I have always wanted to try this restaurant since secondary school days. Finally stepped into it and fulfilled my secondary sch dreams! And it wasn't disappointing at all.
When this outlet initially opened, i think it created a stir in the xiao long bao industry locally as the origins of the shanghai xlb has come to fight with established din tai fung. But i guess it died after a while though i already have in mind who won the war. Just look at how many people there are in these restaurants during the weekends.
There were hardly a few people on that day. However, this makes it really good for eating dim sum and relaxing and chatting on a lazy saturday afternoon.
Whats more, the dim sum is quite good. Pleasing to the eye, okay for the taste, creates a smaller hole to your pocket compared to dtf. I think it will make a good place to bring picky,traditional mothers to.
We ordered the king-sized steam bun,some sticky cake (known as gui hua gao in chinese),pumpkin pasty and crab roe and shark's fin filled xlb. For a really rich afternoon tea, I guess aound $37 is not that expensive.
The gui hua gao was first to be served. And its really very very VERY sticky! I could hardly pick it up with my chopsticks as it stuck like glue to the plates. But it has quite a good chew, like chinese mochi. Good for people with strong teeth. And not too sweet as well.
Next up was the king-sized steamed bun with crab roe fillings. It is unwise to share it between 2 people as we did. But it seems really quite impractical to stick a straw out of the bun for drinking as it will scald your tongue. And as the ST reporter rightly puts it, the skin for the bun seems thicker. But i guess it really is subject to individual's liking. Personally i like it thinner. But this steamed da long bao is really not a good dim sum to order because it is a selfish dish(cant share you see) and it seems to be too filling for one, though it is impressive on the first sight. You don't want to pay to be impressed. Just see whether you are lucky such that the people sitting around you order or be satisfied with the pictures provided in the restaurant.
The 3rd dish that we ordered was the pumpkin pasty. Feels quite filling and it comes in servings for 2.As you can see, the surface is very thin, and the pumpkin fillings is so hot that it condensed my camera. Not too oily, has a better chew than gui hua gao but not too much taste to it. No omphh to it, only burps.
Ta-da! the richest dish! Xlb with crab-roe and sharks-fins! Yes, Sharks-fins!$12.60 for 4 xlb, not that hot a burn for your pocket. The picture in the middle shows a fin sticking out. I think it is better to jus taste it as it is, without the ginger, but maybe a little vinegar. I think the sharks fins in the xlb makes it taste just like a bowl of sharks fins soup, but i find the xlb a tad too dry. The fillings are a lot though.If you want to feel like a rich tai-tai, try this.
Overall, i give this a 3.75/5. It is quite relaxing yam cha-ing in this restaurant and service was alright, maybe because there were hardly any people. Taste wise, hmm, maybe the original xlbs are not as good until it arrived to Singapore.
200 Victoria Street
#02-53 Bugis Junction
Singapore 188024
Tel:65-6835 7577
Decided to try this Authentic Vietnamese restaurant because of some of its features on newspapers. However, there was really a limited selection, so we ordered only a mango salad.
