Dim Sum meals, for me, are few and far in between. I do enjoy the occasional meal of Dim Sum, but they are quite rich and filling and it is not the kind of meal one takes often – not for me anyway. There may well be people who like Dim Sum every day. Anyway, coincidentally, I had three Dim Sum meals in a month recently, at friends’ suggestion.
The latest Dim Sum lunch was with my ‘Motley crew’ of friends to celebrate a birthday in the group. Someone in the group suggested Dim Sum at ‘Bao Fa Cha Chaan Teng’. Since all of us in the group are quite easy going, we generally go with what was suggested.
Suz, in the group, had dined at Bao Fa Cha Chaan Teng recently and she highly recommended we all give it a try.
‘Bao Fa Cha Chaan Teng’ restaurant is nestled in a row of shop houses along Upper Paya Lebar Road, an industrial area. It is helmed by a Hong Kong chef and offers a variety of classic home-made Hong Kong style Dim Sum dishes and also a small selection of Western fare and local dishes.
The food was good. They are fresh and don’t have a lot of seasoning that we find in mass, factory produced items. Unfortunately, the place was not air conditioned. However, there is a constant breeze from the many fans in the shop. Price wise, I feel it is a bit high for such a location and not air-conditioned place. The restaurant is also not very big and it feels kind of cramped. But Dim Sum dishes are known to be a bit pricier and considering the food are hand-made in the shop and the chef is from Hong Kong, I guess the dearer price can be overlooked.
These were what we had. Most Dim Sum dishes have three portions. Since there were seven of us, we ordered three sets per dish. The good thing about Dim Sum with a group is that we can try many dishes on the menu. If the dish is good, we can always order more.
'Siew mai', or 'siu mai' are pork and prawn dumplings.
Prawn dumplings
Prawn 'cheong fun' rolls. 'Cheong fun' is broad rice noodles.
Fried prawn dumpling
Fried seaweed beancurd roll
Spinach prawn crystal dumpling
Steamed carrot cake
Chicken claws
A plate of yellow noodles, as a substitute for longevity noodles. Some people believe a birthday meal should always have longevity noodles. But since it is a Dim Sum restaurant, they do not have that dish. So, they had to improvise.
For dessert, we tried the crispy durian recommended by the restaurant owner.
Some had the custurd bun
A sample of their menu
‘Bao Fa Cha Chaan Teng’
Operating Hours: Daily, 8am – 8pm
119 Upp Paya Lebar, Singapore 534835
They are five minutes walk from ‘Ta Seng’ MRT Station which is rather convenient.
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