The Place I had been to Summer Pavilion for dinner a couple of times but it was only recently where I dropped by for its weekend dim sum for the first time. While there are many Chinese restaurants in Singapore, Summer Pavilion remains one of my favourite and I am glad that it continues to be awarded One Michelin Star. The restaurant setting is suitable for various group size, and I deliberately chose to reserve a table beside the window for better photography lighting. I managed to try quite a couple of dim sum dishes, and at the end of the meal, I am convinced that it is one of the best dim sum I can find in Singapore.

The Food I dived straight into the dim sum menu during my visit. The selection is Eid enough for me as the dim sum menu is split into steamed and fried dishes. I started with the Steamed Vegetarian Crystal Dumpling with Black Truffle, Mushroom, Pumpkin and Chestnut (S$7.50/3 pieces). The thin skin is perfect, yet holds the copious ingredients within so well. The black truffle is subtle, and even though it seems like there are many ingredients at play, it all blend well together.

I was hesitant to order something heavy like glutinous rice but there no regrets having the Steamed Glutinous Rice with Chicken, Prawn Conpoy, Mushroom and Salted Egg York (S$6/2 pieces). It is surprising that I do not get that heaviness in my stomach after a few bites of this, and perhaps due to the fact that the rice is not greasy at all. This is a must try and a dish which surprised me here.

I can’t have dim sum without ‘chee cheong fun’, hence the Steamed Rice Skin Roll with Prawn and Asparagus (S$10). The flavours here are quite light and the rice roll texture is very thin, yet similar to the crystal dumpling, the ingredients within do not fall off easily at all.

Moving on to the fried items, I highly recommend the Deep-fried Lobster Roll, Prawn Paste with Breaded Vermicelli (S$3/piece). There is nothing not to love about crispy and flaky rolls, especially one with lobster meat and prawn.

The Pan-fried Shredded Yam with Pumpkin (S$6/3 pieces) is an interesting dish if you like pumpkin. I like how the dish is prepared like a fried sandwich in bite-size portions, perfect for dim sum when I tend to want to try more items. There is yam here, but this petite size dish does not make me feel like I have overeaten. It is a lovely combination of ingredients.

Think ‘sheng jian bao’, and that is what I thought this Pan-fried Bun with Duck Meat, Bamboo Shoot, Onion and Black Pepper (S$6/3 pieces) resembles. The base of the bun is pan-fried to a nice golden texture without being too burnt, while the duck meat within is tender and the flavour has a tinge of black pepper taste. I enjoyed this dish too.

Apart from the dim sum menu, there are also some specialties which are only available on weekend. I tried the Deep-fried Fish Skin Served with Supreme Stock (S$12/portion) and the Congee with Pork and Preserved Vegetable (S$8/person). The former dish is served with a soup stock and a separate plate of fried fish skin, where you can either have both separately or dip the fish skin into the stock. I thought that it is quite a unique way of enjoying fried fish skin, though I love sipping the luscious stock on its own.

The last dish I had is a dessert dish which surprised me, the Baked Butter Bun with Shredded Coconut (S$6/3 pieces). At one glance, it looks just like any old-school bread from an old-school bakery. Simply as it looks, it is delicious as the soft bun is stuffed with coconut. The taste is not that sweet, and there is something so simple about it which makes it such an amazing end to the meal.

Rants It is hard to score a last minute reservation at Summer Pavilion, hence definitely not an impromptu meet up destination.

Will I Return Again? I have to mention that the service at Summer Pavilion is one of the best in Singapore. What is a Michelin worthy service? Good service is not constantly asking your diners the obligatory question of how’s the food, but rather to pay the smallest details to the needs of your diners. One of my family member is left-handed and minutes after she sat down, one of the staff managed to take note of that and subtly re-arranged her cutlery. I was very impressed. Throughout the meal, the service from different staff has also been very professional without being overly intrusive. Food wise, there is no dish which I did not enjoy, and I would gladly be back for more of the dim sum again.

Make your reservation instantly at Summer Pavilion here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4.5/5
Hole in the pocket: 4.5/5
Ambience: 4/5
Overall Experience: 4.5/5

Summer Pavilion
The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore 039799
Tel: +65 6434 5286

Ranted by The Ranter