I was at 幸福飲茶 with my mother last Monday for some New Year breakfast. I have to say, this wasn't exactly the best dim sum breakfast I've had so far. But there are certainly some things that I would like to point out about this restaurant that is good or rather at least unique in their own way.
Service wasn't exactly bad in this restaurant, but it wasn't particular excellent as well. Usually one would expect someone to be pushing small carts around with a wide selection of fresh dim sums to you. This restaurant did not accomplish this, but rather everything is in menu-order, you order through a waiter/ess and wait for it to be serve to you
Lets get to the tasty part of the blog.
The first 2 dishes to arrive are:
粉蒸排骨(Steam Ribs in Black Bean Sauce)
Yum factor: you probably can find this in your hawker center
酥炸腐皮卷 (Crispy Prawn Roll)
Yum factor: Not really a must try, but it is still good
Service wasn't exactly bad in this restaurant, but it wasn't particular excellent as well. Usually one would expect someone to be pushing small carts around with a wide selection of fresh dim sums to you. This restaurant did not accomplish this, but rather everything is in menu-order, you order through a waiter/ess and wait for it to be serve to you
Lets get to the tasty part of the blog.
The first 2 dishes to arrive are:
粉蒸排骨(Steam Ribs in Black Bean Sauce)
Yum factor: you probably can find this in your hawker center
酥炸腐皮卷 (Crispy Prawn Roll)Yum factor: Not really a must try, but it is still good
The Prawn roll looks just like your normal prawn roll wrapped in some beancurd roll. But the filling is ALL prawn and it is really crispy. It is not particularly oily as well. Its heavenly when coupled with a good smear of mayonnaise. The Ribs is pretty normal, you can probably find one of a better quality in some other restaurant.
水晶虾饺 (Prawn Dumpling)
Yum factor: Not fantastic
For basic dim sum like 虾饺 and 烧卖, I do have quite a high expectation of it. The 烧卖 wasn't particularly nice so I'm not going to even recommend it to you guys. For 虾饺 was OK, but the skin is not moist but rather it was a bit too dry for my liking.
水晶虾饺 (Prawn Dumpling)Yum factor: Not fantastic
For basic dim sum like 虾饺 and 烧卖, I do have quite a high expectation of it. The 烧卖 wasn't particularly nice so I'm not going to even recommend it to you guys. For 虾饺 was OK, but the skin is not moist but rather it was a bit too dry for my liking.
带子饺 (Scallop Dumpling)
Yum factor: Innovative, over-rated.
带 子饺 is similar to 虾饺, its just that there is an addition medallion of scallop on top of it. The shape of the dumpling is much more like 烧卖 rather than a normal 虾饺. Not too fantastic, this item is all about the gimmick put in it.
灌汤饺 (Soup Dumpling)Yum factor: Try not to waste your money on this.
灌 汤饺 from this restaurant is probably the cheapest looking one that I have ate. I mean, everything inside that dumpling taste so cheap. The soup is flavorful, most probably cooked with soy beans and ribs. There is this sour taste to the dumpling that isn't exactly appetizing.
小笼包 (Shanghai Soup Dumpling)Yum factor: Bad food alert!!!
Three words, 5 syllables : Don't Even Bother.
The dumpling is pretty shriveled up. Usually there is stock inside these little dumplings but for this case, it is as dry as Sahara Desert. The meat filling is probably the only element saving the chef from losing his job due to complains received.
半个包 (Half a Bun)
Yum factor: Must try wor!!
This 包 is really special. I mean, how often do you see a 包 with its filling in the open air - Never right. This is something like your normal 大包, except the fillings are much sumptuous.
There is a salted egg yolk, one piece of mushroom, chicken meat and 腊肠 (Chinese Sausage).
The filling is generally good in terms of spread, but the 包 (the white bread-y part) is kinda tough. Not really the fluffy kind that you would expect. But then again, it is not really a design flaw. Because during the cooking process, the juices of the chicken will be absorb by the 包, thus making it soft. If it is too fluffy and soft, it would absorb too much juices from the chicken and the end product would be soggy.
杏仁芝式虾球 (Almond Prawn Cheese Balls)
Yum factor: Die Die Must Try!!!
As the name suggested, 杏仁芝式虾球 is a prawn ball with cheese filling coated with almond flakes and deep fried in hot oil.
This is how it looks like after you bite in. The hot cheese just oozes into your mouth after you bite into the crunchy out layer of the almond ball. The almond is most fragrant especially if you savor it slowly.
The sauces on the plant are just decorative, doesn't really do much to affect the taste of the prawn balls. But with mayonnaise, its heavenly as well. Its seems to me, Mayonnaise works wonder with anything that swam in a pot of hot bubbling oil. Its like the sun screen fried food use after coming out from the pool.
XO酱猪肠粉 (Pan seared Rice Roll with XO Spicy Sauce)Yum factor: For the adventurous.
This is similar to the variation you'll get at the Hawker Center. This rice roll i pan seared to create a crispiness for the roll. The sauce on top is mainly made up of Sambal Chili sauce. The flaky things on top are fried dried scallops.
玉枝甘露(Mango Puree dessert)Yum factor: Worth the try
You can find this dessert at almost any restaurant. This dessert is mainly made up of mango puree, sago, Pomelo and ice shavings. For this restaurant, they go for the fresher look and appeal, they changed the ice shavings to Mango Ice cream. Well, I would say that this is not fabulous, but if you are a big mango fan, this is definitely the dessert for you. Just try to stir properly before you eat it. Incorporate your ice cream inside the whole dessert to achieve the best result.
Or not you will get something like this below.
BIG BLARDY CLUMPS OF SAGOOverall Review
Personally, I find this restaurant too over-rated. I feel that the restaurant over-promised and under-delivered. Somehow, the food ain't really up to standard. It is a good place to bring a big bunch of family members here to eat because of its price, but I would rather recommend the Red Star Restaurant which is located around Chinatown.
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