Address: 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square, Center Stage #02-138D, Singapore 039594
Tel: +65 63339937

The restaurant is tucked away in a rather quiet corner of the area marked as “Center Stage” in the Marina Square Shopping Complex. The “Centre Stage” boasts a collection of restaurants serving different types of cuisine.

I had met my parents and sister for lunch on a weekday. My dad was on leave from work and he had apparently dragged my mum on a gastronomy tour. I have to clarify though my dad belongs to that generation that generally favours quantity versus quality (he had in the past nagged at me to not waste food and how he never had enough to eat in the old days). His comments on food unfaillingly fall into the two descriptions - “good” and “not good”. The only occasion when he uses other superlatives is when he is referring to good seafood. He will use terms like “very fresh and sweet”, “you can tell it is fresh because it is sweet”, “one look at the [insert seafood here] and you can tell its fresh..and sweet”… This puzzles me because even if the said seafood (e.g. fish) is soaked in salty soy sauce, the term “sweet” will be used. Hiaz…the generation gap.

If you have not figured out by now (which is kinda sad…my heart goes out to you..), this restaurant specialises in dim sum. I feel that the actual chinese term, 点心, is so apt as it means “a piece/bit of love” with reference to the small portions of food you get in dim sum. Notwithstanding that there is no confusion as to what the restaurant serves, my first thoughts were “what a bloody stupid name!”. If a restaurant has to inform you in bold bright lettering that the food you are actually eating is dim sum, I think there are other issues besides signage they should address.

The restaurant had a conveyor belt system for the serving of the dim sum, much like in a sushi bar. However, the conveyor belt, as we were told by the waiter, would only be used when the place was packed during weekends. Thus we had our orders taken by the waiter, who spoke quite good chinese. And as is the case usually when I am conversing with someone who has a higher standard of chinese than myself (quite a common occurrence I must say), I will employ my fake chinese accent in a bid to sound more sophisticated. This involves some twisting of my tongue and the use of a much higher pitch than necessary. It is embarrassing but I am sure I am not the only one who does this.

We had:

Braised Er’Fu Noodles in Abalone Sauce (S$7.80), Turnip Cake (S$2.50). The noodles was a stomach filler. The Turnip Cake was soft, well made and not too greasy.

Mini Stuffed Bun (S$3). The crusty bun had not enough fillings of the BBQ pork or cha siew inside. The Shrimp Rice Roll (or chee chong fan, S$4.30) fared slightly better. The Shrimp embedded in the rice roll was relatively fresh (and sweet…heh heh) and I prefer it when they use light soy sauce (Hong Kong style).

The Dumpling with Dou Miao (S$3.50) and the Steam Prawn Dumpling (or Ha Gou, S$3.50) were decent. The quality was between that you would expect in a neighbourhood coffeeshop and your mid priced restaurants.

From left to right are the Pork Dumpling (or Xiao Long Bao, S$3), the Chicken Feet with XO Sauce (S$3) and the Dumpling with Crab Roe (or Siew Mai, S$3.50). The Pork Dumpling was not up to par. The skin was tough and was stuck to the basket. The Chicken Feet was ordinary and I did not see how the XO sauce did anything for the dish. The Siew Mai passed my taste test.

The item on the below left is the Ugly Duckling (S$4.30). Shaped like a duckling, it is fried yam paste with a filling of minced meat. Although much effort is expended in the aesthetics of the dish, it could not disguise the inadequacy in the taste department - there was too little filling…almost non-existent. The Egg Tart (S$3) served as dessert.

My verdict is that there seems to be some skimming of the dim sum ingredients. Some form of cost-cutting perhaps. Thus, if you are looking for excellent dim sum, this is not the place.