It was my first visit there for hi tea buffet. To my surprise the Q outside the restaurant started to build up since 2.15PM while the buffet actually starts at 3PM.

The restaurant is a little cramp. The setting resembles an ancient inn and matches the name "Lao Beijing". The buffet area was a little small to my surprise. I thought I would see a whole spread of buffet items but no leh... some items got to be ordered while others can be taken from the buffet line.

The thing I don't like is, the buffet items snapped up very fast. It's either people are too hungry from the q-ing or the serving and replenishment is just too little and not frequent. I can see people rushing the the buffet area once the dishes are replenished.

Talking about the food, it's like having the same ingredients but in different formats. Generally they taste similar. I think my favourite was the Xiao Long Tang Bao. It's the only piping hot item served to me. Once i bit the tang bao, the soup oozes out, tasty and yummy. Other than that, the rest are so-so, nice but not fantastic.

Eh, I din know they serve high tea buffet... But seems like the reviews ain't great for high tea buffet leh.. Anyhow, I went to Lao Beijing for dinner on a weekend and it's not too bad.

I shared xiao long bao, Chairman's favourite: stirred fried pork with spring onions, the veggie guotie. All good.

But the service is a little slow, cos the waitresses a little blurr.

As per my last reviewm I went ahead for high tea buffet $10.20++ per pax. After MrBB's review, I was unsure of whether the mass producing will reduce the quality of the food here. Answer, YES, the food is definitely not as good as when I go a la carte, but it is still quite decent.

XLB - First basket of 8 was exactly like the last time I was there for lunch, but the second basket did not look quite as nice and the skin fell apart more easily.

Xuijiao - OK but some were just lukewarm

Guotie - No complaints

Shaomai - OK self serve from the buffet

Xiao chai - the appetisers were self service and were the usual Lao Beijing standard. Not a fan of some of the items though,

Noodles - small tasting bowls all quite good

Soup - This had an interesting smoky flavour - that gives the impression it was burnt. I think MrBB thought it was burnt but I think it is just the way the soup is done in this restaurant.

Onion pancake - OK

Chasiu So - This was really nice.

Dessert was canned longan or sesame cream - passable

Service was quite OK but a bit slow at times.

Ambience was typical LBJ

OVERALL, no complaints at these sorts of prices, really you cannot complain. The quality is only slightly worse than usual and you pay less than 1/2 (depends on your appetite of course)

Went to LBJ last Saturday, always wanted to try this restaurant. Because of its nice interior design and decoration. At the cost for $15.80++ after GST and service charge is $24 per pax. Thats still a good deal for me. And seeing the Xiao Long Bau was on the a la carte menu.. hey, thats does it for me :P here is the menu
http://www.tunglok.com/laobeijing/laobeijing_menus.html

The high tea started from 3pm - 5pm. The first impression when i walk into the restaurant was nice. Nice antique feels with interesting table setting. Fish tank underneath the glass tables really impressed me :)

This high tea offer both free flow ready buffet food and a la carte menu.
Buffet spread include:
* 拍黄瓜Appetizing Cucumber, Beijing Style
- never tried, not my kind of food.
* 蒜泥白肉Sliced Pork with Garlic Sauce
- was good! But then again.. is just boiled pork.. :P
* 红油千张 Sliced Beancurd Skin with Peppercorns
- This me like ;)
* 老北京泡菜 Beijing Pickles
- not touching those.
* 巧焖香姑 Braised Mushrooms with Oyster Sauce
- Not bad, I had ONE.
* 香麻海蜇 Shredded Jelly Fish with Chef’s Special Spicy Sauce
- I dont see jelly fish.. but did have some prawn.. but was FREAKING SPICY!
* 烧卖 Beijing Style Juicy “Shao Mai”
- So so..
* 豆沙糯米卷 Glutinous Rice Rolls Stuffed with Red Bean Paste
- good.
* 杏仁豆腐 Almond Jelly with Fruits
- I had this before.. was ok. Hate the Almond taste tho :P

Beside the things from the advertised menu.. they also have:
Sweet and sour pork - not bad
Wantan soup - sooo nice. I think I had about 4 bowl of that!
deep fried chicken wings - taste like chicken wings..
some veggie.. - me not touching those :P

These food are not bad overall and they get refill when things runs low.. but all i can say they failed to impress me. Because I feels like having those company catering buffet. And they have better choice. :/

Now lets turn to the highlight. The a la carte items.
DIY poh piah.
Thats was our first order ... and boy it take them about 30-50minute to serve it to us. Is all good. The ingredient was interesting and we did had fund with it. But the chili ... yea.. IT BURNT me. LOL. Too spicy ! Thanks to the "special chili padi paste" I had 4 glass of water :P And the poh piah taste was good. Remember dont add the chili.. Trust me. Try it first before you put any into your poh piah.

Beijing noodles.
* 炸酱面 “Zha Jiang” Noodles
- the 炸酱 is just.. too pity.. NOT ENOUGH!
* 榨菜肉丝面 Noodles with Shredded Pork and Salted Vegetables
- I like the soup and the taste ;)
* 四川担担面 “Dan Dan” Noodles
- not tried.
* 北京打卤面 Beijing Style Braised Noodles (Lu Mian)
- not tried.
* 水煮牛肉面 Spicy Beef Noodles Soup
- Not bad. 2 slice of beef..
* 北京炒面 Beijing Style Fried Noodles
- Not on the menu ..
There are few choices of noodles and they come in a small bowl. Yea very small bowl, I tried some and they are all not bad. But I dont like the 炸酱面 .. because i barely find any meat and source in mine.. :/ hate it. The noodle was definitely not the highlight for me.

Pastry.
* 葱油饼 Onion Pancakes
- failed to impress everyone.. almost left unfinished.
* 小馅饼 Patties
- cant recall..
* 白菜猪肉水饺 Pork & Cabbage Dumplings
- taste like dumpling
* 三鲜水饺 Shrimp, Pork & Chive Dumplings
- taste like dumpling
* 小笼汤包 Steamed Juicy Meat Buns
- this was the reason I was here. And.. I found out that I prefer the wantan soup.. :/ the skin was dry and tick.. and the juice / soup inside the dumpling was not enough. Taste like juice to me instead of soup. We just ordered once. .and never repeat the order.. I went for more wantan soup instead.
* 蒸素饺 Steamed Vegetable Dumplings
- taste like dumpling
* 三鲜锅贴 Shrimp, Pork & Chive Fried Dumplings
- taste like dry dumpling
* 白菜猪肉锅贴 Pork & Cabbage Fried Dumplings
- taste like dry dumpling
* 三鲜盒子 Special Fried Pancakes
- not sure what is the different between the other pancakes.
* 生煎菜肉包 Pan-fried Meat Buns
- this one.. is pretty bad.. the buns is too dry up. and the meat also too dry for my liking.
* 叉烧酥 Barbecue Pork Pastry
- Where? did i missed it!? Noooo!


Soup.
* 酸辣汤 Hot & Sour Soup - We ordered these soup on the first round and the soup only come after we tried all other food..1hour? I wonder what took them so long.. and OMG! They served me burnt soup! I can still taste the burnt taste in the soup, even though they try to cover it by making the soup more sour.. but man.. how can a well known restaurant serve their customer burnt soup!?!? I have no respect for this restaurant.. :(

In conclusion.
for a price of $24 per pax. LBJ offer nothing I would go back there again. I asked my friends and family who went there with me , what is their main impression after having that high tea. None of them can tell me any dish they really like.. except we all recall the burnt soup. Are we going back there again? Not for high tea..

Food - not alot of variety for buffet. My first plate already have all their food they offer on it. :P
Location - just about Dhoby ghout MRT - Plaza Sing. Good.
Value for $? - $24.. erm.. not for me because of limited choice of food. Xia Long Bau was abit disappointing.

I dont think I will come back again.. I dont mind the limited food spread. I enjoyed the good ambiance too. But serving me a burnt soup? That just not professional.

Somehow, like another reviewer, this place seems to have been a little forgotten lately with so many new places to eat and try. Anyway we came back here and were pleasantly surprised.

FOOD
Xiao Long Bao ($8 for 8) - What can I say, not a single one broke, yet the skin was soft and the bao full of soup, which did not taste too porky. Almost perfect and certainly better than I remembered it to be - must be the right chef this time.

Guo Tie ($8 for 10) - Good, but not spectacular

Beijing Noodles ($8) - I counted at least a dozen prawns in this dish which was much larger than expected for the price. Definitely enough for 5 bowls. Tasty, just the right texture

Minced pork pancake ($8) - Another large portion with 2 pancakes each 5x4 inches and about 1cm thick. Nice, although some might find the skin a bit firm.

Chairman Mao's Braised Pork ($15) - Nice and fatty, just the right doneness, quite tasty.

Claypot Tofu ($12) - This was OK.

SERVICE, AMBIENCE, VALUE
No complaints, and the 3 of us were very full at the end. After discount (Amex 1 dish free) came up to $68.... The place was not too noisy and quite a good place to relax. Must try the great value $10 hi tea buffet next time.