Authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum @Victor's Kitchen

Was very disappointed in our last visit to Victor's Kitchen, not because of the food but because I realised my flash card was not in the camera only after we finished the meal. Managed to have a few snaps using my phone :)

Long queue and Crowded restaurant during Weekend

We made another visit Victor's Kitchen again, avoiding peak period this time round. As it was weekday and we are slightly early, we managed to get a table without queuing.

After getting a seat, unlike the previous visit, the staff was quite prompt to set the table for us.  Knowing the protocol and to beat the crowd, I quickly go and grab an order chit at the counter, write down our table number, note down our orders and pass it to the lady boss at the counter.

Order Chit and Menu

Ordering tip -  if you want to enjoy their double-boiled egg white with fresh milk, do order early as it takes 20min to prepare.  For Golden egg yolk lava bun, its important to eat it while hot so that you will enjoy a consistent flowing lava. If you intent to enjoy lava buns as savoury dessert after the dim sum, will suggest to submit your lava bun order separately when you are half-way through the meal so that you can eat them while hot.

Scallop, sausage carrot cake with XO Sauce XO酱干贝腊味萝卜糕@$4. One of Victor's Kitchen specialities and authentic Hong Kong's Dim Sum. Soft carrot cake in its simplicity with complimenting black sauce.  Slight spiciness and added fragrance of the XO sauce contrasted and brought out the taste of the radish. Quite nice but would be better if there are more chinese sausage or dried prawns. Additional XO sauce at additional $0.50.

Steamed Carrot Cake
Rating: 4/5

Yummy Phoenix Claws 香辣惹味凤爪@$3.50. Slightly spicy chicken feet with chopped garlic. Nothing really that fantastic.

Phoenix Claws
Rating: 3.75/5

Victor's King Prawn Dumpling 超级虾饺皇@ $5. Pure white dumpling skin wrapped with big prawns.  The skin is very thin and texture is soft but it tear easily when you try to pick it up.  Quite nice and full of prawn flavours.

Victor's King Prawn Dumpling
Rating: 4/5

The filling is not the usual where pork is mixed with prawns. It seems to be just prawns and generous big prawns. Which explains why the price of their prawn dumpling is similar to that offered in up-market restaurants.

Prawn Dumpling Filling

Tasty Queen Size Siew Mai 美味蟹皇烧卖@$4. Their Siew Mai was quite nice, tender pork with a strong fragrance which I believe came from the mushroom.

Tasty Queen Size Siew Mai
Rating: 4/5

Siew Mai Filling

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Wine 花雕杞子蒸鸡@$3. Fragrance Hua Diao wine coupled with tender smooth chicken.  The wolf-berries add sweetness to the dish as well.

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Wine
Rating: 4/5

This is why I am back at Victor's Kitchen - Hong Kong Summer Ice Tea 香港夏日冰镇奶茶@$3.  One of the best milk tea we had.  One of the most "Kao", smooth, tasty and fragrant milk tea.

The thick milk tea was placed in a bowl of ice to keep it cool without diluting the tea. Although it can get a bit messy when the ice melts and the cup starts to floats up as it gets lighter, I still like this gimmick which adds some fun to it.

Hong Kong Summer Ice Tea
Rating: 4.5/5

Chicken and sausage in glutinous rice 干贝蛋黄腊味珍珠鸡@$5.  One of their signature dish. The glutinous rice is fragrant and super soft.  The watery filling within are some chicken and sausage. Would prefer the egg yolk to be more apparent.

Chicken and sausage in glutinous rice
Rating: 4/5

One of the authentic dish of Hong Kong Dim Sum - YouTiao Cheong Fun or "Za Leong" 香港风情炸两 @$3.50.  Instead of wrapping the usual BBQ pork or prawn, the rice roll wraps a you-tiao (fried dough) which gives a contrasting yet complimenting texture.  The fried you-tiao here is crispy and still soft, which is much better than those hard ones offered in some restaurants.

YouTiao Cheong Fun
Rating: 4.25/5

Now we come to the desserts.  They offered double boiled egg white with fresh milk in 2 flavours - Ginger or Almond 鲜奶炖蛋白@$3.50.  Home-made style, soft pudding-like with ginger taste that is not too over-powering. Being traditional "dun dan" 炖蛋, do not expect it to be as smooth as Lao Ban Beancurd :)

Double 

Finally, THE dish that make them famous, Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun 黄金流沙包@$4.0 for 3 buns. Golden savoury egg yolk lava flowing out as you break apart the steamed fluffy bun. Loved the consistency of the lava, not too watery nor too lumpy. The custard combined with fragrant salted egg yolk was simply yummy.

It is important to eat these buns while hot, else your bun might end up like the one in the photo where the lava filling starts to coagulate and oil starts to separate itself from the custard. Ya, the golden egg yolk lava is sinful, you will be surprise on the amount of oil in it.  But its definitely worth the calories.

Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun
Rating: 4.5/5

Total cost S$49.50. The dim sum here is nice but not really the best - Steam carrot cake, I will prefer that from Kam Boat. Porridge? I will prefer the dried vegetable with roast pork porridge in Ritz Carlton Summer Pavalion.  But their Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun and Hong Kong Summer Ice Tea are something that I will definitely return for.

Squeezy small dining area that resembles Hong Kong as well? Be prepared to make way for people while you are eating. Since there is no service charge, be contented that the staffs set the table and bring you your food. Don't expect smile or attention from the busy staffs.

There will some "loud communication" among the working staffs now and then. We went over the counter to settle the bills, highlighting to the lady boss that one Dim Sum was not delivered to us and to be excluded from the bill.  In Cantonese to her staff, "Hey, table 32 says you never serve the pan-fried rice roll!", then she turned to me, "How? she says she is cooking it for you already." Ok ok, pack it please.


Victor's Kitchen 

91 Bencoolen Street, #01-21
Sunshine Plaza, Singapore
Tel:  9838 2851

Business Hours:
  Daily 10.30am – 8pm
  (Closed on Mon)

Taste Paradise 味之樓 @ ION Orchard

Taste Paradise is in a modern chinese settings with a number of Chinese Emperors' portraits as a backdrop in the dinning area.  The dinning tables are laid with matching tablecloth and exquisite cutlery and china plates.

Dinning Area

Dinning chair and table

Century egg with Pickled Ginger in Chestnut Roll with Wasabi Mayonnaise (芥末皮蛋子姜卷) @$4.20. The name sounds delicious and the it looks appetising as well. However, its a disappoinment. The ginger is too tough that you have to practically tear them apart. The sourness of the ginger also overwhelmed the mayonnaise and century egg.

Century Egg Wasabi Roll (芥末皮蛋子姜卷)
Rating: 2.5/5

Taste Paradise Famous XO Carrot Cake (金典萝卜糕) @$7.80. The carrot cake is soft but the XO sauce was a bit disappointing.  Find the XO sauce a bit choking and overpowering, the spiciness cover the other taste.

XO Carrot Cake (金典萝卜糕)
Rating: 3.5/5

Their Steamed Chicken Claw with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蒸凤爪) @$3.80 is very nice. The chicken claws had absorb the black sauce and skin is tender yet chewy, unlike some which can be too soft, wet and oily.

Steamed Chicken Claw with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蒸凤爪)
Rating: 4/5

Steamed Pork Dumpling Siew Mai (香菇魚子蒸烧卖) @$4.80 is pure delicacy. The tenderness of the pork, the aroma of the mushroom and the refreshing roe definitely mark it different from the other Siew Mai.

Steamed Pork Dumpling Siew Mai (香菇魚子蒸烧卖)
Rating: 4.5/5

Crispy Spring Roll with Smoked Duck Meat (脆皮熏鴨春捲) @$3.80. The fried spring roll is so-so, the smoked duck meat taste like ham and a bit salty and dry.  Still prefer the usual spring roll that is more juicy with those bean sprouts and vegetables.

Crispy Spring Roll with Smoked Duck Meat (脆皮熏鴨春捲)
Rating: 3/5

Crisp-Fried Egg Plant Tossed with pork Floss (肉鬆茄子)@$9.80.  A bit costly and somehow not as fluffy as what we expect it to be.

Crisp-Fried Egg Plant Tossed with pork Floss (肉鬆茄子)
Rating: 3.5

Steamed Cheong-fun with Dough Fritter (蔥花炸兩腸粉) @$4.80.  The fried dough fritter is crispy but a bit hard. Maybe we should have pour the black sauce onto the dish instead of using it as a dip.  The cheong-fun is thin, soft and nice with the sesame.  They also provide some extra dipping sauce that goes well with the cheong-fun.  Think its average rating is purely our fault for not pouring the black sauce.


Steamed Cheong-fun with Dough Fritter (蔥花炸兩腸粉)
Rating: 3.5/5


Pan-fried Pumpkin Pastry (煎南瓜餅) @$3.20.  Was hoping that the pumpkin pastry will be something like what we had at Summer Pavalion, but its just a normal pumpkin dough fried pastry with some fillings.

Pan-fried Pumpkin Pastry (煎南瓜餅)
Rating: 3.5/5

No. 2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Singapore 238801
Tel: 6509 9660
website: http://www.tasteparadise.com.sg/

Reference other blogs on Dim Sum
- Summer Pavalion
- East Ocean

Reference an cheaper alternative for Paradise group
- Paradise Inn

East Ocean Teochew Restaurant 东海潮州酒家

East Ocean is one of the restaurants that we usually go for Dim Sum. Over here, the waitresses will be dishing out the more common dim sum for you to choose from. For the less common dishes, you will need to order from the captain.

What is dim sum without prawn dumpling and Siew Mai. The prawn dumplings (虾饺) are quite big and I like the soft skin which might just tear off if you are not careful. The fresh prawn dumpling goes well with mustard and their famous chilli.

prawn dumplings (虾饺)
Rating: 3.5/5


Their Siew Mai (烧卖) are quire nice, you can taste the tenderness of the pork and freshness of the prawn and roe.
 


Siew Mai (烧卖)
Rating: 4/5 

  
Pan-fried Carrot cake (煎腊味萝卜糕). Simple yet nice carrot cake, the pan-fried gives some crisp to the surface, preserved meat add aroma to and gives a different texture to the soft carrot cake.

Pan-fried Carrot cake (煎腊味萝卜糕)
Rating: 4/5

We ordered the lotus root cakes 香煎藕饼 as we wanted to try somthing different. However, was very disappointed with our selection. You can taste the crunchiness of the lotus root but besides that, its only oily, oily and oily.

lotus root cakes 香煎藕饼
Rating: 3/5

Steamed Chicken feet 蒸凤爪. Find the seasoning a bit too strong, its a bit spicy, sour, sweet and a bit too wet and oily. I do like the additional beancurb skin added into the dish, which absorb all the gravy and make it very fragrant.

Steamed Chicken feet 蒸凤爪
Rating: 3.5/5

Steam rice rolls with deep fried dough (炸兩). You will need to order this from the captain and it will take some time to prepare. The deep fried dough is crispy yet not too hard and blends well with the soft steam rice rolls. The sauce is also the key element of the dish, nice!

Steam rice rolls with deep fried dough (炸兩)
Rating: 4/5

East Ocean inhouse Teochew chilli. Not sure what's inside the chilli, but there are some fried dried shrimps and its very fragrant. My hubby usually don't take chilli but he simply loved this.

Teochew Chilli

Pan seared Foie Gras (煎鹅肝)@$18++. The foie gras is crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.  The strong aroma, sweetness of the onion and creamy taste and texture is pure heavenly when it melts in your mouth. There is peach, blackberry and bread to clear and wake up your taste buds when it gets too "jialut" or over-whelming after a few mouthful.  It's definitely value for $$.




Pan seared Foie Gras (煎鹅肝)
Rating: 4.5/5




East Ocean Teochew Restaurant (东海潮州酒家)
1 Scotts Road #02-18 Shaw Centre
Tel: 6235-9088
Mon to Fri: 11:30am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm
Sat to Sun: 10am - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

Refer to the other blogs on Dim Sum
- Summer Pavalion
- East Ocean

Summer Pavilion - Ritz Carlton Hotel

Summer Pavilion, a fine chinese restaurant in Ritz Carlton hotel. You will definitely pass by Greenhouse restaurant and be welcomed by a tower of strawberries if you come in by the main entrance of Ritz Carlton. The price of the buffet in Greenhouse is steep, wonder if I will ever drop in one day to enjoy its lavish and sumptous buffet.

Back to Summer Pavilion... Its set amidst a garden, with its glass walls, it provides an elegant backdrop for dining. Well, we are not here for the refined interior or elegant settings but for its exquisite dim sum.

It has a fine selection of Chinese tea, we selected Shui Hsien (水仙), which is strong full-bodied Oolong tea but with a floral tinge in the aftertaste.

Shui Hsien

Before your dishes are served, they offered yam crisps which is quite appetising.  Its so thinly sliced that its almost transparent. You can still taste its crispness before it melts in your mouth.

Yam Crisp

Stewed trotter with Vinegar (八珍猪脚醋) @$6 per portion. The trotter are cut into small bite size, you can enjoy the collagen of the pig’s trotters skin, tenderness of the meat in one mouthful. There are also quail eggs and ginger to accompany the aged vinegar.  The vinegar is flavourful, unlike those which you can only taste sourness.
 

Stewed trotter with Vinegar (猪脚醋)
Rating: 4/5

Steamed Lobster Dumpling with Mushroom, Chinese parsley and Onion (龍蝦水晶餃) @ $2.50 per piece. The usual nice steamed fresh dumpling, but can't really differentiate the lobster from the prawns.

Steamed Lobster Dumpling (龍蝦水晶餃）
Rating: 3.5/5

Pan fried rice skin rolls with bean sprouts in XO sauce (XO醬銀牙煎腸粉) @$6 per portion, one of our favourite dish.  The XO sauce is super and strong enough for the layered skin rolls. The pan-fried gives texture and fragrant to the skin rolls while the bean sprouts add freshness to the overall dish.

Pan-Fried Rice Skin Rolls with Bean Sprouts in XO sauce (XO醬銀牙煎腸粉)
Rating: 4/5

Decided to try something different this time round. Was quite impressed with their use of yam, thus decided to try the steamed bun with yam, salted egg yolk and butter (芋茸流沙包) @$3.60 for 3 pieces. Enjoy the buttery taste, saltiness of the egg yolk and the creamy yam.

Steamed Yam bun
Rating: 3.5/5

My #1 ranked dim sum in summer pavilion - pan fried shredded yam with pumpkin (金瓜煎芋絲) @$4.20 for 3 pieces, the reason why I'm back to this restaurant. The fragrant sesame, crunchy shredded yam on the outside and soft yam and sweet pumpkin inside, giving multi-layered taste and texture. Simply yummy!


Pan-Fried Shredded Yam with Pumpkin (金瓜煎芋絲) Rating: 4.5/5


Congee with Pork and Preserved Vegetables (皮蛋瘦肉粥) @$4 per portion.  The preserved vegetables are chopped up so that every mouthful is filled with its fragrant.  The pork used is not just any sliced pork but roasted pork and skin which definitely add flavour to the congee.

Congee with Pork and Preserved Vegetables (皮蛋瘦肉粥)
Rating: 4/5

Double-boiled Shark Cartilage Soup with Fish Maw (花胶燉鯊魚骨湯) @$16 per portion.  Best to call the restaurant in advance to prepare it before you come so that there are more time to prepare the soup. The soup is thick and rich, a good source of collagen.  If its being simmered long enough, you can actually taste the stickiness of the collagen from the soup.




Double-boiled Shark Cartilage Soup with Fish Maw (花胶燉鯊魚骨湯)
Rating: 4/5

Finally its the dessert.  This dessert is not in the menu, got to know of this delicacy few years ago during a dinner - blended yam with vanilla ice cream 旭日金沙. The blended yam or sherbet is refreshing and cooling with a different texture to constrast the smooth vanilla ice cream. You can also dunk the wafer into the yam and vanilla ice cream and eat like a kid.



旭日金沙
Rating: 4.5/5

The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue Level 3
Singapore 039799
Business hours
Lunch: 11:30am -2:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm - 10pm
Tel: 6 337 8888 

Reference other blogs on Dim Sum
- East Ocean
- Taste Paradise