27 August 2011
Dim Sum Lunch With My Dollies
Walk straight into Royal China and got a table with lovely cushion seats for yourselves? You must be walkin’ on sunshine , enjoying your lucky day.This golden coated furnishings with a soft baby blue background is popular with the local crowd.Before you make your way to the palace, please give them a call so that they could stuck your name to a table firmly without you having to wait impatiently or haggle for seats.Dining would be a much pleasant experience, isn’t?
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However, dining over the weekends comes with a bomb ticker because you’ll be given only 1 hour 15 minutes to enjoy your royal meal before they start sending the bill over.Time is precious in Royal China and we, “Kiasu” Singaporeans, are trained to get the best out of everything within a stipulated time.( Kiasu means “afraid to lose” in Singlish. What’s Singlish? Singaporeans’ way of singing English.)
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| Their restaurant logo design which reveals simplicity and elegance in dishing out the best Chinese food fare. | |
Don’t you love the royal baby blue colour? A splash of this colour simply calm your nerves and soothes tension. But don’t you think it’s somewhat unconventional for a Chinese restaurant to be using such cool colours? Traditional Chinese restaurants love the bold colours like the auspicious red. Well, you will probably understand why when you notice their western-European influenced interior decor. A London-based Chinese restaurant serving one of the best authentic dim sums in Singapore is truly a rare find.
Cute Little Bouncy Dim Sums served on Royal china
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| An inviting table decorated with all white china utensils. |
Dining to most Chinese is all about the food and the taste of it. However, to the Europeans, it’s all about ambiance,service and style. This isn’t the usual Hong Kong Dim sum tea house where you could hear the constant chatter from the neighbouring tables, clattering of chopsticks with porcelain bowls and shouts made by the waiters who calls impatiently for a basket of filled with hot steaming Siew Mai. This exquisite Royal palace was pleasantly quiet and customers can enjoy their private conversation without having to raise their voices, just like having English Tea with scones and cupcakes in a European tea house setting.
Besides the food and ambience, the waitresses were polite and humble. Even though they are so occupied about delivering the orders and attending to their customers, they would apologise to you sincerely if you have been ignored when you asked for their service.
A strong floral fragrant wafted across the table as the waitress fill our tea cups with hot Jasmine Tea. The tea tasted of fine quality as it is gentle,light and soothing on the palate. I can imagine that they stuff fine quality tea leaves into the Chinese tea pot.Drinking a cup of hot Chinese tea helps to clear the palate and stimulate your appetite.
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| With courtesy of Vanessa’s Nikon DSLR camera. |
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| Egg Tarts. Flaky crust with cold egg custard. Maybe it’s best for them to serve it warm. |
A good egg tart has light golden crisp brown crust that gives off a little hint of the butter on the tastebuds and a thick,luxurious creamy egg custard feeling that will leave you craving for me. But the egg tarts served here were in tiny bite-sizes that leaves you asking for the next dish instead.Were the chefs stingy with the eggs? You may want to skip the egg tarts.
Next item on the list is Siew Mai.How could one not have Siew Mai for Dim Sum? It’s so popular that even the Mexicans are whipping out plates of Siew Mai along the streets of Chinatown in Mexico. You almost say that Siew Mai is the King of all dim sums. If the restaurant is serving such a signature dish, it better turns out great or at least of a decent standard. This basket of Siew Mai topped with red dates, here, turns the tide with it’s ultra succulent shrimps found embedded in it. The main ingredient of a Siew Mai is the minced pork but in this bucket, the star was the overpowering succulent shrimps that leaves me yearning for more dishes to be served out of Royal China’s kitchen.
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| Har gaos ( dumplings) consist of the equally fresh succulent shrimps found in Siew Mai. A smart move is to order dishes that uses shrimps as their main ingredients. Nothing beats the freshness of the shrimps. I swear the dumplings could bounce on the table like fishballs. | | | | | |
Things started to get a little more exciting when the most raved-about dim sum was laid on our table. These gigantic-lookalike marshallow balls is a killer dish in the menu.This is the dish which probably gives you every reason why you should frequent this restaurant again. And again.
Remember this. Royal China. Salted Egg Custard with Mango Buns.
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| All that goodness oozing out from the bun is piping hot! So,beward of the custard which will squirt out as you take your very first bite.
Another feature about this restaurant is it’s dim lighting. It’s so dim that I can’t see what’s the gem inside this Rice noodle dish. | | | | | | | | | | |
Next came along a bowl of Chicken mushroom porridge, Zhu Chang Fen ( Rice Noodle Roll ) and other dishes that were nothing of too stunning as compared to the custard buns.
What’s the secret behind the custard buns?
Average pricing per dim sum is S$4.00
Average price per person is $20.
5 -10 minutes walk from Cityhall MRT
Singapore.
