Yan Ting @ St Regis Singapore

Yesterday was 元宵节, the 15th day of Chinese New Year. I spent the entire week eating to be honest and at the rate I go, I'm going to put on 5kg at the end of this year. Vain Pot is going overseas for a work trip so we spent the weekends shopping in town. I also discovered that if I think about ice cream in the Orchard side of Orchard Road, there's no special ice cream I can come up with besides Llao Llao. All the nice sweet desserts are congregating at Orchard Central, Orchard Gateway and 313 Somerset.

We finally tried Yan Ting at St Regis after shortlisting it 2 years ago. There was a time we were dim sum crazy and tried the really good dim sum at Royal China. Ladyironchef rated Yan Ting his top two dim sum alongside Royal China, so we really wanted to try the premium version of quality dim sum. The article was written 2-3 years ago. In any case, I promised Vain Pot I'll bring her to try however, given the myriad of food selection in Singapore along with our individual weekly cravings, we kept putting this visit off. So it's with great excitement that I'm finally fulfilling a promise and trying a much anticipated dim sum.

We kick started our meal with Shrimp Dumpling with Ginseng Soup ($14/pax). The soup was rich in flavour and the shrimp dumpling definitely met expectations that it was well prepared. Shrimp was fresh and crunchy and the entire dish was an exquisite experience.

We also tried the Char Siew Bao ($7 for 3), Steamed Scallop Dumplings with Spinach ($9 for 3), Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumplings ($9 for 3), Dumplings filled with Celery, Lotus Root and Mushroom ($7 for 3) and Mini Egg Tarts ($7 for 3). The Char Siew Bao met expectations, it was soft and fluffy, char siew was marinated with slight sweetness making the dish just right for the palette.

The rest of the dishes on the other hand while well executed really lacked the 'wow' factor. It probably matches every competently done dim sum at many known establishments but it didn't give me the satisfaction of having eaten dim sum. In fact, this experience kind of made me swore off premium dim sum in the future. It's too overrated and the price premium has nothing to do with the quality of the chef but rather the service and premium ingredients used. I'm not sure if this has to do with a drop in quality standards since it's rated a top dim sum 2-3 years ago.

Will I be back again? Not for the dim sum. I noticed that my surroundings were eating the other mains so if I'm feeling rich and indulgent I might come back to try the mains. As for dim sum, I'm sticking with my all time favourite at Royal China.

Yan Ting 
The St Regis Singapore, Level 1U, 29 Tanglin Road
(Please note that complimentary parking is offered for spending of a minimum $100)