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Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch

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Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch

Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch

Because of where we were staying we were literally like 10 minutes walk to central Chinatown and we took every advantage of that. Today was no exception. The kids were booked into do some VR gaming thing so we needed to be in the mix there and also to have somewhere for Wifey and I to grab a cold beverage and chat whilst they were doing that. We have not been to this place for something like 8-10 years and so it was time. Today we revisited an old favourite from back in the day when Naoko was still here with us. And it was just as good as I remembered it to be.

Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch

As I always like to do, let’s hear from them first;

“Yum Cha Restaurant first opened its doors in the heart of Chinatown. Yum Cha first started out in 2000 near Temple Street, Chinatown, with the aim of bringing back the dim sum tea house concept in a shophouse setting, with marble tables and wooden chairs for a nostalgic feel. Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, Yum Cha Restaurants offer a unique dim sum dining experience – be it for lunch or dinner.

Famed for its large variety of dim sum, ranging from traditional recipes such as Fish Roe with Siew Mai and Xiao Long Bao, to some of our chef’s modern creations, such as Mango Prawn Sesame Fritters and Squid Ink Dumplings. Yum Cha Restaurants have also extended their menu to include in favourite local items and seafood dishes, such as their Salted Egg Prawns and Roasted Peking Duck.

The usage of red colour and concrete walls help to keep the ambience contemporary and inviting. Customers can also enjoy traditional Hong Kong roast meats along with their dim sum. An embodiment of the very essence, taste and character, Yum Cha continues to be a popular icon in Singapore.”

“bringing back the dim sum tea house concept in a shophouse setting” – I love wording like that. Protect the food heritage, especially now with that Unesco recognition. So, great job Yum Cha. 20 years on and you still knock it out of the park. Let’s have a look.

Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
I always remember the teapot sign and taking the little elevator up to the 2nd floor. Just a brilliant little place (well look at the net photos, when I say little…)
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
The three guys to the right in white t-shirts and one guy in black mask is the very same table we sat at last time, I believe with my Mum. So that shows you just how long ago it was. It is PACKED here and 1st come 1st seated but with a 90-minute eating time so it turns around pretty quickly. We got here about 12:30 and waited for about 10 minutes. Perfect. It gave me time to study the B&W photos of old Singapore dotted around the walls.

And now here comes the food. Chinese tapas if you will and a shit tonne of it. I tried to remember our old favourites from yesteryear and here we go.

Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch

Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Roast Pork Belly ‘w’ Mustard is a must of course. Bloody nice. Super crunchy skin and sweet perfumed moist meat. So good.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Happy family at our beautiful corner table with monster lazy Susan which Jude Jude took control of immediately of course. The serving Aunty fell in love with us as soon they found out Amy spoke Chinese (Amy’s Chinese that is) – we became the talk of the restaurant.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Meat Dumpling in Chili Oil up next. Always amazes me in Chinese restaurants this. It states pork meat dumpling and when you dig in, it’s about 70% prawn. It does make me laugh. So handed over to #1 who said these were delicious.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Even the veggies were against me. Strawberry Blonde orders some greens. Kai Lan she said and it rocks up like this covered in fish and deep-fried greens with conpoy which is dried scallop. Again I have to rely on the others for a response to this and they said it was rather tasty. Sauteed Hong Kong Kai Lan ‘w’ Dried Conpoy.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
I remember loving this dish. The BBQ Roast Pork Rice Flour Roll. But today they have covered it in a black fishy chilli sauce (the black stuff). Yet another dish drops of my ‘able to eat’ on the lazy Susan. Damn!!! #1 liked this though.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
And this sister dish, the prawn version. Wifey said this was awesome and gave this a big tick in the box. Fresh Prawn Rice Flour Roll.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
The star of the show for me. The absolutely favourite. Abso-bloody-lutely amazing. Crispy, gooey, chewy, and off-the-charts savoury filling. Just a beautiful dish, so good we went back to get more of this. I could have eaten more and more of this. Stunning!!! Pan-Fried Pork Pancake.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
BBQ Pork Buns were really nice. Super-light and fluffy Bau with savoury pork filling. Kids went boom for these. Gone in a blink.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
The Xiao Long Bao was rather nice. Lovely with the sweet vinegar and ginger sauce. Very, very nice.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
The Chinese version of Japanese Gyoza. Never as good as my mother-in-law’s Gyoza, but then nothing is haha. But this is a delicious pot-sticker AKA Pan-Fried Chives & Meat Dumpling. BOOM!!!
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Well, it is Xmas after all. Yum Cha’s little food play on that. Crunchy Mini Reindeer. Actually, a dim sum stuffed with turkey & mushroom, covered in crushed rice and deep-fried and then ‘dressed’. So cute and actually seriously delicious. Jude Jude and Wifey demolished this little cutie.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
A really interesting one was the Prawn & Mango Sesame Fritters. The gang scoffed them all down and the reflected on how ‘unique’ they were.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
We had some seriously delicious Crispy Vegetarian Spring Rolls – really good and so fresh, absolutely 1000% hand-made there and then.
We had some seriously delicious Crispy Vegetarian Spring Rolls - really good and so fresh, absolutely 1000% hand-made there and then.
And then we had these little Pau. Truffle Mushroom Bun by another name. Stuffed with Shitake mushrooms and delicious truffle gelatin. Very tasty and I loved how they have made these look like little Shitake Mushrooms. Bloody brilliant.
Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch
Bloody brilliant and so, so cute. Little mushroom Pau.

We also ordered the Sliced Fish Congee which Wifey had all to herself and said was a great choice. Jude Jude and I also ordered an amazing dessert, like a seriously good dessert. I would order this every day of the week that they simply call Chilled Mango Pudding. A stunner. The rest of the gang ordered the family favourite of Pomelo Sago in Mango Juice. Strawberry Blonde had two of these in fact. Sorry to Yum Cha, idiot me had clearly had a brain-fart and forgot to take some photos of these dishes. All were beautifully plated and were very delicious.

So there you go. Our 1st time back in something like 8-10 years and well worth it. A superb array of food and amazing variety. And all for an incredible price of $180 all in for all food and drinks. Just superb value for such a delicious spread. This was Yum Cha @ Chinatown for Boxing Day Lunch. Well worth a trip to the centre of Chinatown to visit them at 20 Trengganu Street (just off Temple Street) at #02-01 – ENJOY!!!

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Brian Kennett

Father of 3. All my kids are mixed, with English-Japanese, and English-Filipino - a recipe in the making there. I have been cooking since a small lad, as guided by my Nan and my Mum - gradually that morphed through exposure to Thai cooking from a lovely lady called Da in Margate. I used to hang out in her restaurant and watch the techniques. So the 1+1= greater than 2 occurred - Mum/Nan/Da - off I went in to the world of Asian cuisine. Moving to Asia in early 2000's clearly has brought that on somewhat - we travel continually, and eat locally and therefore have exposure to more and more new things. I have lived my dream and written a cook book whilst here, an amazing experience and all for a good cause too as I raised a lot of money for charity. My blog is now hopefully turning in to book number 2. Watch this space. I hope you enjoy my passion.

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