Dynasty Dragon, SS Two Mall

Turned away by Imperial Garden Restaurant's opening hours on a Saturday (we wanted dim sum at 10AM, they were only open at 11.30AM), we drove sulkily around the area for a dim sum joint with the unspoken caveat that it not be a Jin Xuan or a Hong Kee.

Upon reaching the gleaming anterior of SS Two Mall, we spied Dynasty Dragon and swung right in. Open at 10.30AM, with a healthy queue of families lounging about the entrance waiting to be ushered in, we brimmed with profuse confidence and self-praise for having found the place.

Early birds didn't quite get the proverbial worm here though. The orders took forever as most of the staff were actually tucking into early lunch in the main dining area. Big ups to the employer for feeding the staff properly before they tackled the lunch hordes but perhaps, they shouldn't have let the early patrons in until they were absolutely ready.

When the first of our orders finally arrived, we were off to a watery start when the century egg porridge arrived, bland, more gruel than porridge.

The Prawn Dumplings (Har Gau) did much better and reassured us that we would be taken care of, one way or another.

We liked that the Shanghai Dumplings (Siu Long Bao) came in little individual saucers to catch the precious scalding hot soup spilling out upon chopstick contact.

BBQ Pork Buns went down a treat. I'm no connoisseur but anything steaming hot and fluffy with lots of pork within is a no-brainer really.

Now THIS, Deep fried Yam puff with Scallop, variation of the classic Wu Kok, was something else. These were quite the exquisite parcels of seasoned yam with a whole fresh scallop encased, deep fried to a golden crisp and finished with a sprinkle of roe. Luscious!

Ended with a miss though... the Loh Mai Kai was way too sweet and oily to recommend.

So despite a rough start, I guess we didn't do too badly, although we could have done without the initial wait. Fairly priced at around RM46 too.

Dynasty Dragon Seafood Restaurant

Third Floor, SS Two Mall

Petaling Jaya

Tel: 03-79546328

Or their full deets, together with the five other branches' here.

An Identity Crisis, Dimsum at Taman Danau Desa

No one ever gets away operating within a single persona no more.

Not even a neighbourhood dimsum joint.

One One Cafe to some and Toms Dim Sum to others. We are all fragments of different things to different people, like it or not. The friend, the sister, the colleague, the lover, the neighbour, the audience - navigating around the varying expectations can be unnerving and cause more than a few slips and mishaps.

Your roots may start out in the Guangdong province, where the Teochew dumpling originated...

...traversing to the east where Shanghai gave birth to the soupy pockets of Xiu Long Bao...

...diving then into the ocean for the har in the har gau...


... and in subsequent remakes, getting itself upholstered in different variations, such as One One's Spinach & Prawn dumpling...


...and settling into universally embraced grease traps in the pan-fried goodness of the Fried Carrot Cake...

... and getting itself wrapped up in lotus leaf for a meat-and-carbo packed agenda.

Home too gets redefined as humankind continues to cross borders and barriers to get somewhere, anywhere, who knows where.

But right now, what is working for me is the porridge here at this dimsum joint, undecided of its own identity. The century egg & pork porridge features chunks of egg and lumpy pork meatballs in stodgy goodness.

Another version starring spare ribs & preserved vegetables brings a sigh of temporary relief from having to be different persuasions to different people.

Lucky me, it seems, that current reprieve is so close and accessible.

One One Dimsum/ Toms Dimsum
Taman Danau Desa 2
58100 Kuala Lumpur

Dimsum at Zhong Hua, Cititel Penang

For fine dim sum in Penang, we tend to stick close to the tried-and-tested Forum at Island Plaza. And on occasions where we dare venture to new places, we pay dearly, often finding that when it comes to the ultimate har gao, Forum, nothing compares 2U! This outing to Zhong Hua, the Chinese restaurant at Cititel Penang reinforces exactly that.

Cititel Penang also houses the legendary Kirishima, so we were expecting similar standards at its Chinese counterpart. Sadly, as they say, expectations beget disappointment. Now, it wasn't AWFUL but it just wasn't good either.

Century egg & pork porridge (pei tan chuk) - my dim sum litmus test. This came lukewarm, and half- hearted. It appeared as if the chef started out with the best of intentions, to turn this into a silky smooth concoction but gave up halfway and decided, "screw it, let them eat my half-congee, and to prove that I really don't care, I'll serve it cold!!"

Fried radish cake - this was presentable, but entirely due to the amount of oil that overwhelmed the yawn-inducing radish cake. Grease, like greed, is good.

Teowchew dumpling (chiu chao fan gor) - no effort here whatsoever to emulate the traditional recipe of its namesake. The filling was essentially a doughy pork meatball with some token greens, not the loose mixture of peanuts, minced meat and chives that it's supposed to be. Fail!

Prawn dumpling (har gao). All skin, shrimpy and skint filling.

Pork dumpling (Siu Mai). This picture says it all, don't you think?

Fried prawn dumpling. Again, skin as thick as my sole. All the pretty paper doiles and framed photographs of MCA eminence dining here in a thousand shades of batik can't conceal the fact that this is only as good as the next economy kopitiam dim sum's.

Chee Cheong Fun (steamed rice rolls with prawns). Probably the worst of the lot. It was over-steamed to the point that the rice roll disintegrated as soon as it made contact with chopsticks. Ideal for the tooth-deprived, or those recovering from a nasty dental surgery.

In case this post has somehow tempted you to pay a visit... maybe the chef just had a bad day.

Shanghai Ding, New World Park

Eating out starts to get repetitive after a while. Especially when we're pining for good la mian and we're in Penang. We found ourselves back at Shanghai Ding's branch at New World Park, despite having had a less than stellar dining experience there a while back. It was one of those lazy afternoons where we just couldn't think. Plus, based on the fun we had at their original outlet near Queensbay, we figured this one deserved a second chance.

And the verdict? Meh. More of the same, unimpressive, cookie cutter chain store disease.

Noodles with Minced Pork. The la mian was decent, but the minced pork sauce was a sickly sweet sour variety that tasted bottled. Next please.

Plain noodles with spring onion, served with peanut sauce. Probably one of the very few redeeming features of this branch is this... they manage to get it right because really, how many ways can you get something this plain wrong? The delicate flavour of the sauteed spring onion blended extremely well with the chunkier peanut sauce.

Shanghai Meat Dumpling. Have had better. The filling was too scarce and simply not quite soupy enough.

We ordered Kai Lan to balance out all the carbs but this came sorely overcooked and limp, practically fell apart when held by chopsticks. I like my vegetables to maintain a bit of crunch, unless to mask the lack of freshness.

Prawn dumpling, which came looking more like Siu Mai than the traditional Har Gao. We did dimsum here shortly after it opened and excused the frozen taste of the dumplings then, opening glitches and all. Nothing has changed. Still frozen, still tasteless, still looking like mangled pet food. Under NO circumstance should one order dim sum here. You have been warned.

Papa Chow ordered a Claypot Spare Rib rice (not pictured), which came in a serving fit for half a child. Carbo-driven Papa was NOT happy.

The bill came up to RM48, which was borderline reasonable, considering the location. I would come back for the plain noodles, but not much else.

Leong Kee, Kimberley St

It was a wet and rainy morning and it felt like a dim sum morning. We had just been to Anson Road's Zim Sum recently so we decided to try another place. Leong Kee has been around for a long time but I had only been made aware of it recently when Papa Chow pointed out they are now open in the evenings as well, ala Tai Thong on Cintra St.

We weren't especially hungry or hungover this morning, so we kept to the basics.

Steamed goodies. As you can probably tell from the pic, these tasted only so-so. But before you dismiss them, I must point out that the service was remarkably tip-top. The staff at Leong Kee were friendly and helpful without being stiffly patronizing or over-attentive. Just the kind of reception you'd want at your neighbourhood mom-and-pop corner store.

Pei Tan Chuk (Century Egg porridge). I prefer this to the one at Zim Sum. It's not quite Forum's but it warmed me up nice and good.

Wu Kok (Deep fried yam dumplings). The token deep fried dish of the morning. The char siu filling was a bit too measly for my liking.

Char Siu Pau (BBQ Pork Bun). Fat Tulip's must-have for the morning. He finished two of these but reported that they weren't quite up to mark either.

We'd probably be hard-pressed to come back here if not for the genuinely pleasant service extended by the staff. Also, at about RM13 for two of us, it was a right steal.

Dim Sum Lunch at Forum#2

Insides of Rice puffball, egg yolk and porkiness.
Black Bean Dumpling with sesame seeds.
A typical meal at a confinement home. If confinement home sort of sounds like prison, it sort of is, but exclusively for new mothers. And exclusive as in expensive. Maguro did some time here recently but has managed to negotiate a lesser term for herself. Meals are heavy on the ginger and pork, the healing foods for a recovering mother. It is better to keep some things concealed, and it must serve as some consolation, however dire your situation might be, you do not have to endure a one-month diet of ginger and pork after enduring a painful childbirth. In some cases, and I am not making this shit up, you are also not allowed to shower, you are also not allowed the luxury of air-conditioning or the fan, in this tropical heat for that entire month. Lest it, horror of horrors, cools you down.

Dim Sum Lunch at Forum

A comforting familiar start: Century Egg porridge with spring onions and crunchy bits.
Siu Long Bao and Fried Radish Cake.

Yong Tau Foo with black bean sauce.

Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf.

Dim Sum Breakfast at Anson Road#2

Yong Tau Foo dressed by Ladyfinger and Black Bean Sauce.
Fried Lor Pak Ko - Radish Cake. I didn't rate this terribly, the flavours were there but it was a little cold by the time it reached us. Ultra-oiliness requires optimum temperature to do it justice.
If this looks a hot mess, it was because it was a hot mess. Enjoyable if not exactly graceful.
Salad Prawns with Mayonaise - deep fried prawn dumpling. The single leaf of lettuce makes it a salad.

Dim Sum Breakfast at Anson Road

Taka looks towards the counter of non-stop dim-sum producing goodness.
Century Egg Porridge: I really liked the contrast this version brought to Forum's smoth offering, this was more down-home, had more texture, a little rough around the edges. I enjoy both equally.
Chee Cheong something? but basically chee cheon fun rolls filled with meatball/water-chestnut/generic dim sum filling. Good.
Seafood dumpling.
Cute little ha-kaos, prawn dumplings.

Meatness of Forum

Lunch: Dim Sum at Forum in Island Plaza. The yum-ness displayed on the left is Fried Radish Cake, like a posh Char Koay Kak, the ends of the bean sprouts are trimmed & you get chunky fishy bits and crunch fresh prawns. The pan-fried radish cake chunks had a crunchy, almost flaky exterior and a soft centre with bits chinese sausage. Mucho Tasty.
Steamed Rice Dumpling? Wrapped in Lotus Leaf: This is definitely territory I have not ventured into for the past 11-12 years. Dad enthusiastically offered me half of his and I overcame my tentativeness and dove into this meat-infused goodness.
Stif-fried veges with garlic - we don't usually do minimal but again, a top dish.

Century Egg porridge garnished with flaky bits & spring onion.
Warm Braised peanuts for starters. Perfect Texture.
Century Egg porridge garnished with flaky bits and spring onion much appreciated.
A half-eaten dumpling filled with roasted peanut, celery, porky bits &... dotted with chilli oil. To the dark side....
Deep Fried Chee Cheong Fun served with Peanut Sauce: this was great, but because it arrived last when we were all tummied up, it was not as fully savoured as it should have been.

Top Marks to Forum. We are tummy-satisfied.

Disappointments: Nil

Happiness: Aplenty