Last day in Penang: Dimsum at De Tai Tong Cafe

I just realized that there are still a couple of posts left on our Penang trip in June. Here are pics from our dimsum breakfast on our 4th and final day in Penang.

Thanks to CK Lam’s recommendation, we had a fabulous meal at De Tai Tong Cafe in Cintra Street, which is a short walk from Traders Hotel where we stayed.

Dimsum breakfast

De Tai Tong looks like an established dimsum place in Penang. There was another joint selling similar dimsum down the road, but that one was rather empty, whereas Tai Tong was packed!

The staff said it’s self-service on Sunday. So after getting a table, I grabbed a tray and went to the kitchen section to pick the dishes. There were so many items to choose from! So, I just grabbed the first few items I saw.

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Cuisine & Wine Asia dimsum feature: Si Chuan Dou Hua @ Top of UOB Plaza

I skipped Day 2 – Wan Hao @ Marriott – of the Cuisine & Wine Asia dimsum tasting. Why? Cos I was resting to starve prepare for Day 3 which had two dimsum sessions back-to-back!

The first session on Day 3 was at Si Chuan Dou Hua located on the top floor (60th storey) of UOB Plaza. The view of the city from up here is simply stunning! Although specializing in Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese dishes are available too. Its weekend brunch buffet offers an amazing 100 items of Sichuanese and Cantonese delicacies.

Just some of the cold appetizers we sampled!

Although we tried only 40 out of 100 dishes, it was still a lot of food! My favorite part was actually the cold appetizers which delighted and tempted my palate into wanting more!

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Cuisine & Wine Asia dimsum feature: Hai Tien Lo @ Pan Pacific

I love dimsum. So it was an immediate “yes” when Leslie asked if I was game for a dimsum marathon session! For their May/June 2009 issue, Cuisine & Wine Asia magazine has a feature article on dimsum. 5 food bloggers, or “food paparazzi” as coined by feature writer Jackson Sim, served as tasters for 6 dimsum sessions that took place over 5 consecutive days in March. Besides Leslie and I, the other tasters are Hungry Cow, ladyironchef, and Camemberu.

Kicking off our dimsum marathon was Hai Tien Lo on level 37 of Pan Pacific Hotel. Even before we were wowed by the food, we were already blown away by the breathtaking view of Marina Bay, the Singapore Flyer, and the Singapore city skyline.

Special steamed crab meat & shark's fin with Jin Hua stock wrapped in dough

Currently helmed by Master Chef Lai Tong Ping, Hai Tien Lo has long been a name synonymous with fine Cantonese cuisine. The most impressive dish we sampled must be the dough-wrapped crab meat and shark’s fin in stock. I love the paper-thin, silky dough and sweet crab meat, as well as the light but flavoursome stock that’s infused with the natural goodness of Jin Hua ham and dried scallops.

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Crystal Jade Kitchen (Ngee Ann City)

This place really doesn’t need any more endorsement; it’s filled to full capacity nearly all the time, so much so that they have a queue number system!

It was only 12pm on Saturday, and already, the restaurant was full. But we didn’t mind waiting as we were first in the queue.

Steamed pork rib in black bean sauce, S$3.50.

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Lei Garden Restaurant (Chijmes)

Happy belated birthday, Singapore! Yep, our tiny nation celebrated 43 years of independence yesterday. And tomorrow is mom-in-law’s birthday! So, the family had a celebratory lunch today at the elegant Lei Garden, a name synonymous with exquisite Cantonese cuisine.

Daily soup, S$28.00 per pot.

Starting things off on a cold, rainy day was a tummy-warming, slow-cooked soup. A Cantonese specialty, 老火湯 (literally “old fire-cooked soup”) is achieved by simmering various ingredients for at least 3 hours, resulting in a “sweet”, clear, nourishing broth.

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