Victor’s Kitchen

C says:

If you’re feeling in the mood for classic, good quality dim sum, head down to Victor’s Kitchen, which is tucked away inside Sunshine Plaza on Bencoolen Street. We read about this place in a food blog, and decided to try it on Sunday morning for brunch. Judging from the crowd at the restaurant in an otherwise deserted shopping mall, many other people had read the blog as well.

There isn’t a huge selection of dim sum at Victor’s, but everything that we tried was incredibly fresh. It probably helps that Victor is standing there continually making dumplings and other items, so that you know that what you’re getting is nothing short of 100% fresh.

The siew mai and har kau were amazing – generously filled with fresh prawns that were sweet and crisp and springy. The carrot cake was steamed, rather than the traditional pan-fried variety. This was a welcome change – it was much healthier, and you could really taste the individual ingredients of turnip, dried scallops and lup cheong without being overwhelmed by any oiliness.

The char siew pau and custard pau were good too. Unlike most commercial places where there’s more dough than filling, the paus at this place were very generous with the fillings. Of course, this isn’t exactly a plus point for carb-obsessed A, who would prefer 80% dough and 20% filling…

We had two chee cheong funs: char siew, and a very interesting you tiao one. The char siew one rocked – the cheong fun was very fine and silky smooth, and the sesame oil-laced sauce that it came with was perfect and not too salty. The you tiao one was interesting because of the difference in textures of the soft cheong fun and crispy you tiao, but it became quite gelak after a while.

The great thing about this place is, even with such fresh and good quality ingredients, the average price of each item is $3, which is on par with or even cheaper than other mass market dim sum places that are no where near the standard of Victor’s.

A says:

This is one hole-in-the-wall places I really don’t mind. Overall, it’s damn good dim sum. I like the you tiao chee cheong fun but a bit of an overdose if you eat the whole thing by yourself. The only thing I can think of that’s better somewhere else is the char siew pau (Crystal Jade ones are better).

Expect the staff to be brisk. Think they’re from China. Can be friendly but can also be very, “This your order? Nar!”