I was telling my colleague the other day that I have just been to Red Star Restaurant and their dim sums are well-priced. My colleague went “no no no, when it comes to dim sum, none can compare to Mouth Restaurant in terms of value-for-money and quality”, so we went down to Mouth Restaurant at Marina Square to see if their dim sum are really that good.
I had my first taste of Steamed Chicken Feet at Red Star Restaurant and the fall-off-the-bone tenderness and flavorful taste left a great impression on me, so we decided to order the Steamed Spicy Chicken Feet. It is as tender as ever and the taste is superb. It is every bit as good as those served at Red Star Restaurant.
Pan Fried Carrot Cake is commonly found in all dim sum restaurants and in many hawker centers and coffee shops around Singapore, so we decided to order the more exotic Sautéed Carrot Cake Cubes in X.O. Sauce. Chunky carrot cubes are fried together with bean sprouts and eggs. The carrot cake cubes are bigger than the carrot cake commonly found in hawker centers and they have more bite, the crispy bean sprouts adds crunch to the dish. I highly recommend this dish!
I thought I will be a little more adventurous and order this Traditional HK Rice Roll but I regretted my decision. The rice rolls are too soft and mashy and the sauces are too sweet for my liking. I still think Swee Choon’s rice rolls are the best I have tasted so far. Any objections?
Steamed Pork Ribs is another popular dim sum that you can find in any reputable dim sum restaurant and Mouth Restaurant’s Steamed Pork Ribs in Garlic Sauce is as good any of them. The pork ribs here come without bones which makes it easier to eat, you may call me weird but I actually like them better with bones as half the joy of eating pork ribs comes from chewing the bones.
Pork and Century Egg Congee is actually not part of the dim sum menu which is weird because congee is very much a dim sum item in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, you should definitely order this as the silky smooth porridge with a generous amount of pork and century egg totally blew me away. Definitely a “must-order” item.
Wow, these Steamed ‘Siew Mai’ with Prawn are HUGE! They are almost twice the size of regular Siew mai and they are delicious to boot. The sweetness from the fresh pork, huge prawn and fish roe will make you unable to stop after your first bite. Definitely one of my “must-order” item.
I decided to swap the all-too-common Steamed Char Siew Bao for this Steamed Chilli Crab Bun but I was rather disappointed. The bun is too thick and the chilli has totally overpowered the sweetness of the crabmeat.
Deep Fried Banana Prawn Roll is not something you can find in many restaurants and the sweetness of the banana goes very well with the fresh prawn.
It is impossible not to fall in love with Pan Fried Beancurd Skin Roll because it is so good. The sweetness of the fresh prawn is heightened by the beancurd skin and the pan-frying gives it a satisfying crispiness. We were so in love with this dish we ordered a second serving. If I have to choose my favourite dim sum in Mouth Restaurant, this is it.
Mouth Restaurant is very generous with the ingredients in the Steam Stuffed Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf such as chicken, Chinese sausage, cured pork belly and salted egg yolk. The chorus of aromas hits your nose the moment you open up the leaf, each bite leaves a lingering fragrance from the lotus leaf.
Mouth’s Steamed Prawn “Har Gao” is not as good as I envisioned it to be. The prawn filling is juicy and full of crunch but the skin breaks easily and it tastes too floury.
My colleague has proclaimed many times that Mouth Restaurant’s Baked Cream of Salted Egg Yolk Bun is the best Salted Egg Bun he has ever eaten and I have to agree with him that it is indeed very special. Traditional Chinese steamed bun is swapped with a thin pastry skin that is baked instead of steamed. The salted egg yolk filling is runny and has the full flavour of the salted egg yolk with its distinctive grainy texture. Although I can’t say it is the best Salted Egg Bun, it is definitely one of the “must-try” dim sum at Mouth Restaurant.
Mouth Restaurant makes up for its limited variety and slightly high price when it comes to dim sum with great quality. Dim sums at available at both Marina Square outlet and China Square outlet.
Addresses, telephone numbers, emails and directions for both the Marina Square outlet and China Square outlets can be found here.