Red Star Restaurant

Old School Restaurant in Singapore with Pushcarte Dim Sum

Location: Red Star Restaurant, 54 Chin Swee Rd, #07-23, Singapore 160054

Get teleported to Hong Kong when you visit Red Star Restaurant. Enjoy the 1980s push cart dim sum dining experience, which is uncommon nowadays.

The food quality of the dim sum items was somewhat inconsistent. There were some hits and misses. However, the roasted duck ($16 for half) is unexpectedly delicious - crispy skin on the tender and moist meat that has almost no gamey taste. It was so good that we had to request a bowl of white rice. 😘

Ultimately, the fun was trying to catch the push cart auntie's attention or learn to "zap sang" (Cantonese term) - if she doesn't come to you, just go to her and get your dim sum! 🤣

Get teleported to Hong Kong when you visit Red Star Restaurant. Enjoy the 1980s push cart dim sum dining experience, which is uncommon nowadays.

The food quality of the dim sum items was somewhat inconsistent. There were some hits and misses. However, the roasted duck ($16 for half) is unexpectedly delicious - crispy skin on the tender and moist meat that has almost no gamey taste. It was so good that we had to request a bowl of white rice. 😘

Ultimately, the fun was trying to catch the push cart auntie's attention or learn to "zap sang" (Cantonese term) - if she doesn't come to you, just go to her and get your dim sum! 🤣

Satisfied with the deep fried items, it’s crispy outside and juicy on the inside. Pork ribs was surprisingly good too, seasoning is just right!

This is one of the few dim sum restaurants where they still serve the dim sum using push carts on trolleys. The owner is also famous as one of the original Four Heavenly Kings who invented the Chinese New Year dish Loh Hei.

The queues to get a table, especially on weekends, was legendary. The restaurant being in 7th Floor, you’d encounter snaking queue outside the restaurant, winding down the stairwell until 4th floor! But with COVID, we did not have to queue at all.

The food standard is still the same. Especially recommend their Pork and Century Egg Congee and Egg Tarts.

I pray this old institution survives COVID lockdowns and all these measures designed to prevent the pandemic from spreading. As Iong as they stay open, I will continue to patronise. Already been eating here for 38 years, why stop now?

I've wanted to visit this iconic establishment for 10 years. Guess what, Covid-19 hit them so hard it's near-empty when we went. Very sad. But the service attention was appreciated and we caught a glimpse of legendary chef Hooi Kok Wai hahaha. No dim sum pushcart as it's dinnertime, but they had some leftovers. Good salted egg flavour, but not gooey haha.