This place, tucked away in the heartland neighbourhood of Toa Payoh, has fast become one of my new favorite places for dim sum- and hearty dim sum buffets- because dim sum is best appreciated when there's variety- lots of it- on the table- and at a flat price.
Call me suaku, but until I turned up here at Swatow Seafood, it never occurred to me that a place this far from Chinatown (and her outskirts) would have dim sum this good.
Of course I'd forgotten about the growth of housing estates that sprung up all around Singapore in the mid 70s, the wave of people who went along with it, and the enclaves that 'resettled' in their new high rise flatted homes.
Swatow Seafood is as Chinese a restaurant as it can be. From her décor to her table setting to her service, the place exudes a subliminal grandeur that even tea-drinking, newspaper-reading, quiet-discussing elderly can abide. There're strong hints of the Teochew heritage all around the restaurant, of course, especially at the entrance, where two formal-looking chairs, and two ceremonial robes (male and female) hang on the wall behind.
Not only do they make for a great post meal photo-op, they also let you in on a little of cultural appreciation.
Elements of the Teochew culture are rich here, starting from the very first dish that they serve to you. You would think you came here for dim sum, yes indeed, but the first plate that appears on your table is a smorgasbord of little appetizers that include strips of cold jellyfish, steamed broccoli, smoked duck, a bowl of soup, and some sort of fish cake.
The dim sum comes thereafter- trundling along in steaming baskets and hot trays on trolleys pushed by the wait staff who introduce the dishes and make recommendations as they go along. They know their stuff- these ladies- and can answer questions easily on the ingredients and whether the filling is too sweet or even what ratio of ingredients there are inside that pastry puff.
I usually get my favorites- char siew pau, har gow, siew mai, cheong fun, yam puff, prawn puff and char siew sou. Between the yam puff and the prawn puff, I actually like the yam more, but who can resist a big, pink prawn inside a crusty deep fried piece of flour? The char siew pau is, of course, fluffy and warm and soft and I have to decide whether to be refined and eat it with chopsticks, or go barbaric and eat with my hands. The cheong funs- I usually take prawn and char siew- are warm, soft and silky and we split the three pieces equally between us so it's all good and fine.
They have some lovely offerings here that I don't quite find elsewhere and so I always make sure to get those.
Like fried siew mais.
I know it's not really big a deal- it's just fried- but it is done really well and it is unusual!
Then there's the red bean pastry.
Sure, it is not too hard to find, but I like how it adds a sweet-savory alternative to the meal repertoire.
From time to time I have the radish pancake (where I'm tempted to eat only the crispy sides) or the pumpkin pancake (where I'm also tempted to eat only the crispy sides).
I have the custard pau and the pau with salted egg filling too if the mood strikes. Whoever came up with salted egg filling- described with a most grandiose sounding name- is a genius, and it takes effort to not have it in an unbecoming way- like licking up the filling from the interior of the bun, or making a small hole and sucking the filling up, instead of eating it like a decent, well brought up adult- munching the pau as a whole.
Their century egg pork porridge here is wonderful. I'm Cantonese, so having a bowl of thickly textured century egg porridge is familiar to me. What makes theirs unusual is that they've added gingko nut to the preparation, and so although there's no gingko nut in the porridge (I haven't found any thus far), the taste of it lingers in every spoonful.
Then there's the salted egg fish skin. I suppose it is something one can expect when you're at a seafood restaurant- and a Teochew one at that- but this is really good. The first time we came, we had two plates and felt so stuffed thereafter. The second time we wised up and stuck to one... whilst quietly wishing that we could tapao the second plate away. :P
Of course we didn't.
Too rude we would have been- and as much as we can stretch the rules of customary etiquette- grabbing a plate of salted egg fish skin in plain sight of the staff, we just can't.
I wouldn't want to be banned from Swatow Seafood.
For the reason that their afternoon dim sum buffet gives me the chance to relive wonderful memories of Chinese-restaurant dining at a great price. The lights, the décor, the tablecloth, the chairs, the carpet, the table setting, the staff, the way they serve- it's all reminiscent of special birthday dinners and wedding dinners at the Chinese restaurants I used to go to.
It's been a long while since I've been to one- I guess relationships differ somewhat- but memories of family dinners and lively chatter come back to me from time to time, especially when dessert is served.
Because no where else but in a place like this will the wait staff come trundling down the aisle between the tables with a trolley full of typical dinner-time desserts that include black sesame paste, almond jelly and longan dessert, and cute little bowls of mango pudding (already) infused with evaporated milk inside.
The dim sum comes thereafter- trundling along in steaming baskets and hot trays on trolleys pushed by the wait staff who introduce the dishes and make recommendations as they go along. They know their stuff- these ladies- and can answer questions easily on the ingredients and whether the filling is too sweet or even what ratio of ingredients there are inside that pastry puff.
I usually get my favorites- char siew pau, har gow, siew mai, cheong fun, yam puff, prawn puff and char siew sou. Between the yam puff and the prawn puff, I actually like the yam more, but who can resist a big, pink prawn inside a crusty deep fried piece of flour? The char siew pau is, of course, fluffy and warm and soft and I have to decide whether to be refined and eat it with chopsticks, or go barbaric and eat with my hands. The cheong funs- I usually take prawn and char siew- are warm, soft and silky and we split the three pieces equally between us so it's all good and fine.
They have some lovely offerings here that I don't quite find elsewhere and so I always make sure to get those.
Like fried siew mais.
I know it's not really big a deal- it's just fried- but it is done really well and it is unusual!
Then there's the red bean pastry.
Sure, it is not too hard to find, but I like how it adds a sweet-savory alternative to the meal repertoire.
From time to time I have the radish pancake (where I'm tempted to eat only the crispy sides) or the pumpkin pancake (where I'm also tempted to eat only the crispy sides).
I have the custard pau and the pau with salted egg filling too if the mood strikes. Whoever came up with salted egg filling- described with a most grandiose sounding name- is a genius, and it takes effort to not have it in an unbecoming way- like licking up the filling from the interior of the bun, or making a small hole and sucking the filling up, instead of eating it like a decent, well brought up adult- munching the pau as a whole.
Their century egg pork porridge here is wonderful. I'm Cantonese, so having a bowl of thickly textured century egg porridge is familiar to me. What makes theirs unusual is that they've added gingko nut to the preparation, and so although there's no gingko nut in the porridge (I haven't found any thus far), the taste of it lingers in every spoonful.
Then there's the salted egg fish skin. I suppose it is something one can expect when you're at a seafood restaurant- and a Teochew one at that- but this is really good. The first time we came, we had two plates and felt so stuffed thereafter. The second time we wised up and stuck to one... whilst quietly wishing that we could tapao the second plate away. :P
Of course we didn't.
Too rude we would have been- and as much as we can stretch the rules of customary etiquette- grabbing a plate of salted egg fish skin in plain sight of the staff, we just can't.
I wouldn't want to be banned from Swatow Seafood.
For the reason that their afternoon dim sum buffet gives me the chance to relive wonderful memories of Chinese-restaurant dining at a great price. The lights, the décor, the tablecloth, the chairs, the carpet, the table setting, the staff, the way they serve- it's all reminiscent of special birthday dinners and wedding dinners at the Chinese restaurants I used to go to.
It's been a long while since I've been to one- I guess relationships differ somewhat- but memories of family dinners and lively chatter come back to me from time to time, especially when dessert is served.
Because no where else but in a place like this will the wait staff come trundling down the aisle between the tables with a trolley full of typical dinner-time desserts that include black sesame paste, almond jelly and longan dessert, and cute little bowls of mango pudding (already) infused with evaporated milk inside.