The Place Man Fu Yuan is one of the institutional Cantonese restaurants in Singapore and it is only until recently that I visited the restaurant located at InterContinental Singapore (read here for our full review) for their weekend dim sum buffet. The restaurant is located on level two of the IHG property in the heart of Bugis, right beside where Club InterContinental is. 

The interior takes on a wooden tone with a main dining hall, as well as ample private dining rooms. To get to the private rooms, you need to walk across a short bridge from the main dining hall, and you can also catch an aerial glimpse of the other all-day restaurant on level one, Luce. 

The Food The weekend dim sum buffet is priced at S$98++ per person (S$48++ per child, aged 6 to 12 years old) and I must say the menu is very extensive. Note that only the buffet is available for weekend and the restaurant does not offer ala carte dim sum on weekends. 

I started with two of chef’s signature dishes – Steamed Rock Lobster with Superior Master Sauce, Ginger, Scallions; and Braised 8-Head Abalone with Sea Cucumber and Baby Bok Choy in Superior Pumpkin Sauce. These two dishes are limited to one serving per guest. 

I was more excited about the dim sum and there are close to 20 dim sum items, steamed and fried. I know I wouldn’t be able to try every item, and upon recommendations from the staff, I started with the Steamed Otak-Otak Siew Mai. This is one of my top pick items to order where you get that nice otak flavour, which is also a nice fusion of local flavour into a traditional dim sum dish like Siew Mai. 

I also like the Truffle Crystal Dumpling, which comes with delicate skin and a tinge of truffle flavour. 

We all love a good ‘Liu Sha Bao’ and the Steamed Bamboo Charcoal Lava Custard Bun here is not too sweet. 

I also had to order the Prawn and Pork Siew Mai, Wild Mushroom, Truffle Sauce; Crispy Filo Prawn Pastry with Wasabi Aioli, Tobico; and Baked Mini Cheese Egg Tart. 

From the roast section of the menu, I just went for the classic Hong Kong Style Barbecued Meat Platter which comes with a trio of Honey-glazed Pork Belly, Roast Duck and Char Siew. 

Other than meats, there is also a decent selection of other mains like Double Boiled Soup; Braised Broccoli with Crab Meat, Egg White, Tobiko; Stewed Mapo Beancurd with Prawn, Minced Pork in Sichuan-style; Egg Fried Rice, Kailan, Mushroom, Truffle Sauce; congee, and more. 

Rants The dim sum items definitely fared better for us than the other dishes. For instance, the Mapo tofu was not as aromatic and flavourful as I imagined it to be. 

Will I Return Again? If you like variety of dishes and dim sum, Man Fu Yuan dim sum buffet is probably one to consider. The price is quite steep at S$98++ per adult if you are solely interested to have the dim sum items only. The restaurant is a tad dated by now, and it is time for a revamped – both for the decor and the menu.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3/5
Hole in the pocket: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5
Overall Experience: 3/5

Man Fu Yuan
80 Middle Road
Level 2, InterContinental Singapore
Singapore 188966
Tel: +65 6825 1008

Weekend Dim Sum Buffet 
Available on weekends and public holidays
1st Seating 
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (last order at 12:30pm) 
2nd Seating 
1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (last order at 2:30pm) 

Ranted by The Ranter