For a dim sum place that's open till 0400 on most days and weekends, I've never actually been here beyond 2245. :)
Not once.
Not once at all.
If I'm here, I'm here usually because I'm making a trip to Mustafa, which is five steps away along Syed Alwi Road, or because I'm just coming out from it.
And because a trip to Mustafa means that I'm either uber hungry after all that walking from one end to the other, or that I'm fueling up to walk from one end to the other, I'm just so glad the dim sum here at Swee Choon is filling, tasty, has plenty of variety and is all at a great, great price. :)
I love their yam puffs.
Inside each one they've got a bit of green pea, they've got a bit of carrot cube, it's light and crispy on the outside and it's all mushy and tasty on the inside.
Best part, their yam puffs are a staple here, and save for one time, they've hardly run out of them.
Which is a very good thing, because yam puffs are sort of a staple when it comes to dim sum, but it can be like a hit and miss at many places where they're permanently on the menu, but "very sorry, dear patron, we've run out today."
Hearing that can be a wee bit of disappointment.
Especially when staple dishes are such a huge thing when it comes to dim sum. It's a cultural perspective, an element that you recognize as being dim sum no matter which part of the globe you are at. You could have it in Hong Kong or China or Australia or US; just the sight of bamboo baskets, steamers, woks, tea pots, small plates and staple orders tell you that yup, you're having dim sum.
Most places do have their signature dishes; stuff that you won't quite find elsewhere cos' of the resident in-house shifu and all, and it's no different here at Swee Choon where you've got banana prawn fritters, you've got super deep fried pumpkin balls with salted egg custard warm and gooey inside, and you've got mee suah kueh.
I love their mee suah kueh.
It's really good.
Kind of reminds me of a bowl of d*** solid mee suah molded into a rectangular shaped piece of kueh, lightly covered with egg or flour or something, then deep fried to this glistening golden brown, so you get it crispy on the outside and then meltingly soft and just that little bit chewy on the inside.
 |
| Mee Suah Kueh |
Makes a nice inclusion to a great meal for a weekend evening. :)
Weekends are the most crowded here.
Maybe because there's a bit of cha chan teng vibe to the place.
And there's a bit of that neighborhood coffee shop feel, like the one you go to when your mother interrupts what you're doing to "can you go downstairs and tapao dinner.."
It's not just in the fluorescent lights, the tables or the crockery. It's present amongst the staff too. Efficient, friendly, no-nonsense, remarkably observant, and also, kind. We were there one time and a staff switched seats for an elderly so that she could eat more comfortably on a lean-back chair than have to crouch on a narrow stool.
 |
| Little Plates, little Foods |
It is this vibe, this atmosphere, together with their offerings, that probably define the long queues, and what has their customers coming back, whatever the day, whatever the time.
For me and my dining companion, what keeps us coming back from time to time, are the staples.
They're so comforting.
Like the cheong fun, the char siew or the prawn, rolls of steamed flour bathed in sauce soft and mellow and rounded and smooth on the tongue. We eat up everything, including the sprng onions.
And the ubiquitous char siew pau, fluffy, warm, sweet and comforting, and which, on this day that I tried to take a picture, somehow managed to make the paus glow in the light of an early evening sun.
And of course, the prawn puffs, deep fried, slightly chewy, slightly crunchy pastry over one big juicy prawn.
 |
| cheong fun |
 |
| Shadowy Paus |
 |
| Prawn Puffs |