126 Wan Dou Sek

I heard about this dim sum outlet in Geylang but never actually been there. Until now. As per the grapevine, there was a long queue outside the small little shop. Thank goodness a friend was there earlier and he queued up for us first.

The place is a tad too small with long table instead of the usual round tables. But while the place is certainly no fancy restaurant, it makes up for it with character and a super long menu comprising dim sum of all sorts and even chilli crab!

Ordering was simple. We just write down what we want from the menu onto a plain piece of paper and one of the staff takes it away and before we can even warm the seat, everything is on the table. The food comes quick and fast I suppose so that we can eat and get out fast.

We ordered a lot of dim sum for the 8 of us and surprisingly our bill came to a round $126 the same as the address of the place. Too bad we didn't strike any 4-D or we will be back. Food is so so but certainly very reasonably priced.

Mushrooms

Fried wantons

Century egg pork porridge

Kong Bak pau - one of their signature dish

Fried chee cheong fun

Fried intestines

Kong bak pau and siew mai

Johore Bahru Bau & Tim Sum

Almost all Singaporeans are familiar with the Malaysian's tim sum and especially their version of bao or pau. 

 So I was excited when I chanced upon this shop in Changi Village that proudly proclaimed "Johor Bahru Pau" one evening. Will it taste like those in Malaysia? As it was about 5pm in the afternoon, there were no customers in the shop but at that time I didn't feel like eating what to me is "breakfast" food. So I left it for another time which came just the week after.

A closer look at the various signages at the shop and it was rather promising.

There was the Amy Yip bau. Amy Yip or 葉子楣 for the uninitiated was an Hongkong Actress in the late eighties and early nineties who was more well known for her pau errr I mean bosom than her acting. So the pau are obviously named after a certain part of her anatomy.

Then there was a Chinese paper article with the famous Bruce Lee tucking into what presumably was from the parent shop in Malaysia?

So the pau and tim sum must be good? 3 of us sat down to eat. But I had these nagging feeling that something must be wrong. It was about 10am prime breakfast time and yet there was no other customer. The mainland Chinese manning the store seems very disinterested even when we were peering at the posters and ads. In the end, we ordered 1 Amy Yip pau, 1 tray of siew mai and 1 har kow just to try. When the sidekick bought back the food from the counter, I knew straightaway it was a dud . There were no proper fork for us, just toothpick and the chilli sauce were those packet type. Bad sign. True enough, the siew mai and har kow were too salty. The pau was too soft and the whole skin just gave way when we picked it up. Certainly it was nowhere close to the Johore Bahru pau that I tasted at those pit stops in Malaysia. And if I were to compare it with our own Gozilla or even the Red Star pau, this Amy Yipc could have been totally flattened by Gozilla!

No wonder the shop was empty both time I was there. At this rate, I think the next time I go back to the area, the shop should have close down by then. And good riddance to bad rubbish food.

Smallest Kong Bak Pau

Paus have been getter bigger like the Gozilla bao or smaller like this one but kong bak pau (stewed pork bun)?

Was at Toa Payoh and went and got the miniscule pau and saw that they have this whole tray of what looks like the yong tau foo roll. It turned out to be the smallest kong bak pau I ever see.

Just how small is it? Look at the picture. It is about the length of the cashcard and about 3/4 of it. That's how small it is. 1 pop and its gone. At $0.50 a pop, it is a bit costly but hell, it taste good despite the not so flattering picture here.

But anyway, all the paus there are good. Just look at the queue. Or maybe it is just that the small size made it seem more palatable?

Battle of the Baos

Not that type of bao.... but the real edible type.

Was at Red Star Restaurant at Chin Swee Road last week and of course we had to have their Big Bao. Those in the know will know that it is no ordinary big. By big, I mean big big as in humogous.

Here it is next to the pretty little lady. Machiam like an advertisement for some facial products. Noticed how it is almost as big as her face.

Then there is the Gozilla bao. No pretty lady in this photo though. Just a coffee cup and 2 regular size buns.

So which is bigger? Or more importantly, which is better? Curious to know?

Go and try it yourself lah.

Swee Choon

After the Shape Run, the ladies wanted to eat dim sum. Remembered watching Snack Attack on tv which featured this place in Jalan Besar so decided to make our way there. Quite easy to find just along Jalan Besar Rd before Desker Road and opposite the Jalan Besar Food Centre.

The place, simply named Swee Choon, according to the menu serves Hong Kong dim sum in the morning and Shanghai Dim Sum in the evening with the exception of the Xiao Long Bao which is served both day and night. There wasn't really a lot of variety - the usual paus, siew mai and harkow, and a lot of fried stuff. Nothing remarkable except the mianxian cake. Actually most of the dim sum was very normal even bland like the chee cheong fun. The century egg porridge was quite tasteless in fact. Even the dim sum at Tiong Bahru or Ho Kee is much better.

Its only saving grace was it was decently priced and service was good but I wouldn't go there again for the dim sum unless I happen to be in the area.

Gozilla Pau

What is a Gozilla Pau?



So what so special about it?

It is huge! Much bigger than the pau available at the rest stop in Yong Peng, Malaysia or the steam bun in Japan.


Just look at its size next to an ordinary char siew pau, a sew tao and a coffee cup.

What's inside?


The usual pork fillings, plus half an egg and crab roll. How does it taste? Pretty ordinary actually. But can cut into 4 portions so still pretty worthwhile at $4 each.

The Shrinking Char Siew Bao

Char Siew bao are shrinking. Traditionally, char siew bao is always slightly smaller than the bak bao. The first mini size char siew bao I think was started by Tanjong Rhu bao. But it was still of a decent size. Then there was D'bun. Theirs was pretty small and then I discovered the bao at Toa Payoh.


This must be the absolutely the miniest of all char siew bao. They are so small that I can pop 2 into my mouth easy enough and swallow them without choking. At this rate, each bao will shrink to the size of a M&M!