Dim Sum

Salted Egg Fried Fish Skins: their special of the day, ended up being one of my fave sides. Haven't tried others so I don't know how this compares, but I loved how generous they were with that sandy, salted egg topping. Super yums!

Couldn't resist these pretty purple buns after seeing pictures of their dimsum offerings on instagram. Unfortunately they definitely looked better than they tasted. While these little Salted Egg Yam Buns boasted a lovely soft bun dough, the meagre yam filling fell flat, not even matching up to a hawker yam bun. The salted egg yolk was simply stuffed in the middle of the bun - it was dry and did nothing to lift the already flailing bun.

My parents are dim sum fanatics, so I've tried my fair share of siew mais. I've never actually found one that I liked: they were either too salty, too mushy, too fatty, or just unimpressive. The ones at Yan Ting are the only siew mais I eat. Yan Ting's siew mais are packed full with dried scallops, some mushrooms, and chunks of pork and prawns. None of that mushy minced processed meat, but real solid chunks. And besides, who could resist that adorable abalone on top?

Super huge fan of squid ink anything - even though most of the time they don't taste like much - cause they look so impressive and interesting. These black little mounds of squid ink char siew buns had a great soft and fluffy exterior, coupled with a light smokey fragrance. While the meat's tender and lean, it's a pity the sauce was too starchy and coagulated into little lumps. Still, for that fluffy bun dough and pretty black exterior, I'd order it again.

I love that Mouth Restaurant's dim sum menu extends till dinner so I can enjoy all their amazing baos and bites all day! And did I mention that they make my fave custard baos? Crunchy and sweet on the outside, just like those Tim Ho Wan ones people rave about (but this came first!), tearing into a torrent of rich sweet and salty custard. It's been my fave since I first tried it 4 years back!

As grotesque as my experience at London Fat Duck was, I have to give it to them for doing up such a great peppery crust on this piping hot black pepper duck bun. Lightly spiced, it was sweet, crispy, and super addictive. Annoyingly once you get past that amazing crust, all you're left with is a processed-tasting sauce-ridden stingy-meated (does that make sense?) filling. The sauce ended up overpowering every other component, resulting in a sadly one dimensional bun.