happened to see another table ordering it, so i thought we would have fried rice instead of plain rice. The fried rice was very fragrant, i felt that it wasn’t the ingredients that made it good, but more of the skill in cooking the fried rice in the wok.
Total bill was $18.19 for 2 person, the pricing is similar to most zi-char stalls, and is definitely good for your pocket. The BBQ seafood is excellent even though i only try one of them, but i guess most of them are the same since the sambal chili is the key, and the rest will only depends on the freshness of the seafood.
I’ll certainly go back to Rong Guang again for my BBQ seafood cravings, and the one at Ulu Pandan is so near to my place. Look out for the next post on it!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Beard Papa Sweets is famous for their cream puff from Japan, with a tagline similar to that of Carlsberg, “probably the best cream puff in the world!”. I think i am kind of slow here, since Beard Papa has landed on our shores for quite some time, but i am only trying it now.
Today you can find Beard Papa throughout Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, US, Uk, and of course, Singapore. And there are currently 6 stores island-wide.
Besides their original vanilla cream puff, there’s also the cookie choux puff, strawberry puff, eclair puff, coronet, chocolate eclair, fondant chocolat, cheesecake stick, and tiramisu. All in the range of 2 dollar plus per piece.
It’s always a burden on the pocket eating and trying so many different type of food, so when i saw they are having a promotion of $1.60 for their original cream puff, i didn’t think twice before buying the cream puff. But pity they only have it for the original flavor, i wanted to try their strawberry and chocolate too!
Anyway there’s always this promotion coupon on Sunday times where a cream puff also cost $1.60 each, but i was lazy to cut it out everytime though.
Original Vanilla cream puff ($2.20)
I’m a sucker for cream puff, so the following comment would certainly be bias, and even exaggerating. The first bite of the cream puff brought me to the heavens, the fluffy and airy filling was a perfect complement to the light, chewy and slightly crispy pastry.
And i think at even at the $2.20 usual price, where else can you get such a big and awesome cream puff? I can hardly think of any place else, the durian puffs at Goodwood park hotel is excellent, but i don’t eat durian, and they are not exactly cheap.
After tasting the cream puff, i was reluctant to pass it to my friend who also wanted a bite, and was tempted to get a few more if not for the fact that i had dinner afterwards. I think i won’t have any trouble eating a dozen of it anytime.
Cheesecake stick ($1.30)
The cheesecake stick at $1.30 is the only item at Beard Papa sweet that sells for less than 2 bucks. And i think at #1.30, its definitely a good deal for a cheesecake stick that is cheesy in flavor, and has a biscuit crust base to go along with the cheesecake.
Total bill was $2.90 for two nice piece of desserts, and i won’t stop myself the next time i pass by another Beard Papa Sweets, oh the tiramisu, the chocolate and strawberry cream puffs, and the chocolate eclair!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Jollibean has been around for many years, and sometimes you tend to take things for granted when they are always there, so it is until now that i actually try something from them. Jollibean actually has 35 branches island-wide till date, so it’s no surprise seeing them in your heartland halls or even downtown.
Soyabeans are one of the world’s richest natural foods, high in quality, low in saturated fats, contains no cholestrerol, are a good source of soluble fiber, so how much more can you go?
Unfortunately, i only had eyes for pan cakes, or “mee chiang kueh” that day. The selections from Jollibean did pose quite a problem to me as there were four different kinds of pancakes to choose from. The traditional one, the round one, the crispy flat one or the twisted one. The traditional one is always steady and reliable, while the round one seems more like those Japanese pancakes, and the twisted one nearly got me there since i didn’t try any kind of those before.
Jolli pancake selections ($2.20)
In the end i got the pancake box which comes with three different flavours, namely peanut, red bean and cheese.
Peanut pancake
The peanut pancake is easily the best out of the 3 flavours, the peanuts fillings were generous, and who can resist the crunchy peanut? I guess i am more tradition when coming to pancake, stick to the peanut one!
Red bean pancake
The red bean pancake was all right, but somehow i found their red bean to be too sweet for my liking. And i think i don’t quite fancy the pancake skin, i should have gone for the traditional pancake, but there’s always a first time for everything.
Cheese pancake
This was a disaster. Okay maybe i’m exaggerating, but the cheese was too plain, not cheesy enough, and i think cheese isn’t a very suitable filling for pancake, unless they are those hot cheesy, and will melt-in-mouth kind.
Total bill was $2.20 for a box of pancake. I think i chose the wrong kind of pancake, will be trying the other types next time. And i didn’t have a drink of their famous soyabean milk which is $1.60 for the original flavor, and they have other special flavours available. There’s also Mr Bean around if you don’t fancy Jollibean, competition is always good for us.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
There are so many stalls in one hawker centre alone, so how do you make your choice which one to order from? This is especially a problem when you want to order a particular food, say for example char kuay teow but found yourself staring at a few similar stalls. Which one do you order from? Being Singaporeans the first thought will be to see which stall has the longest Q, well if so many others like their food, it can’t be that bad right?
So usually i’ll go and look around the tables, to see which plates dominate the area, and its a good gauge how popular a stall is. Of course, you can’t judge a stall by its queue, or you ain’t the type that will bother to queue a good fifteen to twenty minutes just for food. So what’s next? Through word-of-mouth recommendations, “stall B at that hawker centre is very good, must-try!” Alternatively, continue your blog-reading at ladyironchef to find out more!
Anyway, one of the common methods will be to look at the stall for any media recognition, there are so many TV food programs which recommend on food, and very often they will issue their own “certificate” to acknowledge that hawker stall is good. Again, this method can also be flaw as the stalls that they recommended might not be that good sometimes, but usually the sales at that particular stall will go up after featured on TV, Singaporeans are Singaporeans after all.
Nevertheless, this is one method that i use quite often when i don’t have no idea which stall to order from. And i decided to order from Teng Yu chee cheong fun porridge stall after i saw their “media recognition”, coming in the form of a video recording showing on the TV no less.
Char siew cheong fun ($2.30)
Teng Yu stall offers four different types of cheong fun, prawn, turnip, char siew and one more. All of them come with the option of having your cheong fun with porridge. And they have quite a few selections if you just want porridge alone, century egg, sliced fish, fish head, and seafood porridge.
The skin of the char siew cheong fun was smooth and easy on the palate, topped with plenty of sesame seeds, it came with light sauce. However, the char siew meat were all in very small bits and pieces, and i would prefer them to come in bigger pieces even if there were less of them in that way.
The char siew bites were rather soft, in fact too soft for my liking, and it did not have the sweet and juicy taste that’s in good char siew. Furthermore, they added in some vegetables in it which i did not like. Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat greens, but cheong fun with greens simply did not work out.
The overall taste is quite weak, as in not much flavour in the chee cheong fun, maybe its lighter in flavour because it’s suppose to go together with the porridge, or maybe it’s just me. So you have to try out for yourself to try out. I missed out on the previous post for Mr Avocado, the Alexandra Village hawker centre is opposite the Queensway shopping centre, don’t mistake it with ABC food centre which is nearby.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
I know what you are thinking of when i mentioned hawker centre stalls, plain, boring, unfanciful, the run-of-the-mill look! But recently food lovers are spoil with more options as more food & beverage owners look to “attack” the heartlands, the place where you and I grew up in. Botak Jones, Cilantro are some of the better-known names to “invade” our familiar neighbourhood.
Putting that aside, Mr Avocado isn’t exactly “new”, they have been around since 1990, and participated in the Singapore Food Festival 2003, 2004. Well just that last time i didn’t really keep an eye for good food, so i only came to know its existence after a friend recommended me there.
Avocado ($2)
They are not called Mr Avocado for nothing, the avocado being their signature drink is surely a must-order drink when you are here. Although i am not a fan of avocado, but Mr Avocado’s rendition win me over with its smooth, creamy and milky interpretation.
Avocado fruits contain a high concentration of dietary fiber, vitamins and potassium. And definitely makes a good drink on a hot day. Mr Avocado’s tagline is “exotic fruit juice”. With some of their specialty like dragon fruit, wintermelon, waterchestnut, loh han kuo, soursop, aloe vera, white fungus definitely sounds more exotic than your usual watermelon, apple, orange.
And i noticed the fact that within Alexandra village hawker centre there are at least four fruit drink stalls selling almost identical drinks. My guess is the hawker centre is always crowded with the office folks working nearby coming in for lunch, and you know fruit juice is always a pleaser for the ladies.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
The cravings for dim sum meant that i am always on the lookout for places be it restaurants or eateries which can answer to my stomach’s calling. Victor’s Kitchen has been around for quite a while now, and has been labeled with the “good dim sum at affordable price” tag.
Located at Sunshine Plaza off the corner at Bencoolen street, it is a no-frills, grab-your-seats kind of place. Victor’s is divided into two seating area, with both holding a maximum of maybe fifteen people each. Seats are limited, you must be prepared to queue up for them, and squeeze in the small seating area. Well, more like a small eatery than a cafe or restaurant kind of environment.
Chicken & Sausage in Glutinous rice ($4)
I always like glutinous rice, dim sum style. Opening the leave that wrapped the rice, the aroma of the glutinous rice flowed out, and it was just so good. The chicken was tender and the chinese sausage palatable, the fragrant and soft rice, all the combinations made the glutinous rice a praiseworthy dish.
Tasty Queen size Siew Mai ($3)
You don’t say you eat dim sum if you did not order siew mai and har gau. Nicknamed the queen size siew mai, its actually the normal size i guess that’s why they didn’t named it as King size siew mai instead.
The pork meat in the siew mai is very lean, not those fatty type. The portion of prawn to pork is actually very low, so not much of prawn taste, its the more porky kind.
Victor’s King prawn dumpling ($3.80)
Prawn dumpling or har gau, another mainstay in the dim sum menu. The skin of the Victor’s King prawn dumpling is rather thin, and the prawns inside looked like its going to burst out anytime. The fresh prawns go easy on the palates and always welcome with second helpings.
Carrot cake with XO sauce ($3.80)
I was rather amazed when i saw the Carrot cake with XO sauce served. For one i wasn’t expecting the carrot cake to be literally soaked in xo sauce, i thought it will be something like the one i had at Peach Garden, or Yan Ting, but i guess again, there isn’t any “fried” or “pan-seared” attached with the name here.
The name’s scallop, sausage carrot cake with xo sauce, but i hardly had any hint of the presence of scallop and sausage in it, and i think i still preferred my carrot cake to be fried than soup. Nonetheless, the amount of XO sauce given was rather generous, and i guess its more of a personal issue, some might just fancy this over the normal fried carrot cake.
Oyster sauce Char Siew Bun ($2.80)
I preferred my char siew bun to be those restaurants-type where there is three parts one. There’s no trace of oyster sauce in the char siew bun, or maybe i happened to miss the flavor.
Nevertheless, the char siew bun is still quite soft and fluffy, the juicy char siew captured within is also enjoyable. Not the best char siew bun i had, but it will suffice.
Milky Custard Bun ($2.80)
I am getting warm up to Custard bun nowadays since i used to only flavor char siew bun when i had dim sum. You know a good custard bun when you see one, hot milky custard oozing out of the bun, tempting you with both visual and taste.
However, the case is not to be with Victor’s Milky custard bun. Touted as their signature dish, i was totally disappointed with the one i had here. Maybe the ones at Victor’s don’t ooze out, but for the custard buns to come cold is another complete matter all together.
Having heard many wonderful things about their signature custard bun, i must said i was shocked by the revelation in the quality of the buns. Maybe its a case of a bad hair day, but i’ll give it a chance and re-visit to try it again the next time.
Spare Ribs rice ($3)
I’m not even sure if i want to elaborate on the spare ribs rice. First thing first, the rice is hard, too hard. I do understand that ribs being ribs do not have much meat, but this one, the pork ribs were not even tasteful. A waste of 3 bucks, kindly ignore this if you ever go to Victor’s.
Phoenix Porridge ($3.50)
The century egg porridge or pi dan chow is transform in the name of Phoenix porridge. However the majestic name did itself no favors with a run of the mill watery porridge. There are bits of century egg and chicken chunks, but i don’t see the point in paying $3.50 for an average small bowl porridge.
Deep fried spring roll ($3)
The deep fried spring roll is pretty decent, with the usual mix of turnips inside. The vinger dip was a commendable mention, with the slightly sourish sauce going well together with the deep fried stuff. The spring roll was crispy and you could hear the “crisp” sound with every bite you took.
Char siew cheong fun ($3)
The trails of a good char siew cheong fun are smooth and silky skin, which comes with juicy char siew. However the skin of the cheong fun or rice roll is rather thick, i’ll prefer it to be slightly thinner. The char siew within the cheong fun is still acceptable.
King prawn cheong fun ($3.50)
I think we over ordered, which results in having another one, the King prawn cheong fun. I presumed the prawns are the same as the ones in the har gau, and they are fresh and good, pity the skin of the cheong fun though.
Total Bill is $51.1 for 3 person. Victor’s kitchen is definitely affordable and rather cheap with its array of dim sum served. The maths work out to be around less than a dollar per piece for most of the items, which can be a good place for your dim sum fix if you want something cheap and not bad.
Victor’s Kitchen is a case of hits and misses. However the misses hit me more because i had high expectations of the place since there are much rave about the dim sum here. With the silky custard bun as the biggest upset in this visit, it is likely i will visit the place again in the future, to prove whether its a fluke or one-off thing.
The place is small, and they don’t take any reservations, do go at earlier timings or be prepared to queue a while for the seats. Its also advisable to go in small groups since there aren’t much space and table to accommodate a large crowd.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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