Imperial Treasure

Dim Sum 点 心 is an important part of Chinese food. In Mandarin it is "dian xin" while the dim sum was probably made famous in Hong Kong or Guangzhou  where the spoken language is Cantonese so dian xin and dim sum are one and the same thing.

There are many good dim sum restaurants in Singapore. From the old style Red Star (Chin Swee) or Yan Palace (Hong Lim), Geylang's Wan Dou Sek to Hua Ting (Orchard Hotel), Wah Lok (Carlton Hotel), Hai Tien Lo (Pan Pacific) plus many others like Ru Yi and Yum Cha. I like the setting at Yum Cha at Trengganu Street, Chinatown.

I am also fond of Crystal Jade especially during my frequent visits to Suntec City those days, the spicy beef ramen was a must have. This is sadly no longer on the menu. If you talk Crystal Jade then you have to take a look at Imperial Treasure. That was exactly what I did this time at the newly opened one at The Amara.

At Dim Sum restaurants, there are standard fares like "siew mai", "har kau", "char siew pao", etc. but you can rise or fall depending on what kind of porridge you can come out with. Here, the porridge was magnificent. Imperial indeed. Bravo and among the best.

The carrot cake was typically well done and texture was good.

The aroma was captured within and a single bite released its flavourful ingredients and full contents into watering mouth.

The char siew (BBQ pork) bun is good. I like this item but not when I am having dim sum because it is filling. It is filling because it has fillings. Buns with no "feelings" would be man tou. All dim sum restaurants seemed to make this char siew bun taste alike.

The siew mai here is really good. A good size with crunchy prawn. 

Hong Kong is famous for their oily chicken. I have some of the best in HK. You won't find this at your typical chicken rice stalls unfortunately. All of you will love it.

Some people actually like their meat bloody. They like to see at least some blood.

Others want theirs clean and free from blood.

Chee Cheong Fun is another good test. Simple and awesome.

One special meat that you should not miss at a good dim sum restaurant is the roast pork. Fabulous on its own or a dip with mustard.

You can see that the quality of the pork is markedly different. The fatty layer is a very thin layer with very tender meat and a super crispy skin. The danger is it will leave you craving for more!

I strongly recommend that you sign off with this custard bun but be careful due to the hot custard inside as a single bite could cause it to burst with the yellow stuff oozing. I'll call it the Wizard of Ooze. I detected salted egg so I stopped at one. Brilliant.

You will need more people if you want to try a bigger list of food items. Join me at the next opportunity.