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2013-09-30
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Decked out in Tiffany blue, Royal China at Raffles Hotel exudes an aura of grandeur and elegance. I love how the restaurant has a high ceiling with large windows from the floor up, letting lots of natural light fill up the space. It was surprisingly packed for a weekday lunch; the main dining hall was full so we were ushered to the separate dining area at the back instead.This area is probably more suitable for private dining parties and dinners, and unfortunately we were seated right at the cor
Decked out in Tiffany blue, Royal China at Raffles Hotel exudes an aura of grandeur and elegance. I love how the restaurant has a high ceiling with large windows from the floor up, letting lots of natural light fill up the space. It was surprisingly packed for a weekday lunch; the main dining hall was full so we were ushered to the separate dining area at the back instead.
This area is probably more suitable for private dining parties and dinners, and unfortunately we were seated right at the corner where it was difficult to get the attention of the staff. Although it was a pretty nice and quiet environment to enjoy a relaxing meal. =]
First up we tried the Pan-fried Carrot Cake 香煎萝卜糕 ($4.00) which looked fantastic but tasted pretty normal. It was good that it had some turnip slices in the 'cake' to give it a varied texture.
We also ordered the Steamed BBQ Pork Bun 叉燒包 ($3.60). I thought the char siew filling wasn't as tasty as the I had at Imperial Treasure Nan Bei. It still had the rice wine taste to it, but it wasn't as prominent. Good thing that the skin of the pau was oh-so-fluffy! =D
And of course, I never miss a dim sum without ordering the usual Steamed Pork Dumpling ‘Siew Mai’ 燒賣 ($4.80) and Steamed Prawn Dumpling ‘Har Gow’ 蝦餃 ($4.80). The siew mai here comes with a wolfberry on top, instead of the usual fish roe and had a slight mushroom taste to it which was rather refreshing. The skin of the Har Gow was paper thin and jammed packed with crunchy fresh prawns.
While it's totally understandable that the restaurant is crowded and they are short on staff, it was disappointing that they got our order wrong. We actually ordered their specialty 3-in-1 Chee Cheong Fun (BBQ Pork, Prawn, Scallop) but only got the BBQ Pork Chee Cheong Fun 猪肠粉 ($4.80). Even after we highlighted the mistake to the staff, they brought the plate of chee cheong fun back to the kitchen, only to serve us with the same thing again (*rolls eyes*). The rice roll was pretty silk and moist and the meat was good too, so it was a pity that we didn't get to try the other fillings.
They also got quite a few of our other orders wrong - starting with the Deep Fried Beancurd Skin with Prawn 鮮蝦付皮卷 ($5.60) which took a very long time to be served and we even had to remind them twice. The only saving grace was that the food is good. The deep-fried beancurd skin was extra crispy and hot, and also very tasty.
The Baked BBQ Pork Pastry 叉燒酥 ($4.00) was another item we ordered that they forgot to serve - really not a good idea to sit in such a desolated corner. One bite and the pastry was crumbling all over the place, which is a mark of a good 叉燒酥.
This Steamed Custard Bun 流沙包 ($4.00) is quite interesting. Unlike the usual rich and flowy salted egg lava, this 流沙包 had a fruity note to it and I found out later that they had actually added mango juice to it which gives it a deep orange color. It was also more liquefied that normal. But overall, still equally yummy!
To end off our very long lunch, we had some Baked Egg Tarts 蛋挞 ($4.90)! They were quite tiny and I easily finished mine in one bite. =D Overall, although the service wasn't top-notch, I felt that the quality of food made up for it. Plus, the dim sum at Royal China was surprisingly affordable and not as expensive as I had expected. It would probably be better to make a reservation beforehand so that you don't get stuck in a corner where they will forget about you. I will definitely be back for more!
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