Dim Sum House – Underrated Dim Sum Eatery With Cute Animal Bao, At Yio Chu Kang Road

2:18 AM | Labels: asian cuisine, asian food Recipes, asian recipes, DanielFoodDiary.com, eating in singapore, Singapore Food, singapore Food recipes, singapre Recipes

Not to be confused with Dim Sum Haus at Jalan Besar, Dim Sum House is a relatively new store at Yio Chu Kang Road.

The humble-looking eatery serves items reasonably priced around the $4 to $5 range.

Of course ’affordable’ dim sum is subjective as there are always other places such as Kuai San Dian Xin 块三点心.

That same ulu stretch of Yio Chu Kang Road seems to be bustling with activities.

If you need your coffee and cakes, relatively recent café additions include Urban Table, Amber Ember and Two Bakery – all within a short walking distance.

The location used to be occupied by another Chinese eatery, which both unfortunately did not survive the low footfall of this area.

Let’s have better faith for Dim Sum House.

What caught my attention on were the adorable animal buns which usually require effort to craft.

While the names are not clearly state on the menu, there is the “Porcupine” Red Bean Paste Bun ($4.50) and “Chick” Lotus Paste Bun ($4.50).

Though the yellow-chick bao appearance may remind some of Crystal Jade’s version.

“Aiyo, why so cute.” (Took me awhile to ‘play’ around with it and snapped tons of photos before I reluctantly popped it into my mouth.)

The buns were steamed soft and fluffy, generously stuffed with red bean or lotus paste filing.

I liked that their paste filling was not so cloyingly sweet, which made it very much enjoyable.

There was also the Deep-Fried Dumplings with Mushroom ($4), molded into the shape of a carrot then embedded with a stem of coriander leaf.

Plus points for the presentation and creativity.

It had a chewy sweet rice cake exterior, filled with savoury mushroom bits.

While their menu is not that extensive, you can still find regular dim sum suspects such as Siew Mai ($4.50), Har Kau ($4.50), Pan-fried Carrot Cake ($4.50), BBQ Pork Cheong Fun ($4.80), Century Egg Congee ($4.80) and Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice ($4.50).

I would say most of them tasted quite decent and above average, with most hits and minor misses.

Worthy of mention would be the Pan-fried Shredded Yam with Golden Pumpkin ($4).

I liked how they sandwiched soft pumpkin fillings using firm yam layer for the differential in bite texture, before being pan-fried till golden brown for the crispy exterior.

Their Shanghai Xiao Long Bao ($8.80) was also memorable, with thin dumpling skin encasing marinated minced pork swimming in a pool of “zhup” (gravy). *Slurps*

I found their premises quite small for a dim sum place; it has only space for 4 tables on upper storey and 3 more on the ground floor.

So be warned of the waiting time due to limited capacity.

They do offer reservations on weekday, but strictly for walk-ins on weekends and public holiday.

Dim Sum House
1G Yio Chu Kang Road, Singapore 545513
Tel: +65 8328 3369
Opening Hours: 11am – 2pm, 6pm – 10pm (Mon – Thurs), 10am – 2pm, 6pm – 10pm (Fri – Sun)

* Written by Lewis Tan @juicyfingers, a self-proclaimed coffee addict. DFD paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated.