My photo at Swee Choon
Obviously I'm not really getting the hang of this "food blogging" thing because my first instinct is always to eat and not take pictures. The only picture I managed to get of my favourite Dim Sum place in Singapore is just a bunch of completely emptied out plates. I would point out how that shows you the food is really good that we finished every last scrap, but I know people don't work that way so I found a nice picture with actual food in it.
I've been eating here since it was just one unit, since then it has slowly taken over all its neighbours and now it's 4 units. It's that good.
To eat:
Um...where do I start. I've come here countless times, and eaten countless dishes, and vast majority of them range between good and very, very good. There have been a couple of duds from time to time, but here's a list of what I've had which I feel are top tier picks which are less commonly ordered.
Law Mai Kai (glutinous chicken rice). This was truly my surprise find here. Nowhere else in Singapore have I eaten better Law Mai Kai. Freshly steamed in a little metal tray, the rice is done just nice, no hard bits, tasty and fragrant. Chicken meat is tender and juicy, and you get a nice little mushroom on top. Truly excellent dish, I always have this when I go there, which pretty much precludes me from eating any other staple unless I share.
Deep Fried Crispy Fish Skin. Many places have this item, but it doesn't take away from the epic sinfulness that is fried fish skin.
Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun. I really like this, but I feel that you have to eat it really quickly after it serves because it deteriorates extremely quickly. Other than that, it's quite fantastic. Good amounts of custard and the bun is soft and hot.
Swee Choon Mee-Suah Kueh. I don't know why, but this seems to generate very polarized reviews. I personally like it quite a lot, some people think it's distinctly average. I guess it just has to do with whether you like fried mee suah.
Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. I pretty much all but gave up eating this ever, even in dim sum restaurants, because they never made it the same as it used to be. Nowadays the skin is always oil-soaked and powdery. Until one day someone ordered this here, and whoa it restored some faith in this item for me.
Deep Fried Salt and Pepper Squid Tentacles. A little on the pricey side for the portion ($6, but you don't get a great amount of it), but it's good. A cheaper variant is the Deep Fried Salt and Pepper Mushroom, you do get a little bit more stuff for your buck, but squid is more expensive than mushrooms.
Smoked Duck Breast with Black Pepper. I'm quite a fan of this. The meat is not dry at all even though it's breast meat, because it's smoked just nice. Still got that little bit of juice left to make it great.
Steamed Silken Egg. It actually feels like silk like its name. Smooth and flows like water. Mm.
Other regular items like Char Siew Bao, Har Kow and Siew Mai are good staples, still good to have although you can get equally good ones in other places, although probably not for this price.
I also quite like Fried Hor Fun with Shrimp in Creamy Egg Sauce, although for some reason this dish doesn't seem to have nearly the same consistency as others. Sometimes it comes off a little plain, although the last time I went it was great (hence the picture with everything gone).
The Plain La Mian with Onion and Oil is an interesting option because I actually like this style of noodles. It's sort of like Chinese Aglio Olio. I've had it once and I liked it, but I couldn't really justify eating plain noodles for that price, especially when I always order the Lor Mai Kai.
Cost:
Some dim sum items can seem a tad pricey ($1.80 for 2 Siew Mai for example), until you realize that dim sum everywhere is just as expensive, not counting the pretty lousy ones u get from the coffeeshop steamers. Each dish is generally ~$5 on average, some at $8 for the more exotic ones. From experience, going in a group lets you try out a huge variety of good food, and normally costs less than $20 a person.
Pros:
It's great value for money. This is the BEST dim sum place in Singapore, NOT EVEN CLOSE. Opens until late at night, has free parking after 5pm (but it only opens at 6pm, ha!) and it even has different seating options. You have to queue for the air-con area, but if you're okay with sitting in the alley or even like me actively prefer it, just take a seat right away. I've never had to queue for a seat ever, despite it being arguably the best dim sum place in Singapore. I'm not sure whether it's because people prioritize air-con that much, or because they don't know the secret alley area. Either way, I'd like to keep it a secret, which makes absolutely no sense for me to write about it here.
Cons:
Parking can get difficult because it's free. Across the road is paid parking, but even then sometimes it's hard to find a lot. Other than that, none. Oh, it's closed on Tuesday, and only opens for dinner and supper. Which doesn't bother me.
Random Trivia:
ShiGGa Shay's LimPeh MTV was filmed in the exact back alley where you can sit and eat. Clearly I come here too much if I could recognize the setting from the MTV.
Opening Hours:
6pm-6am, closed every Tuesday
Address:
183-191 Jalan Besar, 208882
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