Chao Yue Xuan Dim Sum Review: Ex-St Regis Chef Opens Dim Sum Restaurant In Yishun

Whenever I am out for a meal with a group of friends, dim sum would be the first thing I’d think of eating. The menu here features a variety of dim sum items, some of which I’ve never seen before, so I was enticed to head to Junction 9 with my colleague to check it out. 7 Yishun Food Places Including Green Tea Pizza And Har Cheong Gai Wings Food at Chao Yue Xuan Dim Sum When the food arrived on the table, my colleague and I were immediately drawn to the Steam Yam Ball Stuffed with Coconut Cream and Mushroom Bun ($4.50+) .

Even so, I was totally hooked on the sauce as it had a lovely toasted taste, with a hint of sweetness from the red sauce to balance out the lightly savoury soya sauce base. Other dim sum classics that we tried were the Steamed Siew Mai With Fish Roe ($4.20+) , and Steamed Salted Egg Yolk Custard Bun ($4.20+) .

What stood out to me was its texture—plump, chewy, and QQ to the bite. We took a break from the dim sum dishes and tried a more substantial dish, the Lean Meat With Century Egg Congee ($4.50+) .

As I prefer things on the lighter palate, I felt that this porridge was rather rich in taste, with a heavy umami note lingering at the back of my throat. On the other hand, my colleague felt that this porridge was rather standard, and that there was nothing to shout about. Moving on, we went for the Steamed Abalone With Seafood Dumpling In Superior Soup ($8.80+) .

I had been looking forward to trying this dish as it reminded me of my visit to Shanghai. In Chao Yue Xuan’s rendition, the soup dumpling was served in a porcelain bowl, with soup spilling out of the dumpling.

Within the sea of elements, we were only able to find one spoon-sized abalone, which was plump, chewy, and had a nice bite. The skin, even so, was slightly too thick and mushy for my liking, although the mushiness was probably due to us taking some time to photograph the dish. I was intrigued by the presentation of this dish as it had a striking similarity to golden pears.

Another chef’s recommendation was the Charcoal Pastry With Salted Egg Yolk Custard & Longan ($4.50+) . There was an element of surprise as this was the only dish on the menu that had an elusive name.

It only hit us later that this dish was a marriage of two items we’d earlier on tried—the webbed charcoal pastry shell, and the filling from the Snow Pear Dumpling. Even if we were slightly let down by the repetition of flavours and techniques, it was still an elegant and creative dish overall.

Out of all the elements in this dish, I felt that the black sesame filling stood out the most for me, with its roasted, nutty filling and bittersweet notes. 15 Dim Sum Places In Singapore From $1.30, Including Halal Dim Sum And Buffets Ambience at Chao Yue Xuan Dim Sum Chao Yue Xuan Dim Sum is situated in Junction 9, a 15-minute walk from Yishun MRT Station . The verdict If you are looking for a modern version of dim sum, Chao Yue Xuan Dim Sum is the place to visit.

I think it was a bummer that we only got to enjoy the food after the photoshoot, which left most of the items cold and soggy.