Crystal Jade has always been my (my family too) perennial favourite for quality dim sum. They seem to be quite good when it comes to quality control - the standards of dim sum don't fluctuate much despite there being so many outlets in Singapore. The Parkway Parade outlet would be the one I frequent most. 

One would expect to queue for a table if you arrive at the peak hour (i.e. weekends at 12pm) and queuing for a table at this outlet is not a good feeling - you'll be blocking the very narrow entrance and it is extremely stuffy because the entrance leads you to OUTSIDE the mall. Be sure to arrive early. The restaurant, as with most Crystal Jade outlets, is very lively, yet not to the extent of making you feel like you're in a fish market. The staff there are mostly efficient when it comes to taking orders and requests. One major drawback for the Parkway outlet however, would have to be its ventilation system. Sometimes the place can prove to be stuffy and its a slight challenge to consume a hot bowl of porridge in that environment. 

The dim sum has always been good at Crystal Jade. I love their Lor Mai Gai the most. Flavourful with minced meat and eggs inside, the rice is gooey to the right extent (not till it sticks to your chopsticks and hard to break apart) yet not oily. Yum. They also have very nice Custard Buns 流沙包 in which the bun itself is orange in colour and the filling is BRIGHT orange! Looks good. Siu Mai and many other dim sum are fresh and served fast. Their congee is also cooked to perfection, with the right mix of fresh ingredients. I've always wondered if they have a secret recipe to their porridge?

I wouldn't recommend their roasted meats though - not that they aren't good, but the portion isn't worth the price. There're noteworthy ones at other places as well.

Efficiency would be the best word to describe the service standards of Crystal Jade; and quality to describe their food. Good for family lunches. 

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We’ve tried the Black Sesame Bun from Bao Today and Swatow Seafood, and just recently we realized that the long-standing Crystal Jade group offers our favourite Black Sesame Bun as well! Each bun is competitively priced at $1 and is sold at the Crystal Jade Kitchen. The bun when broken apart, brought some dismay as the black sesame fillings did not ooze out immediately, unlike that of Bao Today and Swatow. The fillings were much thicker and less fluid-like. However, our dismay turned to joy when we bit into the bun and savoured the sandy-like texture of the black sesame fillings. The texture was similar to sesame fillings in sesame glutinous rice balls. We particularly like the the coarse texture and rich flavours as it made us relished in the fact that we were enjoying paste made from freshly grounded black sesame, and less of those instant starchy concoction. The exterior of the bun had quite a strong black sesame taste as well. Texture wise, it was rather dense, heavy, and less fluffy.

We also tried the Custard Bun 奶黄包, priced at $1 each as well. The Custard Bun was different from the flowy version 流沙包. The custard fillings were thicker and less fluid like, similar to the Black Sesame Bun. What we did not like was that the fillings tasted more like corn fillings in a sweet corn bun.

Went there last week and tried the new steamboat buffet. The serivce was painfully slow and very disorganised..basically its a mess...

Firstly, the drinks we ordered never came, it was only served after we reminded the staff..then its the food, the soup base and SOME of the items came like 15min after we ordered, the rest of the items we ordered never came and when we reminded the staff about the missing items, they just say its coming but never went to the kitchen to check..We asked for refill of the stock and again the staff said ok but never return..we had to ask a second staff for refills...I asked for a change of plates, again...it was ok then the person never return...

Basically, I lost count of the number of times where our requests were met with a superficial "OK", "coming"...but nothing was done...I bet I can get better service at the neighbourhood coffeeshop steamboat stall...

I overheard the 2 aunites seated next to our table complaining too and they suspected that the service staff and the kitchen gave priority to the ala carta customers ...maybe its true...