Dim Sum

3.5 munchies: Sink your teeth into one of these impeccably deep-fried slivers and it’s impossible to stop at one. The savoury goodness made me want to pair it with a cold pint of beer! If only the salted egg sauce were coated evenly on the salmon skin, though. #Burpproved

4.5 munchies: I usually raise my eyebrows when restaurants try to be over innovative and infuse funky flavours into traditional dishes, but not this absolutely smashing Bak Kut Teh Xiao Long Bao that commemorates SG52. The broth is painstakingly made with several hours of simmering pork ribs with added herbs, dang gui, pepper, garlic, and other herbal ingredients. Loved how the herbal flavours did not overpower the distinctive, rich pork taste! Its skin was also thin and yet strong enough to hold the tender minced pork and umami-packed soup.

Priced at $5.20 for 3 pieces, the Bak Kut Teh Xiao Long Bao is available from today to 13 Aug 2017 at all Yum Cha outlets. Good news for all Yum Cha members and DBS/POSB cardholders: You get to enjoy 1-for-1! #Burpproved

This was a hosted meal by Yum Cha.

Can't say I got my dim sum fix when I didn't manage to have 3 of my favourite items (liu sha bao, char siew puff pastry & HK-style cheong fun with prawns/youtiao) at this traditional place that was founded in 1889. According to my local friend, the above items might be either too "modern" or that we had to wait a few rounds for the push cart aunty to come by. Probably not a good idea to visit on a Sunday morning too; it was jam-packed with both locals and tourists.

That being said, I did enjoy the steamed Chinese sausage roll, spare ribs, and beancurd roll with chicken & mushroom. The smooth and mellow pu'er tea also makes a great pairing with the savoury dishes.

📷: Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II, courtesy of Canon Singapore.

4 munchies: One of the stand-out dishes at this new Cantonese restaurant along the Siglap stretch, these mushroom-lookalike steamed buns are filled with rich, oozy salted egg lava. The texture of the custard was slightly grainy with a good balance of sweet and savoury. Now you know where to get your liu sha bao fix as early as 8 in the morning!

This was a hosted meal by Lan Ting. #Burpproved

4 munchies: Stir-fried with XO and thick sweet dark soy sauce, the slight crisp on the caramelised exterior of the radish cake was outstanding. The inside was piping hot and filled with cubes of lap cheong; best dipped with the chilli sauce for added garlicky and vinegary flavours. Do also grab a pint of Gambler's Gold to go with these light bites!

4.5 munchies: Pan-fried to crisp perfection on the outside, the inside was filled with piping hot banana and red bean paste. The crumbing on the crust also made the pastry extra crispy and fragrant. What a sweet ending to the Dim Sum Tapas Buffet!

This award-winning dish was unanimously our favourite from the tasting hosted by Bao Today.

3 munchies: For just under $25, Bao Today serves up a wide variety of decent, value-for-money dim sum dishes under its Tapas Buffet offering. With more than 30 items that are freshly-made daily by Hong Kong chefs, I liked the concept of how diners are not bounded to ordering their favourite dishes by the number of bamboo steamers or plates, but by how ever many individual pieces you like.

My picks were the phoenix tail siew mai, pan-fried champagne pork, black sesame bao, and the award-winning pan-fried banana & red bean paste pastry. Misses were the steamed cod with Nonya sauce and paper-wrapped chicken wing. Also, we were all hoping for some good old Chinese tea (not iced lemon or peach tea) to complete the yumcha experience, which is ironically not served for the buffet option.

This was a hosted meal by Bao Today; many thanks to Hui Ling for the hospitality and Burpple for the invite!

3.5 munchies: Deep-fried to crispy and golden brown, these beancurd rolls were stuffed with fresh and succulent prawns. I liked how the beancurd skin was not too thick and that the filling was generous, albeit some parts on the outside were a tad charred. Dip it with black vinegar for some smoky punch with a light, pleasant bitterness.

2.5 munchies: Sure, the sweet crust on top of the polo bun was indeed crunchy and baked to golden brown, but that was pretty much it. The bread dough underneath was a tad dense and thick for my liking. That large slab of butter served in between the halves – I couldn't bring myself to finish.

Oh, the hot milk tea was also by far the weakest I've had in Hong Kong. It lacked the tea fragrance and smooth consistency that I savour in the local-style beverage.

I'd advise you to (not) visit this cha chaan teng with a native speaker if you do not speak a word of Cantonese like me; thank God for the kind Singaporean who sat across the table and ordered the breakfast set for me. The macaroni soup had nothing to shout out about as well.

3.5 munchies: The molten salted egg custard centre was not as oozy and flowy as I'd like. Fortunately, the taste of salted egg was rich and distinct; texture was smooth and creamy with some bits of salted egg. Go for the sweet & sour prawn balls and rice noodle rolls with youtiao when you're at this one-Michelin-starred cha chaan teng.

4.5 munchies: I generally prefer Portuguese egg tarts to traditional ones because the crust from the latter is usually dry and tasteless. But these signature diamond-shaped egg tarts were silky smooth and mildly sweet, with a crust that was flaky, buttery and had a slight crisp to it. It was even more shiok when they were warm and straight off the oven! Had it not been the last stop for our food trail, I'd have gobbled up a couple more. Thanks, @juliuslim, for the awesome recommendation!

3.5 munchies: While these rice noodle rolls with barbecued pork and prawn fillings were freshly made as promised, I'd have liked the silky skin to be slightly thinner and a stronger flavour of the light soy sauce. Compared to the char siew that was fragrant and well-marinated, the prawn roll was, unfortunately, bland and not as fresh.

Freshly Made Chee Cheong Fun, #01-155