Recently, we were chatting about what new places to go for good dim sum. Haha.... maybe the Universe heard us and Jun jio-ed (invited) me to try out a new dim sum joint Chao Yue Xuan 潮粤轩.
(Well, not exactly new - they were at Junction 9 in Yishun but they just moved here in Capitol and this was my first time trying their dim sum.)
It's conveniently located at basement 2 of Capitol at the doorstep of City Hall MRT station and connected by underpass.
Opened less than a fortnight here, Chao Yue Xuan is well appointed, nicely furnished yet casual. It's the kind of hangout place we can go to for leisurely weekend dim sum.
Chao Yue Xuan is a family business. I mean the kitchen is helmed by the Chai brothers who together have half a century of experience in top Chinese restaurants in Singapore. Sean Chai (left) was executive chef with Crystal Jade and Jumbo groups. Younger brother Vanness was head dim sum chef at St. Regis. Other family members man the front office, marketing, accounting and HR departments.
Bottom line is they got everybody's heart and soul invested in Chao Yue Xuan and everything comes out in the food and service 👍 The dim sum are all hand made at the restaurant, not buy from factory, heat up and serve you.
We get savoury sweet tastes with a slight zest and tanginess from the sweet soft chewy rambutan meat.
The glutinous rice and diced chicken were soft in different ways and held together with a delicious blend of gentle savoury sweet flavours. The dried lotus leaf infused a subtle bit of nice woody flavour into the sticky rice which enhanced our enjoyment.
The curry is made from scratch. Chao Yue Xuan fry their own curry spices. We can smell the spice aroma when we lifted the top off the bun (which is also house made).
I wanted to pick up soup dumpling for a photo but the bottom of the dumpling bursted open and dumped the filling and soup into the little bowl.
At that moment, a puff of herbal and spice aroma rose from the piping hot steamy soup. It's the Malaysian type of herbal and spice bak kut teh.
The filling was a ball of chopped meat pulled from prime pork rib. It was soft tender with a bit of soft chewiness. I like the mouth feel, savoury sweet flavour and the herb, spice and porcine sweet aroma.
I do feel a bit protective about bak kut teh heritage and glad that Chao Yue Xuan's soup dumpling interpretation retained the essence and spirit of the dish 👍
Chao Yue Xuan's bak kut teh soup dumpling comes with crispy yuu cha kway, my favourite side to go with the delicious soup.
Eating chili crab with the little sticks makes eating the Singapore food icon more elegant and much more convenient than struggling with the hard shells to get the meat out. (I am one of those who don't like to eat crab with shell - yes, you can call me lazy but I need to keep my fingers clean to take photos 😬 )
Chao Yue Xuan's chili crab sauce is savoury sweet with a slight tang and loaded with pulled tender fresh crab meat.
Then, these three large brown mushrooms or were they?
They really looked like mushrooms but the giveaway was the "stalk" which looked a bit thick and too smooth.
They were actually soft fluffy buns with savoury sweet finely minced pork, water chestnut and salted fish filling. The "stalk" was a piece of custom made mantou (bun).
I wasn't fooled and it was fun 😁 I had it before in Johor Bahru some time ago.
I asked for char siew bao before proceeding on to sweet desserts.
Nicely bite size which we can finish in two or three mouthfuls. Puffy, fluffy, soft skin surrounding juicy sweet savoury char siew with sauce.
The cold desserts are really old school but in new "bottles". How old school?
They were served with a dramatic dreamy cloud of dry ice like in the 1980s 🤭😁
Anyway, joke aside, we enjoyed all the sweet desserts.
We put all the desserts on the lazy Susan (turntable) and spun it around, sharing the sweetness in a kind of happy dessert-merry-go-round. You can try that too with your party. It's fun 😁
A cool Hong Kong style milk tea is perfect with dim sum 😁 I like the tea's aroma and subtle tannic taste, and that it was at just the right level of sweetness for me.
Yum cha in the heart of Singapore's business district. The dim sum here are innovative yet retaining their old school essence. Nicely hand crafted and beautifully plated. Very pleasant yet casual dining ambiance. Super convenient, central location.
I need to be back for noodles, chee cheong fun, congee and more dim sum. They have a thick menu which I didn't take any pictures of 😬
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