Making Chee Cheong Fun - Tak Po at 42 Smith Street, Chinatown

Over at Tak Po, the Dim Sum items on the menu are hand crafted daily to meet the demands of the hungry diners. 

I manage to get a table beside the Dim Sum Chef in charge of making the Chee Cheong Fun. I watch with glee as the Dim Sum Chef rolled up his sleeves to demonstrate the art of making Chee Cheong Fun. 

Authentic Hong Kong Dim Sum - Tak Po at 42 Smith Street, Chinatown

If you are an early bird, and wonder where to find  a good place to catch some Dim Dum flavored worms, here's one of the favorite Dim Sum haunts that Bob & I go to - Tak Po at 42, Smith Street, Chinatown. 

This is a small outfit with about ten tables in an air-con section, and another 5 tables in al fresco area. Despite its limited space, Tak Po is always teeming with hungry patrons who think nothing of waiting 20 minutes just to get a seat, purely because they know that the Dim Sum here are made by hand, using fresh ingredients daily, by a team of experienced chefs who love their craft.  

I love it that Tak Po use an ordering Form where diners tick their order and submit to the service staff to process their order.

Bob ordered his century egg porridge. The ideal porridge should be gluey and thick, with all the rice grains totally dissolve in the soup stock, as seen here at Tak Po.

I ordered my chicken claws braised in spicy sweet sauce. The ideal chicken claw should be nicely soaked in spicy sweet sauce stewed over medium low heat for hours till the skin fully infused with the spicy sweet sauce, teases off the bones and melts in your mouth.

The Har Gau (Prawn Dumplings) at Tak Po has juicy fresh prawns wrap up in translucent skin, each unevenly shaped as they are hand made. When you bite into the Har Gau, you can hear the crunch in the prawn meat, as fresh prawns used here gives it that firm texture once cooked. 

This is the kind of authentic Hong Kong style Dim Dum standard I was looking at - bite size pork ribs marinated and steamed over medium low heat slowly over time to give the meat a melt in your mouth texture. 

For the Prawn Siew Mai below to get that crunchy bite, the defty Dim Sum chef must go to great lengths to knead the prawn paste thoroughly, with the occasional knocking back or punching down to ensure they have the springy texture. The result : crunchy yet firm Siew Mai oozes out the flavors of prawn, seasoned by Shaoxing wine, water chestnut, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken stock, ginger, scallion, pepper. 

Part 3 - Bob's 46th Birthday Bash at Zhou's Kitchen 周庄 at Square 2

The last round before the desserts arrived. This meal cost $80 including service charge & GST for 4 pax. I find it money well spent, for great tasting food made from fresh ingredients, served hot. I strongly recommend Zhou's Kitchen if you have cravings for Dim Sum. 

However, I was rather disappointed that some Dim Sum items  such as : Portuguese Egg Tart 葡式蛋挞 , Egg Tart 蛋挞, Mango Pudding 芒果布丁 , Honey Dew Pomelo Sago 蜜瓜西米露, Yam Balls 芋头丸, Crystal Dumpling (with turnip fillings)水晶包, Paper Chicken 纸包鸡  were not found on the menu. 

蜜汁叉烧包

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun 

辣味蒸风爪

Steamed Chicken Claws with Chilli Sauce 

大虾沙律

Prawn Salad with Mixed Fruits

菠萝咕噜肉

Sweet and Sour Pork with Pineapple Cubes

荷香珍珠鸡

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Diced Chicken

wrapped in Lotus Leaf

白肉水饺加麻辣汁

Steamed Pork Dumpling with Spicy Sauce

三鲜素饺

Steamed Vegetarian Dumpling

Part 2 - Bob's 46th Birthday Bash at Zhou's Kitchen 周庄 at Square 2

Given just 2 hours to try out the Weekend Hi-Tea ala carte menu of  32 items, we had to act fast. Grouch Two started off by ordering almost all of the items 1- 28, leaving the dessert items last. 

This is our second round. Those with Asterix* means we ordered twice. 

泰式龙利鱼扒*

Thai-style Deep-fried Dory Fillet *

Fillet is fried ala minute and serves hot - a must try !

酥脆炸春卷

Crispy Vegetarian Spring Roll

皮蛋瘦肉粥

Century Egg Porridge with Lean Pork

香煎腊味萝卜糕

Pan-fried Turnip Cake with Chinese Sausages

沙侓肉松炸窝贴*

Pan-fried Pork and Cabbage with Salad Dressing

and Pork Floss Dumpling “Guo Tie”*

香脆石榴果

Crispy-fried Pomegranate Fruit

马来风光

Wok-fried “Kang Kong” with Sambal Sauce

豉汁蒸排骨

Steamed Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

水晶虾饺

Steamed Shrimps Dumpling

Part 1 - Bob's 46th Birthday Bash at Zhou's Kitchen 周庄 at Square 2

Bob's a November child. He loves Dim Sum. We hardly go on holidays abroad so the next best thing is to explore Singapore for great Dim Sum Restaurants just to satisfy the Dim Sum Cravings. 

My recent trip to Zhou's Kitchen at Square 2 with Grouch Two & Grouch One leaves me with fond memories, and the thought of those Dim Sum delicacies sends my saliva running out of my buccal cavity. I must, I meant, WE need to visit Zhou's Kitchen again ! 

My last visit was on a weekday so the Hi -Tea ala carte Buffet Items were limited. But  25 Nov happens to fall on a Sunday, so Bob & I, together with Grouch Two & Stanley headed off to Zhou's Kitchen at Square 2 for Weekend Hi-Tea ala carte Buffet. The spread for weekend menu was bigger. We settled down and started eating. 

虾酱鸡 Deep-fried Chicken marinated with Prawn Paste Sauce

翡翠豆腐扒时蔬 Braised Homemade Beancurd with Vegetables

蟹枣 Fujian Styled Crab Meat Roll

奇味炸鱼皮 Crispy Fish Skin with Special Spiced Powder

酸辣羹 Braised Hot and Sour Soup 

酥皮叉烧酥 Baked Flaky BBQ Pork Pastry

Part 3 - Hi Tea Buffet at Zhou's Kitchen 周庄 at Square 2

Its's Dessert time galore at Zhou's Kitchen. After much feasting of the savoury, we switch our palates to the sweets. Here is a glimpse of the desserts array at Zhou's Kitchen :

擂沙汤丸

Rice Dumpling with Sesame Filling 

(* We ordered it twice as it tastes really great !)  

红豆沙 Red Bean Cream 

Part 2 - Hi Tea Buffet at Zhou's Kitchen 周庄 at Square 2

Zhou's Kitchen is part of the Tung Lok Group, and gets it's named from the family name of Andrew Tjioe, TungLok Group’s founder and Executive Chairman, and 周庄 (Zhou Zhuang) or Zhou’s Kitchen refers to the Zhou’s family kitchen where the family’s treasured recipes are concocted.

Zhou's Kitchen offers all-time Chinese favourites, as well as well-loved private recipes of the Zhou family.

The Branch at Square 2 started in 2008. 

Branch Address : Square2, #01-73, 19 Sinaran Drive, Singapore 307506. 

Tel : 65 68931123

蜜汁叉烧包

Steamed BBQ Pork Bun 

辣味蒸风爪

Steamed Chicken Claws with Chilli Sauce 

水晶蒸虾饺

Steamed Shrimp Dumplings 

椒盐豆腐

Deep Fried Bean Curd with Salted Pepper  

马来风光

Wok Fried Kang Kong with Sambal Sauce 

皮蛋瘦肉粥

Century Egg Porridge with Lean Pork 

沙侓肉松炸窝贴

Pan-fried Pork and Cabbage with Salad

Dressing and Pork Floss “Guo Tie” Dumpling (* we ordered this twice )

鱼子蒸烧卖

Steamed Pork ＆Shrimp Dumpling 

脆炸素春卷

Crispy Vegetarian Spring Roll 

荷香珍珠鸡

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Diced Chicken

wrapped in Lotus Leaf