MYO Restobar - Classic Home-styled Cantonese Dishes

MYO restobar is a hidden gem located at Oxley Tower. It serves classic home-styled Cantonese cuisines and is perched up the 19th floor of the building. I'm really thankful to have found this place as I was looking to celebrate someone's birthday with my colleagues and seriously, the number of mid-range good Chinese restaurants in CBD is really lacking. You are stuck with either super high-end choices which would have been an overkill or low end which would have been an understatement of the occasion.

The set I picked was the 3 pax Group Set Lunch ($138).

To kick off the feast, the first item was Steamed Siew Mai with Mushroom. It might look like your typical siew mai but it's legitimately above average. I was quite impressed. Personally, siew mai has always been my gauge to a restaurant's dim sum quality and this one passed the test. I like it that the meat is plump and juicy with generous serving.

Next up was supposed  to be Crispy Yam Bag with Scallops. However, I don't take yam so I changed it to Dumplings with Shiitake Mushroom and Black Truffle. This one is awesomely good too. I got to praise the place for its generous fillings. Aside from them, the dim sum is made well and you can see each piece hold its own and doesn't fall apart at the slightest touch.

The third dish is the signature Kia Hiang Claypot Spring Chicken. This dish is richly flavoured and I really like the sauce. It goes excellently with white rice. I couldn't stop eating it. It's wrapped with cabbage and the chicken meat is really tender. Must try!

The Guifei Beancurd with 3 Treasures was also competently done. It's definitely comfort food and I find myself happily gobbling up every item.

I've no idea why a Cantonese restaurant has Grilled Australian Silverback Wagyu Ribeye cooked this way but as expected it is just sub par.

The feast concludes with Double Boiled Peach Gum with Red Dates. It's very sweet so be warned. Other than that it does help to balance out our very full and rich meal.

I see myself coming back to MYO Restobar many more times. Given that the choices for mid-range Chinese food in CBD is so scarce, I'll probably be throwing more celebrations here.

MYO Restobar
19-01 Oxley Tower, 138 Robinson Road, S068906 
(Take lift from Lobby 1)

Dim Sum Haus - Affordable Dim Sum with aircon along Jalan Besar

When you think about affordable dim sum, Swee Choon, Wen Dao Shi, Victor's Kitchen comes to mind. Dim Sum Haus is one of the latest additions to this list and their dining environment is a notch better. This dim sum establishment caught my eye on instagram after a wave of bloggers started featuring various food from their menu with raving praise. Got to try it out myself!

I like to gauge my dim sum through the siew mai ($4.30) and har gau ($4.60). While I found both to be pretty competently prepared, it's at best ordinary and passable. 

I pretty enjoyed the Steamed Crispy Rice Roll with Shrimp ($4.70). Ever since my first cheong fun with youtiao experience at London Fat Duck, I developed a soft spot for this dish. The one at Dim Sum Haus had good flavour thanks to adequate sauce and the fried fritter was sufficiently crispy, not soggy. The prawns inside the roll gave the cheong fun robust flavour with every bite. Thumbs up!

Some of the other dishes we tried includes Baked BBQ Porked Pastry ($4.80), Egg Tarts ($3.60) and Pan Fried Mushroom Bun ($5). The dishes were decent, competent but no wow factor. The Pan Fried Mushroom Bun which was one of their chef's recommendations felt a tad too ordinary. 

The Baked Salted Egg Custard Bun ($5) was one of the reasons I made the visit in the first place. Everyone was raving about how awesome it is online. The bun follows the concept of Tim Ho Wan's famous Baked BBQ Pork Bun except they put custard inside. 

Granted that the salted egg custard was flowy and flavour was on point, the bun was limp. Very nice meh? I like the word competent. It definitely isn't good enough for me to specially make the trip back here to eat it again. 

As a whole, Dim Sum Haus serves decent, affordable dim sum in a clean air-conditioned environment. They are popular enough to have a small queue outside so be prepared to wait. I'd be willing to come back if I wish to satisfy any sudden dim sum cravings without burning a hole in my wallet on random days. 

Dim Sum Haus

57 Jalan Besar, S208809

Hakkasan Hanway Place - London's One Star Michelin Chinese Cuisine

One Star Michelin restaurant, Hakkasan, is known not only for contemporary chinese cuisines but also for their cocktails. The people behind Hakkasan has designed the concept to be one of mystery and grandeur. Their website described it as modern ethnic. A trip to the Hanway Place branch sees the restaurant located on an obscure run-down quiet street. You won't imagine there's a classy restaurant located there if you happen to pass by, let alone a Michelin Star one. The long flight of steps down the dark tunnel leads to a blue lighted poshly furnished walkway with well groomed reception. The mystery and grandeur follows through and through especially during my trip to the restroom. The restrooms are hidden behind the walls camouflaged by the interior designs. The food that awaits also lives up to the impressive setting they designed to greet all guests.

We ordered the Hakka Lunch Menu (30/pax) to kick off our lunch. We started off with the dim sum basket that consisted of har gau, scallop siew mai with topiko caviar, chinese chive dumpling with prawn and crab meat and soy crumble beancurd dumpling. I think what impressed me the most was how this dim sum basket doesn't shove you up with in your face premium ingredients to justify their Michelin Stars. I totally enjoyed every bite of the individual dim sum. The har gau's prawns were fat and robust in flavour. The siew mai with scallop was again understated yet excellently prepared. The chive dumplings carries a distinct chive flavour wrapped around the juicy prawns and the soy crumble beancurd was surprisingly light with adequate sweetness. It's really a culinary display of how skilled chefs can bring normal ingredients to life.

I was equally impressed with the puffs selection. Crispy smoked duck and pumpkin puff, baked venison puff and spicy mooli crab meat pastry. Each of the puffs were flaky and buttery without overdoing any part of it. I felt the ingredients were generous. It is faultless! I need to state though that I suspect the food are prepared in large batches because there's no room for customization of your order at all. I don't take beef but they refused to swap out the beef dishes.

This unassuming stir fried baby broccoli with goji berries and crispy seaweed is a silent killer. I found the entire plate extremely addictive and Vain Pot and I literally fought over finishing the plate. It's probably the winner of the day. I've no idea that vegetables can be this tasty, it definitely took us by surprise. Pardon the bad photography, I haven't figured out how to use the Olympus PEN PL 8 in the dark yet and I missed my free training. Whoops!

The Hakka Noodle which we couldn't finish and had to pack it up was equally good. It's just that this meal is simply too value for money they feed you so full and well, we really couldn't finish the noodles. The noodles were cooked well and delicious but I can't comment much because I was too full to truly appreciate the dish.

Once again, I am left totally impressed with London's Michelin Star restaurants. They totally dropped the pretense to impress you with expensive food and showcase their legitimate culinary ability with simple food. Awesome! Hakkasan is highly recommended.

Hakkasan Hanway Place
8 Hanway Place, London, W1T 1HD

Yi Dian Xin Hong Kong Dim Sum - Good Quality Coffeeshop Dim Sum

This is my second visit to Yi Dian Xin after a few years. I remember the stall primarily because it serves good quality affordable dim sum but portions reflected the price. It kinda made me question if it was value for money then. Since my last visit, I've come to realised that the name Yi Dian Xin is very popular among dim sum. I've even eaten at Treasures Yi Dian Xin, a restaurant opened by Imperial Treasure.

Yi Dian Xin Hong Kong Dim Sum is located at a coffeeshop. It's a stall not a restaurant. I remember reading somewhere that the business is opened by a former chef of the Tunglok Group. If you aren't fussy about ambiance, they serve above average dim sum at coffeeshop prices.

In my opinion, the best way to measure dimsum quality is through the siew mai and har gao. It's precisely because the dishes are so simple, failing them would reflect poor culinary skill. We ordered the Siew Mai with Mushroom ($3.20) which was adequately plump and juicy. For coffeeshop standard and pricing, it beats equivalents like Wen Dao Shi where their siew mai skin tend to tear, stick together or fall apart. This one doesn't.

The Yi Dian Xin Prawn Dumpling ($3.20) is equally good. The dimsum was made with skill. You can tell the presentation can hold its own in restaurants and it goes really well with the chilli sauce on offer. No particular 'wow' factor but com'on manage your expectations. It's $3.20!

The Beancurd Prawn Roll ($3.30) was decent. While I felt that the skin could have been crispier to stand out with the mayo dip, I enjoyed the plump juicy prawns wrapped in the skin. Nothing to shout about though.

The char siew bao ($2.60) was another decent dish. There's nothing to rave about and nothing to nit-pick as well. To be fair, it was soft, fluffy and the seasoning of the char siew is definitely better than equivalently priced establishments.

I literally saved the best for the last. This Crispy Red Bean Paste with Banana ($3.60) stood out for me. It's the dish that leaves me wanting to return for another round. I have never eaten something similar but found the sweetness of the banana to go excellently with the red bean paste. The deep fried bread roll that wraps around complements the sweet ingredients perfectly. This is the best dish of the day and I'm definitely ordering 2 plates on my next visit!

Is Yi Dian Xin Hong Kong Dim Sum worth the visit? I'd say they rank 1st among the value for money, affordable dim sum establishments. The food is definitely better than cheap, mass produced dim sum. It may even give smaller unknown dim sum restaurants a run for its money if we take away the air con and the service. The portions are worth the price now! I'll definitely be back!

Yi Dian Xin 
1012 Upper Serangoon Road, Teo Seng Eating House, S534750 

Recommended Food in Hong Kong 2017

I skipped a post over the weekends because I'm away in Hong Kong. If you were following my instagram (@bluntandfussyeater) you would have noticed the overseas activity. This is should be my 5th visit to Hong Kong so am avoiding food I've tried before unless they are my hot favourite. Here's the recommended list from my most recent trip:

What's a trip to Hong Kong without dim sum? So the first stop was at this very instagrammable dim sum restaurant called Yum Cha. Most of the food on their menu is really meant to feed the camera first then the human. A quick introduction of what I ate in clockwise order, siew mai, prawn cheong fun, a combination shot, mango sago with blue cotton candy, piggy char siew bao, salted egg bao who can make vomiting and pooping expressions, spicy dumplings and pineapple bird tarts. I was pretty surprised that the food was surprisingly decent for this kind of novelty cafe. In fact, I'm of the view that Singapore Dim Sum tastes better but this is surprisingly close to our shopping mall establishments. If you love to take photos of food like me, then you can't miss visiting this place! Expect to shell out about $50-80 sgd for 3 pax.

Yum Cha
2/F Nan Fung Place, 173 Des Voeux Road Central

Another standard fixture of ALL my Hong Kong trips is a trip to Maxim Palace for this E-Fu Noodles that one can die for. Yes, plain looking, ordinary E-Fu noodles with mushrooms... yet, you can't find a dish that taste similar in Singapore. This E-Fu noodles doesn't have a strong oily taste unlike the ones back home and they have this addictive wok-hei tastiness that goes very well with the mushrooms that doesn't make me sick of having it.

 

To be fair, Maxim Palace serves up excellent Cantonese dishes. All the dishes at Maxim Palace was impeccably executed. For my mom who hates Cantonese food especially those in Hong Kong because they don't have chilli, she's full of praises of this place. This is also a must visit place for me and in my previous entry last year, I raved about the soups. I'll definitely be back again when I make my 6th trip to Hong Kong and I encourage everyone else to eat here at least once. At the very least, you should know how top quality Cantonese dishes should taste like. Expect a damage of $100-$150 SGD for 3 pax.

Maxim Palace
168-200 Connaught Road Central, Sheung Wan

Australian Dairy Company is also a repeat feature from my 2016 post. I love the milk puddings there. I think it's an acquired taste because my mom and brother didn't like it. Yet, Vain Pot and I vouch that it's heavenly and just have it along with the macaroni and scrambled eggs set. We have milk puddings at Ah Chew's Dessert in Singapore but if you tried it before, you will realise how far apart the standard is from the one at Australian Dairy Company. This is the best I've ever eaten! They have a custard version but I like the milk pudding a lot better. Expect a damage of $16 SGD for a set meal with custard pudding and milk pudding.

Australian Dairy Company
47 Parkes Street, Jordan

Another thing that have always been on my to-try list is rainbow cheese toast. In this case, I always thought that Kala Toast was a cafe-like establishment. I was quite surprised by the hole in the wall shopfront and being a hobbyist food blogger unlike the pros, taking the rainbow toast photo standing proved to be a hassle. The other highlight at Kala Toast is their galaxy drink which they placed luminous ice cubes inside the drink and it changes colour when you stir it. The rainbow cheese toast taste like an excellently prepared grilled cheese. The rainbow cheese makes it a little gimmicky but it's definitely a good representation of a good cheese toast. This is a snack rather than a full meal, you might wanna give it a try if you happen to be in Tsuen Wan for shopping. The shopping malls there are less crowded, making it a more pleasant shopping experience.

Kala Toast
4 Tsuen Hing Path

Before the trip, my mom who hates ramen actually said she will bring us to try a famous ramen place in Hong Kong. Wow! I was intrigued. Turns out that it was Ichiran which I personally haven't tried before but have heard loads of rave reviews on it. So we went to queue for it! When you first step into the place and see this long sneaking queue that extends past 2 corridors it's quite frightening. How long do we need to wait?! Thankfully it's only a 30min wait and we were seated with our food. The ramen lives up to its fame with a very rich and flavourful broth with a spiciness level that gives it its added kick. I very much enjoyed the noodles with the broth but didn't like the char siew which was hard and a little too dry. The egg was awesome, running yolk on the inside and the sturdy egg white to match. Would I queue to eat this again? Not really, I feel I can find equivalents in Singapore without the queue. It's still a good experience especially if you haven't tried the one in Japan before. Expect to pay around $50-80 SGD for 3 pax. 

Ichiran

G/F & Shop B, Basement Floor, 8 Minden Avenue, Tsim Tsa Shui

The visit to Lin Heung was honestly unexpected because I originally wanted to have tomato noodles for breakfast. Hong Kong's Independence Day along with Xi Jinping's visit caused a lot of shops to close on that day. Lin Heung is a traditional dim sum cha chan teng which requires visitors to share their seats and order their dim sum from pushcarts. While the food isn't fantastic, I enjoyed the old school way of having dim sum and the wider variety that I don't find in restaurants. It's also a more affordable way to feast on a lot of dim sum. Expect a damage of $23 for 2 pax. 

Lin Heung

162 Wellington Street, Sheung Wan

If you don't like the chaos of ordering dim sum, here's an alternative typical Hong Kong breakfast set which you can get at another Cha Chan Teng at Honolulu Coffee Shop. In Singapore, Honolulu Cafe is famed for their egg tarts which apparently has a wider variety than their original outlet in Hong Kong. Talk about innovation... However, the breakfast set, ordinary as it looks is really comfort food and I love it. I'm craving for it at the moment and wondering where I can get an equivalent in Singapore. If you want to know how ordinary food like good scrambled eggs, buttered buns and kong zai instant noodles should taste like, give Honolulu Coffee Shop a try! Then you will know the difference back home. Expect to pay about $15 for 2 pax.

Honolulu Coffee Shop
176-178 Hennessey Road, Wan Chai

You know I was quite upset throughout the trip because I didn't have any good authentic Cantonese soup and porridge this time round. So at the airport, I dragged my family to have lunch at Ho Hung Kee, Michelin Star for their Wonton Mee but serves up the best Cantonese Porridge I have eaten. This is a restaurant that I gladly agree deserves their Michelin Star. On the day that Xi Jinping was in Hong Kong, I happen to chance upon a Bib Gourmand restaurant which also served porridge and soup and seriously, that was an epic 'how did they get the Michelin recognition?'. You got to try their sliced fish porridge at least once. Then you will know how far it differs from the porridge in all the expensive restaurants in Singapore and this one is way way way better! I paid about $60 for 3 pax.

Ho Hung Kee
Hong Kong Airport

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)

Li Bai

I'm late on my first August post yikes! Oh by the way, Happy 51st Birthday Singapore! I spent the weekend doing forgettable stuff, literally. (I forgot what I did!) This week is the nation's birthday and I spent the day eating and catching Pokemons! The craze has taken the country by storm. My friend spends her nights on Pokehunts and even my not electronic savvy mom plays the game!

I treated the family to Li Bai this National Day as a form of celebration for a good start to the new job. Li Bai has always been one of those classic dim sum restaurants which I wanted to try but never found the opportunity. 

Given that the menu was extensive and there were hits and misses, I'll separate this post into two parts. I'll begin with the hits. 

One of the unique dishes I tried was the fried scallop rolls ($7.20). It's crunchy and flavorful. Highly recommended! 

Another of the highlights is the egg tarts ($4.80). It's my personal favorite for the day. The crust is flaky and egg custard in the center was so creamy and sweet, I can eat a few more plates! 

The siew mai ($8) at Li Bai is made of chicken not pork. It's voted my mom's favorite dish for the day. My mom isn't much of a fan of dim sum, and was even critical of the 2 star michelin Tin Lung Heen's siew mai with abalone when she was in Hong Kong. I was pleasantly surprised she said its one of the best siew mai she has eaten. 

Another of my must have at the dim sum table is Mango Prawn Roll ($7.20). Ever since my days eating at Yum Cha, the mango prawn roll has earned a soft spot in my dim sum palatte. This version was a decent rendition of the dish and I'll be happy to order it again. 

Of course, Har Gau or Shrimp Dumplings is another must have for traditional dim sums. This one is crunchy and juicy with the skin done just right. I like to gauge the quality of a dim sum restaurant through these traditional dishes because they are so simple yet easy to fluff in quality. 

With this I conclude the hits for the day. Now on to the misses. 

This fish congee ($6.50) is ordinary till I can't stress enough ordinary. It's so plain and dull I didn't bother to finish it. 

The pork ribs ($4.80) came last after we finished eating and have our tables cleared. A major screw up on Li Bai's part. It came at such an odd timing, I felt it's better if they simply gave me the option to cancel the order because I totally forgotten about it. I ended up joking that it was perhaps Li Bai's idea of a dessert. Due to the screw up, I didn't have the mood to try the dish but my mom commented that it's not very fantastic.

The attempt to meet modern day crowd with sexier dishes like pork and crab meat ($7.20) dumpling didn't really make the grade. Considering I'll pay less for 5 pieces of Xiao Long Bao at Ding Tai Fung that tastes much better... It's better if you give the dish a miss. 

The Shrimp Vermicelli Rolls ($7.20) was a big miss. The sauce was pathetically stingy and the rolls were dry and hard to eat on its own. I took a bite and didn't touch the dish again. 

Concluding on my very first Li Bai experience, it's still highly recommended! For a start, I wish to applaud the service which was impeccable. I felt so welcomed when I stepped in and this is the first place I was offered a complimentary parking coupon without having to ask for it. I felt the food has its hits and misses but those that hit really can give other dim sum establishments a run for their money. I'll want to be back to try other dim sum dishes on their menu. It's definitely a good venue to treat your family and friends. 

Li Bai

Thirty Nine Scotts Road, Sheraton Towers Singapore Hotel

(The yam chips which tastes really awesome isn't free. It costs you $5)