Dim Joy

Went to Dim Joy yesterday. Found the dim sum's pretty average tasting. Perhaps the one I found nice was the Shrimp with Chives. The custard buns were too sweet & I could taste the sugar granules while eating them.

What disappointed me was that when I went it was 2.30pm & they were taking last orders. I actually ticked the shrimp rice roll but they missed it out. When they issued the bill (halfway when we were eating as they said they have to close up the counter) I noticed it wasn't there. I was assuming it was taking long to prepare.

The guy just apologized and said not to worry , I wasn't billed for it but that wasn't my concern as I was still hungry & wanted to have the rice roll. I was told the kitchen is closed & the chefs went back.

I found it unprofessional, firstly it was their oversight, secondly, isnt it weird for the chef to disappear even before the restaurant closes??

That really put me off. I wanted to bring a friend there previously, but now, I think I won't bother.

Opened by celebrity Michelle Saram and beau, one would brush this dim sum joint as all bark and no bite. But this surprising little joint has much dim sum delights to offer. Must-tries are their king shrimp har gao,  traditional layer and lingnan egg tart! Vegetarians will also be happy to know that there are an array of vegetarian dim sum selection to choose from. For desserts, just go straight to their durian snow pearl. Rich and creamy, it's so good that you'll end up "ta pao-ing" ("take away" in Cantonese) for family and friends... and for yourself too, of course. A pity that the restaurant is extremely small... so better make reservations before you go...

What can I say? some like it some don't from reviews garnered here so far.

I have absolutely no comments & food, so my title says it all....................

Heard of this place some time ago but never really have the time to try it out.  A friend came over from Sydney and wanted some dim sum for dinner so we head down to Dim Joy as not many restaurant will serve dim sum for dinner.
Normally i will look at a few common items to judge how good is a dim sum restaurant, like egg tart, prawn dumpling, siew mai, char siew bao,  cheong fun and porridge.
Maybe my expectation is a little high, which end up with some disappointment.
Prawn dumpling - the prawn taste although is there but seems like the meat is a little mashed up, would prefer something crispy instead of mince meat feeling.
Char Siew Bao - good fluffy bun but miserable fillings.
Char Siew Sou - crispy pastry with enough fillings, much better then the char siew bao.
Siew Mai - ok, nothing much to praise or comment.
Egg Tart - fresh from the oven, but the pastry is not really the type ( su pi ) i am looking forward for.
Cheong Fun, Porridge - same as siew mai, ok.
We had a few other items and noodles, overall is something between average and good.
A little disappointed but i guess it is still a good place for evening dim sum.

Went to Dim Joy for lunch on Christmas day, with my family consisting of parents and a younger sister. Called them at 10plus to make reservations and luckily we could get a table for 4 for 1245pm.

Using directions from gothere.sg, it says that Outram Park MRT is the nearest station, but for west siders like my family, there is no Exit H when we came out from the control station. Exit H is only accessible when you take the NE line. In the end my family exited from Exit A, and in sight of the sweltering hot sun, decided to take a cab to 80 Neil Road. The idea of walking around to find the restaurant in the heat and then getting lost and finally arriving there half-baked did not quite appeal to us.

Upon arriving at Dim Joy, which actually, is really within walkable distance had the weather been kinder, we were greeted by an alfresco setting like those ancient courtyards found in China. We walked past that and went straight to the door. The restaurant is not the usual Chinese restaurant you would expect, but a rather modern one with grey painted walls, minimalist decor, and mirrors placed at strategic places. It had a very cool and stylish feel to it.

We ordered the King Prawn Har Gow, which although its skin is clear and tender and the prawns fresh, was not anything to rave about. The Pan Fried Wor Tip we ordered, was a sight as it did not come in separate pieces as they normally would in other dim sum places. The wor tips were all connected by crispy bits into a large pan cake sort of shape. The base was crispy and the meat inside juicy and tasty, even though could have been juicier. This is my favourite dish there.

The claypot rice we ordered was my dad's favourite. The claypot rice does not use the usual dark sauce found in many claypot rice stalls in foodcourts, but uses light soya sauce. What resulted is a very fragrant claypot rice which is not gelat and leaves you wanting for more. I prefer claypot rice using the light sauce as it does not masks the taste of other meats, and also brings out the flavour of the Chinese sausage (La Chang) in the dish.

For dessert we had the Double boiled Egg Milk, which was too sweet for my liking. I think my sister and mum enjoyed it though. We also had the Red Bean Pancake, which had crispy skin and sweet red bean paste inside, just the right dish to end the dim sum meal.

Other than the not bad food and good ambience, the service was also excellent. The manager was a very attentive and serious man. Used to the usual bubbly and smiley service staff, the manager's demeanor seemed appropriate in a chinese dim sum place and was appreciated by my family and I.

After the meal, we walked to Outram Park Mrt as the weather was not so hot anymore. As an advice for anyone taking the train to Dim Joy, exit from the NE line if you are taking the East West line.

My parents, who are fussy eaters, seemed adequately satisfied with the place. I guess we might be going back again.

It was on a hot bright Sat noon. By the time we reached, the restaurant was like 3/4 full. Glad we got a table as we didnt make any reservations. Location-wise - Its situated just along the main road (Neil Road) & right beside the gay-frequented Taboo Bar(no,i dont go there. so no reviews on that. im sorry. lol). Oh i love the old shophouse feel of the restaurant, although not the authentic kinda of a hong kong dim sum restaurant with the frantic shoutings, pushcarts and crowded diners. Seating outdoors would be a no-no at this time of the day. One would get half-baked(or rather full-baked..lol) in the sun even before you finish up the appetisers!

Some of the items which i shall comment on :

~ King Shrimp Har Gao 虾饺 - Skin of dumpling is not thick (which is how i like it) and shrimps are fresh. Pretty good!

~ Custard Bun - well, the custard are not exactly the "over-flowing" type. Buns came in 3 together in a basket and sizes are bite-size. Tasted funny undissolved sugary bits when biting into the buns. Shall pass on this next time. However, thumbs up for service as the buns were very thoughtfully served by the crew only after our main meal as it is sweet. :)

~ Lotus Leaf Glutinous Rice - Tasted really soft and tender compared to others which i've tried previously elsewhere. Nice!

~ Radish Cake with Conpoy - Radish is sweet and flavourful for a small dish. Leaves a nice aftertaste as well.

~ Pan Fried Radish Cake - Hey why radish cake again u wonder? cos im a radish cake lover mah. haha. Not disappointed at all as it is crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. Yum Yum again!

~ Pork & Chive Wor Tip - Pretty unique presentation when i first lay my eyes on this! First time eating Wor tip this way & was fun breaking up the Wor Tip encrusted ornament-like. Wor Tip itself are acceptable & certainly can try.

~ Beef Brisket Rice Roll in Claypot - Nice gravy which goes along well with the tender beef and rice roll. Yummy!

Would also like to comment on the cleanliness of the restaurant.Was impressed that the restaurant was kept speck clean, down to the toilet bowl.(ok. shall not elaborate on the toilet bowl per se & stuff since this is a food review. lol). Crew were attentive too and kept filling up my pot of hot xiang pian tea...such that the porcelain pot was always full to the brim "all the time".. My arms were aching by the end of the meal. Ok. that was exaggerating. :p

Enjoy the joy of Dim Joy....... :)

Dim Joy has a very unusual name that makes you kinda scratch your head - but I suppose being next to a place called Tantric - makes you scratch and shake.

Ambience-wise its one of those new cool style chinese restaurants. Dim lighting with strong white light on your food.

Now on to the food-

Ordered a rich calcium porridge - which was a little salty. i am not sure what it was meant to taste like but it was a little too far out for me. A little greasy too.

The saving grace were the desserts- the Lau Sah pau which is rather hard to find ( flowing custard )even in HK. Really fresh and clean tasting. I would have preffered a less granular sugar - caster perhaps - but perhaps the chef was trying to introduce texture into the mix?

Very Yummy indeed. Also the Japanese Medallions were light, mochi interpretation was really quite good. So defintely order the desserts here.

Went here for lunch on one of the lazy hot saturday afternoon. The place was pretty difficult to find thus my friend and I were both hot and sweaty when we arrived.

We ordered:

1) Egg tarts (comes in 4)
2) Glutinous rice
3) Char siew bao
4) Har Kao
5) Century egg and lean pork porridge

Our verdict: it's nothing to scream about.

The egg tarts are pretty good and small enough to put everything inside your mouth. But i have yet to try an egg tart that's not nice though.

Glutinous rice - i think it's fantastic! I like the mixture of salted egg with the rice (and its soft, not those hard kind). My friend like it too.

Char Siew bao - I think the skin is too thick and the ingredient is quite pathetic. But my friend like it though.

Harkao - as mentioned in previous review, THICK SKIN!

Porridge- this is the worst of all dishes. The porridge was watery (although it's alot) and its bland. We were expecting something much thicker. My friend and I had such a hard time finishing it. It's a total waste of money and i do not recommend anybody to try unless you're a fan of soup with rice.

Service - Great. Would like to compliment Carmen for her great service. To open the door for us, promptly take our orders, offered to take photos for us, offered to join two tables for us to put our bags and lastly open the door for us when we are leaving.

Would go back again for the service. For the food, there are better ones out there with lower price.

Total damage: $32

We use to go there frequently since it first open. Ambience was nice and they serve Dim Sum through out the whole day. Only complain was their serving(too small), price range and table structure (not ideal for sharing dim sum).

However, after that incident, we swear never again Dim Joy. We made a lunch reservation on one of the Sunday for my mum's birthday celebration. We arrive at Dim Joy (right on time). To our surprise, our table was not ready. We've been informed by the service staff that we've to wait a while. So we waited. We had to constantly check with the service staff about when can we get our table, which we reserved. But they just said wait and dump us the menu.

After 20 mins, a group left and there was a table available. To our horror, another group of customers just walk in to check with them and they were immediately seated. We went back to check with them for the last time. But yet the staff can't give us a table which we reserved for. So after 40 mins of waiting, we left (rushing off to another restaurant).

I am utterly disappointed. Firstly, we made a reservation for a birthday celebration. And the table wasn't ready. We're to wait in the sun for half an hour, to be inform that they can't give us a table. No service crew came to talk to us or offer us any beverages during the nearly half an hour wait. We've to constantly go in to check. Then we asked for the manager many times but we're just told the manager is in the kitchen. The birthday lunch became a disaster. We had to rush off to another restaurant just to catch their lunch timing (nearly missing the lunch hour).

This is not first time that I've been to Dim Joy. Previous experiences weren't fantastic but were acceptable. But this will be the last. It was a birthday celebration turn nightmare. We wasted time and money on cab rides running here and there. We've also written in complain letters but no response till now.

Think it's their service is one of the worst that I've ever had. For the price that one is paying, there's definite other better options.

Decided to try out Dimjoy on a Saturday morning. We made a booking at 10am and was told table will be held for 15 minutes only as weekends are usually packed. Well we got there and was accompanied by only one more table. Guess Singaporeans are not into morning yumcha. Probably the crowd starts filing in at noon or tea time.
Service was good and prompt, probably also because it wasn't so busy.

We ordered:
Har goa (shrimp dumplings)
Siew Mai
Lotus leaf rice
Chee Cheong fun with shrimp and chives
Chee Cheong fun with chinese mushroom
Century egg with lean meat porridge
Panfried radish cake
Spare Ribs with Garlic
Chicken feet
Red bean pancake

Hargow was a pleasant surprise as the skin is paper thin but the fillings didn't leave an impression.

Siew Mai, Lotus Leaf Rice and panfried radish cake were really just ok, not bad but no major impression. I felt the radish cake could do with a bit more texture and the crust could be slight more crispy.

The rice rolls were a winner - I really liked that the shrimp roll came with chives. It totally lifted its taste. The mushroom flavoured one was also delightful, with thinly sliced mushroom, carrots and bamboo shoots.

Century egg and lean meat porridge - good thing all 3 of us likes porridge. Otherwise it's probably not possible to order one pot for just one person. The good thing about it is that the claypot keeps the porridge hot though, and it was gluey and not salty, a bit like homemade porridge.

I was a tad disappointed that the chicken feet were not red, but hey it tasted pretty good. Pork ribs also looked seriously plain but the taste made up for the presentation.

The only thing I really didn't like was the redbean pancake. We were all anticipating the kind of redbean pancake we get at crystal jade but when it came it looked kind of oily. Nevertheless we tried it and it sort of tasted like fried nian gao. Stuck on the teeth and the nice red bean taste didn't quite come through.

Overall the dining environment was nice and it was nice and quiet on a Saturday morning. I wouldn't make and effort to go back there but if someone suggests going there I wouldn't mind.