Juniper
When a friend comes to town, what’s the best thing to do? Go and find a nice restaurant to “yum cha” of course because nothing beats whiling away a few hours catching up on the latest over steaming dim sum and good quality Chinese tea. I drink copious amounts of Chinese tea when I go “yum cha”.
Anyway, we found ourselves in the Lot 10 area and I remembered Grand Harbour Restaurant at Fahrenheit 88, always made a mental note to go there one day. We didn’t have to queue up for a table after 12pm on Sunday as there were several vacant tables. There dim sum is ordered from the menu and the waiter takes down the order. This is not the DIY fill-up-a-form concept.
I know that this restaurant is famous for their dim sum in the shape of some animals but we didn’t go for any of that. When it comes to dim sum, my taste are very simple. All I want is the staple “har gao” or shrimp dumplings and “siu mai” or pork and shrimp dumplings and I am a happy gal. Throw in the “wu kok” or yam dumplings and I am an even happier gal.
The dim sum came in satisfactory sizes with sufficient filling and it all tasted fresh and fine. This is definitely restaurant quality dim sum.
The yam dumplings were excellent with a thinner layer of pastry than other dim sum joints which means more filling. It was crispy without being oily and making us feel sick when too much oil is used to deep fry them.
The only disappointment was the pork and century egg porridge as the pork tasted dry and overcooked.
These seafood dumplings really are as yummy as they look.
The shrimp rice rolls are quite small but I can tell that the soya sauce used is of good quality and the prawns within tasted fresh and juicy.
The egg tart pastry is deliciously flaky and not crumbly. The filling is firm and these tarts have just the right amount of sweetness for me.
If anyone would like to refer to prices, here’s the bill:-
Chinese tea costs RM3 per person which is reasonable for a Chinese restaurant of the standard like Grand Harbour. Service was excellent as the waiter was so attentive. He came to our table many times to refill our cups with Chinese tea so much so I thought he was our personal waiter.
Finally good service does exist!