Dim Sum Hunting at Geylang

Being a Singaporean, I have always know Geylang is a place that held the the most infamous red light district and also the good foods. However, I seldom prowl this street for good food. With Good Friday evening dim sum discussion brewing, a friend suggested going there to try out 126 Dim Sum at Geylang. I agreed and we made our move at 7pm, the right timing where most of the foodies will get dressed and ready for a night long of feast.
We headed immediately to 搵到食 aka 126 and to our surprised, it was an old eateries that opens 24 hour. I proposed an idea to try out some dim sum shops along Geylang, that was why I strictly chose few selected dim sum to judge the overall score of each dim sum.
Selected dim sum were: har kow 虾饺 & siew mai 烧卖.

126: A friend recommended the fried tau pok with squid paste, I was quite impressed that the squid paste are made fresh with real squid. The chilli came in two version using the same chilli sauce, light and thick; I was actually quite impressed that the chilli was good. Then, har kow and siew mai were served. Har kow skin was thin but I was disappointed that the fillings of both har kow and siew mai were same. (Siew mai should be made fully using pork but a little prawn is still acceptable) Goof thing was that the prawns are not overly soaked into the soda water for too long that was what most places did to give an extra crunch to the prawns and usually prawns will lost its natural taste. A quick tasting of 126, we headed downwards to next dim sum shop.

Ho Kee Pau (和记包): This is a shop with many franchises at places in Singapore. I remembered passing by these shops before in some hawker centres and shopping malls. (The main attraction was their large chive dumplings) This time, I left the ordering to my friends. We ordered a little more this round, not forgetting including har kow and siew mai. Overall taste of the har kow and siew mai was somewhat a commercial taste where the production will be produce at a centralised kitchen. However, I must commend that the chive dumplings were exceptional as it is well filled with a good amount of chives. Web surfing on my HTC touch brought another dim sum attraction called MongKok Dim Sum. We made a U-Turn to the even number street of Geylang to MongKok Dim Sum.




































MongKok Dim Sum (旺角点心): A dim sum shop that might be mistaken for a Zi Char store for the arrangement. We managed to find a table above the platform, and we get to enjoy the night view of Geylang with cool breeze from the fan blowing. Cool. We order, yam dumpling and crystal dumpling in addition of the selected dim sum. First came the yam dumpling, I tasted it and freshness of ingredients indicate to me that the rest of the dim sum will be good as well and it did. Yam dumpling is crispy with fillings of savoury shredded carrot and minced pork, crystal dumpling transluccent on the skin showing the green chives tasted not too bad, har kow made with thin and smooth skin almost like a 5-star dim sum restaurant and prawns were crucnhy too. Lastly, the siew mai which is made almost purely with pork which a siew mai should be tasted good. As we part, I saw utensils and ingredients for making 'chee chong fun' aka 猪肠粉 and I regretted for not ordering it. (Probably next trip)


In summary, I am quite impressed that Geylang actually serve dim sum and in fact there are few dim sum stores. So, I can say it is not difficult to find reasonable priced dim sum in Geylang moreover we have some that operate till quite late and also 24/7. MongKok Dim Sum left a good impression for me and will definitely pay them a visit again someday.


搵到食 (126) Dim Sum

126 Sims Avenue
Opening Hours: 24 Hour, Daily

Ho Keep Pau (和记包)

No. 43 Geylang Lorong 27 Tel: +65 6742 1468 Opening Hours: 24 Hour, Daily
http://www.hokeepau.com


MongKok Dim Sum (旺角点心)

214 Geylang Road Lor 8, Singapore
Tel: +65 6841 5133
Opening Hour: Weekdays (4pm - 5am), Weekends (10am - 5am)