After reading the feature on Food & Travel magazine this month on a place in the east serving good Xiao Long Bao, I have been meaning to try it. A big fan of these little soupy gems, and since it is the east, it was an added bonus…this place was really quite close to home!


We ordered a serving of their house speciality, xiao long bao. The mince pork was flavoured to perfection. It was a perfect balance when you bite into the thin skin and the burst of broth and mince meat was just right. Not too salty…but seasoned well enough that there isn't a "porky" taste.


We also ordered the spinach skin xiao long bao with prawns and scallops. This didn't have much of a broth in it, but they were very generous with the prawns. The spinach skin gave this dish a very nice twist… very unique.

You must must try the mango sago and pomelo dessert...one bowl can be shared...and man it was refreshing on a hot sunday afternoon!

You can read more with more pictures here: http://vanessafrida.livejournal.com/233661.html

I was still hungry after eating at Aston's, so I decided to get some carbs somewhere nearby. I noticed this place for a while-- another la mian and dim sum chinese place. They claimed that they made the la mian on the spot after you order-- like Din Tai Fung and Crystal Jade etc. When you enter the place, they have a large Samsung TV repeating a video of their chef making the la mian as well as a slideshow of their dim sum. Might as well try their la mian, no?

Bad choice.

I had the Dan Dan Mian ($5.80), which they said was their speciality. The sauce was a little too spicy for me, but more importantly, it lacked the savoury oomph I was looking for. The noodles were very disappointing-- not at all Q, and strands were of VERY different thicknesses and shapes. The flour used doesn't even taste decent. They served a small bowl of wanton soup (without wanton) to go with it, and I even thought the soup tasted better.

It was a Friday, so there was a 30% off on dim sum. We had Chicken Claws, Xiao Long Bao and Spring Onion Pancake. I did not try the chicken claws but from the looks of it, I decided I didn't want to. Mum said it was horrible, Dad suggested it came from a supplier. The Xiao Long Bao was the worst I have had so far. It was large and the skin thick. There was a spoonful of soup inside one xiao long bao, but the filling was quite bad and Mum commented it did not taste fresh. I bit one xiao long bao and left it sitting on my spoon untouched after that. Finally came something more edible: Spring Onion Pancake. They should change the name to Spring Onion "Roti Prata". Because that's what it is, Spring Onion Roti Prata! We were expecting the flat crispy crust version, but what was served were three small roti pratas with spring onions. They tasted like roti prata, too except that they were not too oily and did not have the taste of ghee. It was decent, but could have been more fragrant for a spring onion dish. This was the only dish that was finished.

Total damage for this afternoon snack was $19 for a noodle and three dishes (plus a tea) For the quality of the food, I'm definitely not coming back. :(