The full name of this restaurant here in a (quiet) industrial estate on Sims Drive not far from the James Cook University campus is Five Star Hong Kong Style Handmade Dim Sum.
I, however, don't usually call it by that name. It's a little too long. Instead I prefer to refer to it as 'the Shun Li Dim Sum'- and that's enough, if not, more.
See, Five Star is one of those places that doesn't boast a grand entrance.
It's not a restaurant where you get the welcoming lights of a shopping mall leading you way or the enticing warm lights of a footpath guiding you up to the maître standing outside checking reservations and assigning tables.
To get to Five Star you first enter the Shun Li Industrial Estate. From there you walk along the car park to the right block, walk up a cemented ramp, go past the security counter, follow the signs, and get to the lift that, on regular work days, seems to double up as a passenger, or even cargo lift.
Everything here is an industrial grey.
Not industrial-chic, industrial grey, legit, unaesthetic, original.
The hallway leading to the entrance of the restaurant too is industrial. The walls are high, painted a shade of white that by now has gone off grey, and on the floor, dark grey cement shiny from use stepped many times over.
Don't come here expecting a carpeted entrance or a carpeted floor.
You'll get none.
Instead, come here expecting good, sincere, handmade food that almost feels homemade.
There is a certain vibe here that really does remind a person of Hong Kong.
I don't know if it is the decor, the way the tables are arranged, the view outside the window, or just the tablecloths and crockery that they use here, but something about the place makes me think of those old-school cha chaan tengs that serve dim sum and which look like they have not changed their decor since the 80s, or earlier.
There's not much of a garden ground scenery one gets here, but you do get a lovely clear view of the PIE expressway, the housing blocks around what I think is Boon Keng housing estate and parts of the Kallang area, which, even after all these few visits, I've not managed to decipher where is where.
I, of course, pay more attention to the food.
It is that which gets to me.
The menu here is extensive, I tell you. Not only do they have the dim sum, they too have main dishes, and even zichar.
I'm not able to really comprehend just how it is diners can have dim sum and mains and zichar all at the same time but maybe I'm too streamlined when it comes to meals and so I don't usually aim for the variety.
The dim sum menu here alone is very charming.
They've got regular favorites of Fresh Prawn Beancurd Skin, Salad Prawn Dumplings, Fried Carrot Cake, Egg Tarts and Lor Mai Kai.
But they've also got food that will appeal to you whatever your appetite be for that day.
I had thought we come here only for the dim sum, so imagine how surprised I was when going to collect our food from the cashier counter, I discovered that my friend had ordered not just dim sum, but two dishes of spicy Sichuan flavors as well.
They weren't small even, these two plates, one of La Zi Ji and one of Chili Mala Dumplings. The La Zi Ji was chock full with them bite sized pieces of fried chicken, and the Mala Dumplings were soft, smooth, big, and so silky when doused with the spicy chili oil.
It was wonderful taking a bite of the dumpling, feeling the soft skin against the roof of my mouth, the warm chew of the meat, and feeling it go down all so smooth.
We alternated the Sichuan spice with the dim sum, and to my surprise, the flavors didn't clash.
Not one bit at all.
There was them fluffy Char Siew Baos and Braised Pork Baos in their baskets.
Special mention has to be made of the Char Siew Baos. If you're the kind who loves your paus well-steamed and bouncy, you will love these here. Never mind that you can get them at other places elsewhere, just order these.
You won't regret.
Not when these ones here seem to have just the perfect amount of flour in proportion to the filling, so one bite gets you the perfect balance of bao, and char siew. What's more, the filling isn't very sweet. Red the color is, yes, so very appetizing to the eyes, but not sweet to the degree that it overwhelms.
I think the best part has to be the fluff, really, where you feel it all mush up on your mouth warm, comforting and fulfilling.
The Braised Pork Baos, Buns, too were a delight.
They were a dish I particularly wanted.
Especially since it is not every dim sum place that has Kong Bak Bao on the menu together with Siew Mais and Har Gows.
If you know how Braised Pork Baos taste like, well, that's exactly how they were. A nice smooth flour bun with a thick chonky slice of beautifully braised pork belly sitting in the center. I'm not usually a fan of thick belly fat but this one had a sauce so rich and so full of its five-spice flavor that I didn't feel icky chewing through the fat at all.
Not only did the Sichuan spice not clash with both these baos, they didn't clash with the Cheong Fun either.
This afternoon my friend had ordered a single portion of the Fresh Prawn Cheong Fun.
The flour of the roll was, let me tell you, exceptionally thick.
Such is how you know the dim sum is handmade and not factory made.
It is the flour that makes all the difference. Factory made ones are tiny, the flat rice noodles are tiny, and they don't get all soft and chewy even if they be steamed for hours in the portable tray steamer at the coffee shops.
This one, on the other hand, was layered at least four times, the top of the cheong fun was flat and huge, and the whole portion was served in three separate pieces.
We had ordered prawn, but funnily enough, it isn't the prawn that I remember most, but the flour, and the sauce. The flour was chewy, and the sauce, even though it was soy sauce, wasn't as salty as I imagined it would be.
On the table too there was a plate of steamed meatballs that I specially ordered, having remembered them being really good from the last time we were here. I don't quite remember how they were like- unfortunately- but I know they were really tasty, the whole ball was one whole lump of soft, juicy, minced meat, and being steamed, they were soft, mushy, full of flavor, and just so comforting to eat.
Of course we aren't the sort who can do without fried stuff when it comes to dim sum, so today we decided to have two.
There was a plate of Home Style Fried Dumplings, which honestly, I don't really know what they were. But they were really round ones, I have to say, with a pleasant savory filling in which I had to hold my piece very carefully with chopsticks lest my hands slip and the whole piece roll down onto the floor. The skin was crisp, not very heavy nor oily, yet still light on the tongue. I think the filling was that of meat, vegetables, and something else that I should have taken a picture of- because now I cannot remember.
Finally on the table there were the Salad Prawn Dumplings that were, shall we say, super crunchy, especially the edges, so much so that I felt it better to nibble them off bit by bit before dunking the whole dumpling into mayonnaise.
There're more dishes that I will want to try next time.
Maybe I'll have the Century Egg Pork Congee (although it will make me very full), or the Fried Shredded Duck Rolls, a dish which I haven't tried before.