Summer Pavilion

Summer Pavilion

Ritz Carlton hotel near Promenade station

Venison bun. When I first saw the description, I thought that it sounded like those kinda chinese pan fried bun and would taste dry but I was totally wrong. Really soft and fluffy bun with a uniform layer of crisp. The venison filling was moist, heavy tasting and really savoury. The best dim sum of the day I would say.

This fried dim sum was really good too. I think it is wrapped in vermicelli and then deep fried. very crispy and added another texture to the soft, succulent prawn filling. Delicious but think this is quite an ordinary dim sum.

Steamed lobster dumpling. I guess it was lobster bits used as I couldn’t really taste the lobster meat but the skin of the dumpling should be commended. Very smooth, thin and uniform, it doesn’t stick to your teeth unlike badly made skin.

Fried yam bits on the surface with mashed pumpkin in the interior. Highly recommended by the waiter as a very sophisticated and delicious dim sum, I thought it would really make us wow. But like its appearance, it tasted dry, the fried yam bits were a little on the hard side and the mashed filling was a little coarse actually. Quite a disappointing snack.

Char siu bao with preserved vegetables. Again, I couldn’t taste much of the preserved vegetables and it actually is just like a normal char siu bao. pretty well made though as bun was fluffy and filling is moist, sweet and savoury.

Shredded pork with preserved vegetables and mushroom cheung fen. Skin was good again, slithery and thin but the combination of fillings tasted more chinese than cantonese. Credit has to be given to it though as the fillings were really substantial. It was alright for me but definitely not my kind of cheung fen that I like.

Coconut shavings egg pastry. Tasted quite fusion and I guess it was meant to be so. The coconut shavings have some egg taste and tasted quite sweet actually. However, I found it a little dry and it really tasted just like a chinese new year goody. I still prefer my traditional egg tart.

Finally the chef recommended noodles which would not be me-recommended. Super oily and lack of taste and ingredients. Please get porridge instead if you are there.

Despite not really enjoying most of the dim sum, I think summer pavilion is still a place worth going to if you enjoy chinese food. As I am a fan of cantonese food, I find these dim sum too chinese for my liking. Not too sure about this, but I have the feeling that the chef is not cantonese. Summer pavilion also tries a little too much to innovate its dim sum. Sometimes, simplicity prevails. Still, I like the venison bun a lot and the fried vermicelli dim sum but that’s really just 2 out of the few that I’ve ordered and thus it wouldn’t be a place that I will return to. Would prefer Crystal jade dining in or Wah Lok or Peach Blossoms. hmmm… I guess it would really be a feat to find a restaurant which serves something like what Lung King Heen serves.