Dim Sum | Ziggy

Dim sum is a widely known food category. Listed here would mostly be local small stalls instead of the more prominent or luxurous Chinese restaurants. Some offer only a small variety. The char siew bun, siew mai and glutonous rice with chicken being the category often more available. Despite this, the best dim sum items available in Singapore could well be from one of them!

Chin Sin Huat

Singapore Bao

Tiong Bahru Pau

Victor's Kitchen

Singapore Bao

Dim Sum

Jul 2020

My favourite dim sum joint, bar none. Prabably best dim sum place in Singapore!

A small dim sum place at both Sunshine Plaza and Chinatown Point, the place is simply decorated with canteen style seating, just long tables and stools. Do not let this spartan set up fool you, the food is brilliant, in fact, I think this is probably the best place for dim sum in Singapore. Thought of categorising this as "world best", but there are so many dim sum restaurants, some of which are renown. Best not to use a childish banter phrase that can be embarrassing if taken seriously.

All the items are made by the owner and chef Victor himself. This is my go to Dim Sum place for the last 15-20 years, bringing friends and family, locals and foreign, and everyone has given ringing endorsements. Just by the Qs during peak hours, you’ll know it’s not a matter of being birds of feather having similar tastes…. Chatty and hardworking, you’ll see Victor at either shop every day!

Sunshine Plaza

Chinatown Point

Victor's

Probably due to my extreme benign aura, one day Victor plonked 2 small dishes of his famous XO sauce (which you can buy in jars) on my table before any food arrived; before that, I have to admit I didn’t think much of it, came only with the steamed carrot cake. From that day on, I am hooked to the XO sauce, dipping everything in it! XO sauce can be also be bought at $0.50 in house.

Cooked by Chef Victor himself fresh each week, the XO sauce goes well with almost everything! Takes him almost 3 hours to cook this each, it requires lots of patience and strength. He claims he needs a massage from the boss at home after each session of cooking this XO sauce...

What is good here besides the XO sauce? Here’s a list (first 7 are must haves for individuals):

Lao Sha Bao or the golden egg yolk lava bun
Steamed carrot cake
Siew Mai
Golden “polo” char siew buns
Chicken claws in abalone sauce (this is fabulous, many don’t eat chicken claws but if you were to take the plunge, this is the place to do it!)
HK iced summer tea
Egg tarts
Chee cheong fun (I prefer the char siew)
Steamed spare ribs (I always must have this, personal favourite)
Lup cheong conpay glutinous rice or glutinous rice with Chinese sausage
Fried carrot cake
Char siew bun
Steamed rice
Prawn dumplings, or prawn spinach dumplings

I may have listed their entire menu… LOL…. I listed them in order of needs and possibilities, this is a place where I find nothing that is not up to standard. Maybe their porridge is more ordinary, and the drinks besides the HK iced summer are just alright, only because of the high standards achieved by their food.

There are printed papers pasted in walls boasting that the lava bao is the best in Singapore, I won’t argue. Watch out when you break it open, try not to bite off from the bun, it can be quite hot inside and you’ll make a mess! The melted egg yolk flows out, if it doesn’t burst… it does harden a bit if it is cooled for a while. After you try it, you’ll forgive the mess created with the drips on your fingers…. This shouldn't be eaten immediately upon delivery, but it should not be left around too long either, a 5-6 min cool off would be good.

The polo buns are crispy and tasty, eat it while it’s hot to enjoy it thoroughly. The steamed carrot cake has a nice texture and very easy to eat, if you’re not careful, you’ll gulp the entire bowl! Comes with a separate dish of black sauce, which I'd pour over, then add the accompanying XO sauce. The siew mai is solid and meaty, I am sure you will find better ones around somewhere but it is good, very good. Likewise the egg tarts.

The polo bun and egg tarts

Steamed carrot cake

Siew mai

What stands out here most are the chicken claws and the HK summer iced tea.

The abalone sauce from the chicken claw goes very well with it, and the claws are cooked just right, it is unlike the usual ones we get at most dim sum restaurants where the skin is loose and seemed detached, it is solidly attached but yet comes loose easily in your mouth.

The HK summer tea is served in a bowl of ice so that it is not diluted when the ice melts, besides looking fancy, the tea is thick (obviously) and nice. If I’m honest, it is not ice cold like I normally like my drinks, but its strong taste makes up for it.

Chicken feet, delicious, best I've tried

The summer iced tea, fantastic

The glutinous rice comes with chicken pieces and a nice piece of Chinese sausage. It is a bigger serving from the usual ones you’ll get so be careful if you order this. The steamed spare ribs with black beans are very nice and tasty , sometimes it feels like there isn’t much meat; but instead of being disappointed, my thoughts are usually if I should order another one, it is absolutely delicious.

Lup cheong conpay glutinous rice

Pork ribs

The chee cheong fun has thick skins, unlike me…. Served in a shallow dish of tasty sauce, the char siew, which I prefer, compliments the thick skin and sauce very well and every bite is delicious! The char siew bao has a loose texture but the filling is delicious.

Equally chewy and tasty are the prawn dumplings. The dumpling skin is made painstakingly by Victor himself, a nice thin layer of almost transparent skin that is incomparable. Try it and decide for yourself if Victor's dumplings are the best in town!

Instead of bringing overseas guests to a fancy dim sum place, I often bring them here and so far, everyone has been suitably impressed!

91 Bencoolen Street, #01-49 Sunshine Plaza, s189652

Daily 1030am – 8pm (9pm on Fri and Sat)

133 New Bridge Road, #B1-33 Chinatown Point, s059413

Daily 1030am – 9pm

https://www.victors-kitchen.com/

https://www.facebook.com/liushabao/

Dim Sum

Nov 2020

Best Char Siew Bun in town! Plus other exceptional items！

I stumbled upon this place along Jalan Besar, tried it and liked it so much I bought more for a meeting with some friends later for lunch. Only one of them knew this place has been around, and he was the youngest, by quite a FEW years! He said this was his favourite. With good reasons, everyone loved it.

The dine-in area is not big with only about 7-9 seats, I think they’re prepared for takeaways to be their bigger revenue... We can see some chefs making the pau’s in the kitchen behind the counter, which is visibly bigger than the dining area.

CSHuat

Let’s go through their 3 speciality pau’s.

The char siew pao is quite small, slightly bigger than a ping pong ball. It is slightly sweet, savoury, and brilliant. Indeed one of the better ones around, I’d highly recommend it. I rate Tanjong Rhu Bao's char siew pao as by far the best, this I thought comes as a very close 2nd. Turned out it's more psychological, as they are related! So, Mr. Adler, dear friend, we spent an afternoon arguing about which is better for nothing!

The pork pao comes in a smaller size called the small pork pau, or the regular one which is twice the price. The regular one comes with an egg inside. The pork inside has a delicious taste to it, nice garlicky taste. If I have a choice I’d go for the bigger one, more to eat! It is just slightly smaller than the usual pau size, so it’s not very demanding in the filling up the stomach department.

Finally, the yuan yang pau. Yuan yang is the mandarin duck and symbolises eternal love as they are life partners. In many Yuan yang is also used to describe certain mixed dishes like coffee and tea mix, or bee hoon and hor fun mix. In this case here, congratulations are in order as the yuan yang couple has a baby! This is a mixture of red bean and lotus paste, and a salted lava egg yolk! The mixture is quite brilliant, delicious smooth paste and yolk. Sweet and savoury in a mouthful. If it is eaten warm, the yolk is flows, texture is brilliant and taste wonderful. Even the bun is smoother than the meat ones. Smooth!

Assorted Paus

The Char Siew Bun

The pork Bun

The Yuan Yang

The lor mai kai (LMK) or glutinous rice with chicken is slightly bland despite the fragrance of the glutinous rice. The siew mai in the menu is a good pop in the mouth size and salted to taste. Try this with the LMK and the latter comes to life. Recommended to have them together, this should be called the yuan yang too...!

I’ve also made it a set here before, the Ziggy yuan yang topped with a pair of soft boiled egg and a drink, they should call it the happy family meal! The eggs are not quite soft boiled with the yolks harder than soft… but softer than hard boiled. Some would like it this way, like me… still a happy meal for Ziggy!

The chee cheong fun (CCF) is quite decent, fresh thick rolls with nice sweet sauce and a very good sambal chilli. This, and the LMK are the side dishes, the buns are definitely the items to come here for.

The chicken pau is not as tasty as the pork pau. I’m wondering if CSH has some issue with making good chicken meat. It is quite alright, not as bland as the LMK but definitely a drop down from the pork pau.

Bao’s come in a nice box, so it’s good as a gift to a party or when visiting. Just get the pau’s, it’s not difficult to impress people with them!

Jalan Batu

Chin Sin Huan

285 Jalan Besar, s208948 (8am – 6pm, 5pm on Sat, closed on Sun and PH)、

7 Jalan Batu, #01-113, s431007, 11am – 8pm

291A Orchard Road, B2 Takashimaya, s238873 (1000am – 930pm)

9 Raffles Place, #B1-13, s048619 (730am – 630pm, closed on Sat, Sun and PH)

https://chinsinhuan.sg/

https://www.facebook.com/chinsinhuan/

Dim Sum

Jul 2020

Delicious hand made Lor Mai Kai (chicken in glutinous rice), hard to find better ones.

Don’t let the name fool you, they don’t sell any bao’s! This is a 2 item stall, selling Lor Mai Kai’s (glutinous rice with chicken) and Siew Mai’s only.

The LMK is tasty and has the home made quality and taste, I think this is the best hawker based Lor Mai Kai in town. It is made fresh and kept steamed in a big dim sum basket, not contained in a plastic container. A fresh piece of mushroom is added on top with each order, you can taste the freshness of the rice and chicken as you enjoy your meal. At $1.80, this is a good breakfast option especially for small eaters. The Siew Mai is solid to the bite and offers a mouthful of meaty bargain.

Sg Pao

I had been coming back here a few times to get my LMK fix since trying it but they seemed to be closed every time, even at 10am. I can’t be that unlucky, right? I finally caught the lady owner at the shop once and asked for their rest days, turns out they open daily and sell out by 9+am, starting at 7am!

I always wonder who buys from them, do people around the area like it so much they sell out in 2 hours?! Surely there are not so many people around that patronise them constantly. Do people travel from afar to buy? They must be quite big fans to do so for a 2 hour window… anyway, it is well worth it!

Singapore Bao

29 Bendemeer Road, s330029

#01-61 Bendemeer Market & Food Centre, 7-9am Daily

Dim Sum

Nov 2020

Probably the best char siew pau in town.

At a gathering to watch football someone promised to bring this over, and since then, I’ve been in love with the char siew pau’s here.

*May 2023 update: their main outlet at Tanjong Rhu, or Jalan Batu to be exact, has become Chan Sin Huan, which is run by Tanjong Rhu Bao's next generation. You can read more about Chan Sin Huan here, and how a friend of mine and I spent about 20 minutes "arguing" which had the better char siew bao, Tg Rhu vs CSH. How silly of us! Please also note that the CSH's packaging is also nicer, if you're buying the bao's as a gift, CSH should be the place to go.

Tg Rhu shop @ Jalan Batu before

Becomes Chan Sin Huan now...

Tg Rhu

Like me in the football field, the char siew pau’s here is not the biggest (it is in fact quite small) but packs a real punch! Delicious (well, like me…), it is quite sweet (ahem), comes slightly bigger than a ping pong ball, it is very easy to pop this one by one and before long, the whole box of 10 is gone. At $0.70 per pau ($1 now in 2023), it is not the cheapest, but the pau’s are so lovely, everyone is willing to buy a box, or 3, to have some.

Besides char siew buns, they have a pork bun, a big bun, the lian rong (lotus seed paste), dou sha (red bean paste), the lor mai kai and a siew mai. Of the above, all are pretty good and I would mix some, like just 10-20% of the mix, and bring along. They are nice, especially the big pork bun (once someone had more of this than the char siew bun...) but the char siew is heavenly, by far the best pau in the region. Only their lor mai kai is something I recommend not to bother, if the char siew pau is heavenly, this one has the mark of the devil on it….

Big Pork Bun

Tanjong Rhu Pau

389 Guillemard Road, s399788, 11am – 8pm

611 Balestier Road, s329907, 11am – 8pm

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=256903320991242&__tn__=C-R

Dim Sum

Jun 2021

Famous for the char siew pau's, but the lor mai kai here is probably the best in town! This is probably the first famous eating place I heard of in Singapore, but I had never been able to try it until I started working, when I used to go to the one at Hong Lim to buy my breakfast.

The stalls are more suited for takeaways than eating in, disposables are provided instead of plates or baskets. There always seems to be a long Q at the Tiong Bahru outlet, less so at the others.

Tiong Bahru

To be honest, most of their products are not excellent, but I feel that it is the basic of what you want of a good dim sum. Nothing here disappoints you too. It is comfort food and you always know what you will get here.

Having said that, their char siew pau’s are amongst the best in Singapore. Good tasty ingredients within a nice soft bun.

I like their yam cakes too, texture wise, it is nowhere near any of the good ones. Taste wise, it is amongst the best. A very strong yam outer layer with flaky batter that mixes very well with the yam, and delicious ingredients inside that goes perfectly with the yam.

The Lor Mai Kai or gluttonous rice is one of the better ones in town with generous amount of chicken, I used to consider it the one to beat. I’d sometimes add a siew mai to it when I feel greedy, the siew mai is solid and tasty, it is slightly sweet with some pieces of crunchy water chestnut in it.

Breakfast used to be a Char Siew Pau, a Lor Mai Kai and a yam cake, I could never resist including the yam cake even though I wanted to cut down on consumption!

Tiong Bahru Pau

30 Seng Poh Road, #02-18/19 Tiong Bahru Market, s168898 (6am – 3pm, closed on Mon)

237 Outram Road, s169041 (8am – 10pm, closed on Mon)

32 New Market Road, #01-1038 People’s Park Food Centre, s050032 (12 – 9pm, closed on Mon)

190 Lor 6 Toa Payoh, #01-550, s310190 (1230 – 830pm, closed on Mon)

252 Jurong East St 24, s (6am – 2pm, closed on Mon)

https://www.facebook.com/tiongbahrupauandsnacks/