Yum cha (飲茶) is a term in Cantonese which means "drink tea". It refers to the custom of eating small servings of different foods while sipping Chinese tea.
Jared was on half-day leave on Monday, and we starved ourselves till 3pm to Yumcha.
Yumcha is also a Chinese restaurant situated in the heart of Chinatown and they offer hi-tea buffet serving dim sum at $16.80++ per person from 3-6pm on weekdays.
We took quite awhile to locate it at Trengganu Street. When we finally found it, we realized it's on level 2.
We went up... starving already.
When we reached the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised at 3 things:
1. The menu
It has 65 items on it! Steamed dim sum, rice flour rolls (HK style), Congee, fried dim sum, speciality dishes, double boiled soup and desserts! You can view the menu on their website (But I think it's not really updated).
2. Their somewhat 'advanced' technology?
The drink list came along with buttons or quick service! Wow, so techy right?? You don't have to try to wave your hand or snap your fingers for a distracted waiter's attention....
3. The way the food was served
The near-extinct, old-fashioned, my favorite... trolley style! Yeah! Dim sum on wheels!
In fact, the waiters kept calling out the dishes and offering to the tables so quickly, Jared and I for the first few minutes of our meal were eating at high speed to make room for more! We had to remind ourselves to slow down and enjoy! HAHAHA!
So here are some of the 18 items we ordered (we didn't even manage to eat a third of the menu!)....
Don't drool....
My favorite, must-have- Chicken claws or feng-jiao. I finished the dish all by myself! *Burp!
Jared, the siew mai fan says this is better than at most places... He finished this without realizing that I haven't tasted it...
I was eating this fried mango shrimp dumpling and wanted to take a picture of the delicious, savory insides. Can you see, can you see? Sweet mango gushing out with fat, juicy prawns... YUMS!
Paper-wrapped chicken. Very very tasty except that the paper was very stuck to the chicken skin. Should try!
I didn't get to eat this fried prawn dumpling... I wonder why.... Jared must think it is very nice. But it looked kinda over-fried.
Beancurd with fishcake. No comments... I was too full to eat this.
Guo tie. I think this was average. It didn't have the soup inside the filling...
I remember my guo-tie eating experience @ Crystal Jade kitchen... At the first bite into the guo tie, you've got to slurp the soup clean, if not it will spill out and be wasted.... Mmmm....
Fried toufu balls. Not bad.
Vegetarian fried spring roll. Quite bad. Too much beansprout and chives.... Even though I love vege but I prefer the normal springroll.
Har gow... with juicy and succulent pieces of prawns inside!
They have the fish, prawn and char siew rice roll. Very silky and soft in texture and just nicely salted. Tasty and healthy! Must try!
Thai style jellyfish. Beware, it has chilli padi, onions and parsley (the only yucks factor for me!).
Lotus and pork ribs double boiled soup. SUPER DELICIOUS! Must-try!
We were wondering if the porridge could match up to Crystal Jade's. After eating it, we concluded it's at a VERY SUPER close 2nd. Smooth and tasty!
Jared and I were arguing about how they achieved this texture... Blend the rice? Keep stirring? Cut the rice? ...
Their mango pudding was the harder version. And there was a layer of coconut milk over it. I thought it was just slightly above average. Nice mangoes though.
Lemongrass jelly with fruit cocktail. The jelly was very subtly lemongrass flavored, and it melts in your mouth... Very refreshing!
Jared liked these mini egg tarts... but I couldn't stomach this anymore...
The last dish that I squeezed down my throat... delightfully! The best dish in my opinion- Crispy red bean paste with banana. YUMMY! I could eat plates of this if I had more space in my tummy! MUST MUST TRY!
Of course, I washed all these down with a pot of Pu'er tea. It felt much better!
Finally, it was bill time. We happily paid $39.20 for everything.
We will definitely be back!
Service 
Ambience 
Food 
8 comments:
Sounds like a great recommendation!
I am hungry already!
Hopefully they dont have plastic spoons for nathan to chew on :)
I will go and try too!!! Looks good and delicious
Wah! Looks really good! I thought $16++ for hi-tea dim sum was quite ex, but looks like the spread makes it worth the price!
Jerb>Ed: they definitely provide metal cutlery for dine-in! Haha, I hope Nathan didn't like e taste of the fork!
Jerb>Lian & Kless: Yea, it's really worth it! And it's not really hi-tea. U can starve yourself or eat b'fast b4 this! (:
To cook a smooth & silky porridge, u must stir the porridge all the time. when the porridge about to cook, u muz add in some soya milk to make the congee more silky.
Yo Lirch!!! Wahh, you are really dee expert (:
hi! what kind or brand of soya milk? is it call dou nai in chinese?
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