Swee Choon!

Weekend evenings at Swee Choon along Jalan Besar are a very crowded thing. 

If on weekdays you expect a wait of fifteen minutes, on Fridays and Saturdays, you can expect thirty or more.

The wait deters no one from the queue, though. 

We stand- patiently- on the pavement along Syed Alwi Road- whilst the staff swings by from time to time to do customer service (check on us) and ask how many in the party we have. 

Pairs, threes, and fours tend to be seated faster.

Fives, sixes, sevens and eights usually have to wait a little longer. 

The crowd doesn't thin down even late into the evening. 

Swee Choon, after all, is known for its supper hours, and's super popular with young persons and persons wanting a late night, after-hours meal.  

There've been a few changes in the last few years. 

Now some of the tables are smaller, they're placed further apart, and we don't get to sit at the back of the place as we used to. 

Today everyone has to dine inside.  

It is for this reason, perhaps, that Swee Chon expanded their indoor seating areas and now not only do they occupy the two middle sections of the shop house row, they occupy both corner units as well. 

This extra seating makes it very good for a hungry dinner crowd, I'd say. 

We got a table at one of the (new) sections on the Sunday I went there. 

Being a bit on the hungry side, we decided not to take too long with the menu.  

First up was the crispy fried tofu which they (generously) sprinkle with pork floss. 

It's one of the dishes we order from time to time- not always- and so it was great to savor the crisp of the skin, the silky soft bean curd inside the skin, and the fluffy floss. 

Next up, came the yam puff, which, frankly, I have to say, I don't know enough of it to properly describe.

People familiar with it would be able to talk of it better. 

Me, I'll just say I think of it as a puff with soft, mushy yam that's covered with a crisp skin, lots of light, stringy bits embracing it, and a nice, warm filling inside. 

Eating this takes a bit of skill, by the way, especially if you're one of those who insist on having a clean plate after every piece. 

There must be a way to eat it without the stringy bits falling all over the plate but more often than not, that doesn't happen, and I end up having to scoop them up with the spoon. 

One of our favorites we like to order whenever we're here is the mee sua kueh. 

It doesn't matter whether we've had a full meal before this, or will have a full meal after this. 

There's always room. 

Maybe because it's one of the ubiquitous dishes here at Swee Choon, maybe because it's unusual, maybe because my companion has a thing for mee sua, and maybe because there aren't many places (i know of) that have it on their menu. 

Each piece comes in a big rectangular portion nicely cut up into cubes chopstick size for you to easily pick up. 

The edges are the best. 

They're crunchy, they're crispy, they've got just the right amount of bite, and yet firm enough such that you can do a delicate nibble if you don't feel like chowing down the whole cube in one bite. 

My friend favors the edges of the kueh the same way the skin of the beancurd rolls are favored. 

And because I like the fillings more than I like the skin, this beautifully wrapped piece of dim sum (unfortunately) gets dismantled beneath my chopsticks, upon which the fillings get swept out and the skin crosses over to the other side. 

It's preposterous, I know. 

But I like it this way. 

Dim sum is one of those things where everyone can enjoy the same dish in a variety of ways. 

Just like how some wait for their xiao long baos to cool before popping the whole bao into their mouth. 

Or how some pick it up with chopsticks (as gently as possible so as not to break the skin), take a small nibble, slurp up the soup, pour the remainder out on to the spoon, drink, then chomp up the dumpling. 

I belong to the latter. 

Always. 

At other places, also at Swee Choon.