Dim Sum: Royal China at Raffles

Well, we heard that there is this very good Dim Sum restaurant at Raffles Hotel. We decided to give it a try. We had good feelings about it because of the positive reviews and how people say that this restaurant made Dim Sum for the Chinese gods. And because it is always fully booked, we were sure that this place will certainly not let us down. We had our reservations made one week in advance. You can see how popular it is and its name, which says “ROYAL CHINA” made us awe even more. Ooooo, must be good!

 

Walking into the restaurant is like walking into a palace. Peaceful environment, soft spoken approachable staff, nice and neat table clothes and napkins, well printed HEAVY menu. In our minds, we were anticipating ultimate food pleasure that would mark our minds and souls forever!

However, it pretty much “stained” us with disappointment. Hey! What’s the big deal with this restaurant? Read on, Let me sayyyy…

To be honest, I am not satisfied with the food. There is literally nothing special about it. If you have tasted let’s say “char siew pau”, spend a moment to imagine how it tasted like… (5 sec). Yes that’s how their char siew pau tasted like. Nothing special at all! Nothing is unique about it, nothing is exciting about it. Everything tasted SO NORMAL. To be honest, quite a number of dishes are still below the “normal expected standards”.  After a few dishes, I changed this restaurant’s name in my heart to “NORMAL CHINA” instead of  “ROYAL CHINA”. You get “normal” food but paying for it at a “royal” price.

Now lets see what we’ve ordered. There’s really nothing special about anything. Looking at it is much better than tasting it.

Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao

This is not in the menu. So if you want to order it you'll have to order it from the staff. It came in just one Bao per basket, and the basket is smaller than an amoebae! It's not the usual sized basket we know that is used to contain char siew buns, so don't expect it to be big. It's just the usual xiao long bao size and it's not worth it at all! I think it's $7 or $8 for a xiao long bao, not worth it. Most of the time, when restaurants serve these small portion dishes, they will most likely be either very special or at least TASTY! (Well, they may have bought it from the food court nearby because all their cooks were on sick leave).

 Custard bun

These buns are one of those dishes that are below standard. The flour is stiff and scattered. The custard doesn't "flow" like what we've expected. When you eat it, it tasted like it has been in the refridgerator for a month and were not heated up enough. Absolute absolute disappointment.

Fried scallop with yam

The yam is at the bottom of the scallop. Taste normal to us. Nothing much to review about it. I guess many Tze Char stalls do it better.

Chee cheong fan in seseme sauce

Thick chalks that were soften by soy sauce and water.

Chicken feet

Taste a little normal.

Steam pork rib

This is bad. The best thing about this dish is the chilli toppings.

Cha siew bun

Just look at it.

Har gao

Steamed prawn dumpling. Taste: normal.

Siew mai

Doesn't taste anything special. Simply said: normal.

Apple Jelly

Taste too sweet! It taste like jam. Jelly is soft and there were some nuts and dried fruit in it. Wouldn't recommend it.

Gui Ling Gao

We were very disappointed. Initially, we thought that at least the restaurant provides good service. But in the end, when its near 3pm, the whole ambience changed. Its almost like their staff are hinting the customers that there is a fire burning down the restaurant and we had to quickly leave. After paying the "royal" bill, we quickly left this "normal" restaurant.

Address:

1 Beach Road

Raffles Hotel Arcade