Penang Dim Sum Food Restaurant @ Jalan Macalister, Penang

I'm not a morning person that wake up early to have breakfast. However, whenever I happen to be in Penang, it is like a miracle that I will automatically get up early to have my breakfast. Dim sum is one of the many choices that I choose as my meal for a new day in Penang.

It may sound unusual to have dim sum for breakfast in Penang, but trust me, you will have a second thought after trying out at Dim Sum Food Restaurant. They are located along Jalan Macalister and serve really good dim sum at a very reasonable price.

Dim Sum Food Restaurant along Jalan Macalister

Dim Sum Food Resturant is operated by the same owner which also operates Restoran Zim Sum in Jalan Anson.

Dim Sum Food Restaurant

To accelerate the orders, they adapted the self-service system where you pick your choice of dim sum and bringing them yourself to your table.

Self-service at the pick up counter

Pick your choice

Very crowded especially during the weekends

On my previous visit, this is some of the dim sum that I had with my parents.

Char Siew Pau (RM 1 each)
I thought it was a steal at it's price with a big size. It tasted great and one of the better Char Siew Pau that I have enjoyed.

Egg Tart (RM 1 each)
The pastry offered a mild crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Another pastry that I really enjoyed.

Siu Mai (RM 2.50 per platter)
Very juicy and full with chewiness of the succulent fresh prawn.

Salad Prawn (RM 3 per platter)
Not spectacular but not bad either.

Char Siew Pastry (RM 1 each)
This is the bomb! Each bite on it unfold the fluffiness of the pastry that melts in your mouth with an aromatic buttery smell and tasty Char Siew fillings. Simply awesome!

Loh Mai Kai (RM 3 each)
Mimicking the Hong Kong style, the glutinous rice is wrapped with leaves. The texture of the glutinous rice is just nice, neither too soft nor too hard. It was well flavoured too and thus it can be categorized as above average.

Assorted Yong Tau Foo (RM 1 per piece)
The fish paste tasted original but it is not the best yong tau foo for me.

Yu Mai (RM 2 per platter)
It is being rolled together with bean curd skin. Tasted decent with a very original texture of fish meat.

Fried Fish Ball (RM 2 per platter)
Taste wise is the same as Yu Mai but it is being fried instead of steamed.

Besides dim sum, they also offer other food such as congee, fried vegetables and fried noodles. On my every visit, I will never miss out ordering a plate of Fried Cantonese Style flat noodles.

Fried Cantonese Style Flat Noodles (RM 4.50 per plate)
The perfectly timed drizzling of the egg added extra smoothness to the not too oozy gravy. Not only that, it comes with a generous serving accompaniments of big succulent prawn and fresh grouper fish fillet. Add on with the wok hei, it is one of the best that I had ever tasted.

Should your initial pick up from the counter is not enough, need not worry as they have waitress with the dim sum cart going from table to table. Just replenish your favourite dim sum to satisfy your cravings.

Dim Sum cart

The total bill for the above dim sum came to RM 29.50 which include a pot of Chinese tea. I've got no complain about the taste of the food, what's more on the exceptionally reasonable pricing of it. This is when you think your money is all worth being spent!

Atmosphere: 5.5/10
Food: 7.5/10 (non-halal)
Price: 8/10
Verdict: Pretty good dim sum at an exceptionally cheap price! Be here early to avoid queuing for table!

Restoran Zim Sum (right opposite of UMNO building)
53, Macalister Road
10400
Penang
Business hours: 8am - 2pm (Mon to Fri), 8am - 3pm (Weekends and Public Holiday)

Dim Sum Fortune House @ Sri Petaling, KL

When the Klang Valley people talked about dim sum, they will not missed mentioning Sri Petaling. Sri Petaling, a town which is located just beside the infamous Bukit Jalil offers a wide variety choices of dim sum stalls around the clock to choose from.

On Eddie's previous holiday trip back to KL, just before he catches his plane back to Sabah, I brought him to Sri Petaling for some dim sum brunch. The stall that we patronized on that day was Dim Sum Fortune House which is located at the dim sum stall stretches along the main road of Jalan Radin Anum 1.

Dim Sum Fortune House

There will be waiter attending to you. So just pick your choice of raw dim sum from the varieties and they will get back to you with the cooked one. One that day, the dim sum that we had were:

Steamed Spare Ribs
Pretty decent spare ribs with a decent serving.

Fried Coated Bread Crumbs Fish Ball
Another ordinary plate of fish ball with nothing particular to shout about.

Braised Chicken Feet
Well infused chicken feet with the flavourful spicy gravy. One of the better dish that I enjoyed on that day.

Stuffed Brinjal with Fish Paste
Deserved some credits for the sponginess of the fish paste. Could be better though.

Loh Mai Kai
Tasted bland and lacking in flavour. Making things worse, it was way too dry.

Siew Mai
A very average siew mai. Thankfully the taste was acceptable, but the shrimp did not tasted fresh.

Yu Mai
Texture was too soft like eating a hardened tau foo. The taste was forgettable as well.

Stuffed Fu Chuk with Fish Paste
Again, texture of the fish paste was way too soft.

Fried Raddish Cake
A disgrace to the dish and a torture to the taste bud. Not only it was served cold but it tasted crap.

Mushroom with Fish Paste
Fortunately this was decent even though the taste was not spectacular.

Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun
It was not steaming hot, the texture of the chee cheong was rough and the gravy were lacking in flavour. They should take this out from their menu if they know that they could not prepare at least a decent one.

The total bill came to RM 50.40 for the dim sum above and drinks as well. Honestly, I think that it is quite pricey considering the quality of dim sum that we had. I did not enjoyed my dim sum on that day and definitely will be visiting other stall should I happen to be in Sri Petaling for some dim sum.

Atmosphere: 4/10
Food: 4/10 (non-halal)
Price: 4.5/10
Verdict: You should consider visiting other dim sum stall first before this.

Dim Sum Fortune House
130-1, Jalan Radin Anum 1
Bandar Baru, Sri Petaling
57000, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel : 012 - 258 4250 / 016 - 979 4103

Dim Sum Restaurant Jin Xuan Hong Kong @ Damansara Jaya, PJ

Ever thought before of tasting Hong Kong Dim Sim but not wanting to fly all the way there? There is this Restaurant Jin Xuan Hong Kong located in Damansara Jaya business shop lots that serves Hong Kong dim sum.

On a late evening of a weekday, I was scrolling around looking for food at the shop lot. Then I came across this shop and decided to give a try. Being a banana and unable to read most of the Chinese character, I only realized that this shop serves dim sum when I was already seated.

Restaurant Jin Xuan Hong Kong Dim Sum

They design and the layout of the shop are very much on the oriental side. Wooden chairs and round tables were laid upon, very much resembling the traditional Chinese layout.

An oriental setting

Deep Fried Sesame Balls (RM 4 per plate)
The texture was average but the fillings were very sweet.

Stuffed Green Chillies (RM 4 per plate)
Pretty decent as the succulent green chillies were stuffed with the spongy fish paste. However the accompanying gravy was way too sweet!

Fried Yam Pastry (RM 4 per plate)
The pastry was crispy on the outside but it was not fluffy enough to claim as a good yam pastry.

Fried Salad Shrimp (RM 4.50 per plate)
The fuu-chuk was crispy and the shrimp were succulent too! One of the better dish for the night.

Steamed Sticky Rice a.k.a. Loh Mai Kai (RM 4 per plate)
The texture of the rice were just nice, neither too soft nor too hard. Taste wise, it was decently flavoured.

Just when I'm enjoying my plate of Loh Mai Kai, I realized that there was an immense amount of oil on the bottom of the plate. A closer look at it and my eyes were right! Guess they want more people to be in the Cholesterol Club.

An oil infused Loh Mai Kai!

Hong Kong Prawn Chee Cheong Fun (RM 4.80 per plate)
Fail is the word to describe it. The texture of the chee cheong fun were not smooth and just too thick.

Siu - Mai (RM 4 per plate)
Thanks to their homemade, there were sizeable prawn in the siu-mai and it was very meaty. Taste wise was decent, but not top notch.

Steamed Spareribs (RM 4.50 per plate)
Spareribs were well infused with their flavourful seasoning. It was steamed to perfection maintaining the juiciness and the smoothness of the spareribs meat. My pick of the dim sum!

The total bill came to RM 40.50 after service and tax charges that inclusive of a pot Jasmine Tea. The price might be slightly expensive but after taking the fact that you are dining in a great ambiance and with the quality of their food, you tend to have a second thought.

Atmosphere: 7/10
Food: 6/10
Price: 5.5/10
Verdict: Average homemade Hong Kong dim sum at an average price.

Restaurant Jin Xuan Hong Kong Sdn. Bhd.
No 59, 61 & 63
Jalan SS 22/19
Damansara Jaya, 47300
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Malaysia
Tel: 603 - 7729 6866

Restoran Zim Sum @ Anson Road, Penang

If the Japanese has sushi, Chinese has their own version of sushi too, which we refer to as dim sum. Dim sum come in a small portion that consist of steamed stuff, fish balls or even fried stuff. As the years passed by, there are more dim sum variety to choose from, thanks to the creativeness of human. However, the typical dim sum such as siew mai, fish ball and loh mai kai will still remain as the old favourite.

An early Sunday it was, I was brought by Phooi Khuan to this dim sum stall for a breakfast before our trekking activities. The stall is located along the Anson Road and opposite of KDU college in Georgetown.

Even though it was only 7ish in the morning, but the place were almost full house. Fortunately, we could get a table.

Crowded as always

Whilst there are waiter with their dim sum cart coming to you, there are certain dishes that you need to hand pick them yourself from the counter. It is always better to proceed to the counter if you want fresher and a better variety of dim sum.

Self-service counter

I had the fried stuff first since that was the first tray being offered to me.

Fried Yam Pastry
The Chinese called them Wu Kok, the yam ball were stuffed with Char Siew and then being deep fried. One of my favourite dim sum. Whilst this is not the best I have eaten, I would rate it as an above average for the fluffiness and the well flavoured fillings.

Next, we had the steaming stuff.

Fish Ball
Children labeled them as fish ball but the proper name for it is Yu Mai which literally means fish paste. The taste was alright but it would better if it was served a little steaming.

Siew Mai
A typical favourite dim sum that consisted of minced pork and prawn. It was decent and good enough to satisfy my favourite craving of Siew Mai.

Shrimp Dumplings
Another old time favourite in which Chinese labelled them as Har Gow. Decent in taste and prawn was fairly sweet and succulent. However, it was served rather cold because we took it from the cart. Maybe, it will be better if we took it from the counter directly.

Being so nice of her as always, Phooi Khuan proceeded to the self-service counter to grab some porridge and Chee Cheong Fun.

Anchovies Porridge
A very below average porridge. Whilst the porridge were smooth, it however tasted bland.

Century Egg Porridge
My bowl of porridge that I did not enjoy eating. It was lacking in flavour and soy sauce could barely make it better.

Char Siew and Shrimp Chee Cheong Fun
Originated from Hong Kong, the Chee Cheong Fun were stuffed with char siew and shrimp. Average in taste but I liked their sambal belacan here which added extra flavour to my Chee Cheong Fun.

The total bill came to RM 15 for the dim sum that we ordered. It took me sometime to digest the amount before paying. Clearly, I was shocked with the unbelievably cheap pricing of their dim sum. For sure, I will put dim sum under my to-eat-list on my next trip to Penang.

Atmosphere: 5/10

Food: 6/10 (non-halal)
Price: 8/10
Verdict: The dim sum was average but the pricing were unbelievably cheap! Be here early to avoid queuing for table!

Restoran Zim Sum (right opposite of KDU College)
35, Anson Road
10400
Penang
Business hours: 6.30am - 1.00pm

Chef Fatt Dim Sum @ Ipoh

Entering the day two of the tiger year. I got up as early as 6.30am to prepare myself for a breakfast with Mei Mei. Since I'm unfamiliar with Ipoh, we decided to meet up at the Shell Station after the Sam Poh Tong temple. I was really surprised as she arrived way earlier than I do. That proven that she didn't actually practiced Thailand time.

Anyway, our initial plan was to have Dim Sum at the famous Foh San Restaurant. How unfortunate we were as the restaurant was still closed for business. We came across this restaurant and since we don't have much choice, we decided to give this restaurant a try.


Each of the table was fully occupied. We were lucky though as we were able to get a table just right away. However, there was still no one came to clear the table. We needed to wait for another 20 minutes before they finally clear the table for us. Oh well, I supposed they were lacking of staff due to the overwhelming crowd.

Tables were fully occupied

I have always liked table service dim sum style rather than self-service. This restaurant operates on this basis and this makes dim sum selection way easier. We were being served almost instantly after our table was cleared.

Meat Dumpling

The fillings consists of pork meat and some coriander. It tasted a little bit like the Siu Long Bao and bit of Sui Kow. Nothing to shout about, but this is the first time I came across this type of Dim Sum.

Green Siew Mai
I really can't taste much difference between this and the original Siew Mai.

Wu Kok
Yam pastry stuffed with char siew fillings. The pastry was fluffy while the fillings were juicy and full with flavour. Just love every bite of it.

Spring Roll
Crispy spring roll stuffed with some fish paste.

Fried Sui Kow
It was fresh, crispy and the fillings was burning hot. The best part was, the bite of the succulent and juicy prawn was generous. Now this is what I called a Sui Kow.

Fish Paste Fillet
Mei Mei's favourite. So good that she greedily ordered 2 portions. Best to dip with some mayonnaise.

Siew Mai
A decent Siew Mai. Plus point was it was still steaming hot when it was served on the table.

Yu Mai
I'm still wondering why they called steamed fish ball as Yu Mai.

Prawn Siew Mai
After so many different types of Siew Mai, I supposed most of them tasted almost alike. Just that the ingredients and the name of it was a little bit different.

Prawn Dumpling
I can't recall when the last time I had a great Har Kow as this. The skin was smooth and the generous prawn fillings were unbelievably fresh, succulent and juicy.

The total bill came to RM 43 inclusive of a pot of Chinese tea. We had a very satisfying early morning breakfast. Even though the weather in Ipoh was burning hot, the cozy air-conditioned ambiance was good enough to keep us for more than an hour enjoying our dim sum and sipping on to the Chinese tea. Thank you Mei Mei for the breakfast=)

Atmosphere: 6/10

Food: 7/10
Price: 6/10
Verdict: A very original deliciously tasted Dim Sum at a decent price.

Restoran Chef Fatt,
57-59, Jalan Raja Ekram,
30450, Ipoh,
Perak
Tel: 012-5089126