Victor’s Kitchen

Tucked away in the heart of Sunshine Plaza on Bencoolen Street, Victor’s Kitchen has garnered a loyal following over the years. That makes it almost seem like a crime on my part for not featuring them earlier….especially since I’ve been a loyal customer myself. Fans and fans-to-be of Victor’s Kitchen can rejoice, for their dim sum is tasting better each day. During my first few visits, I mentally noted that their har gao (prawn dumpling) filling was succulent and fresh, but the skin was just average taste-wise. However, I revisited them with A today for a farewell lunch of sorts and we ordered their King Prawn Har Gao ($3.50) [***.], Prawn Chee Cheong Fun ($3.80) [****], Fried Spring Rolls ($2) [**.], Chicken Rice ($3) [***], and Steamed Radish Cake ($3) [****.]. The wait was surprisingly short despite it being lunch hour (we were there around 1.15pm). We also discovered that they acquired another unit aside from their 2 adjoining ones (due to their expanding business no doubt), located somewhere to the left of their original unit pictured above.

The prawn chee cheong fun was the first to arrive, and after recently having some from my ultimate favourite Old Airport Road Food Centre stall, my tastebuds detected an improvement in Victor’s Kitchen’s chee cheong fun. Comparatively speaking, the one from Old Airport Road was superior in taste because of its silky smooth skin that is consistently steamed to perfection. That being said, Victor’s chee cheong fun is a close second in my book because of their sizeable and tasty prawn filling. 

The har gao was next with more succulent prawns and even better skin. If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m a stickler for quality skin in all my dim sum. And Victor’s aces this portion for their har gao. Another one of my favourites is their steamed radish (carrot) cake pictured below. Soft, melt-in-the-mouth with dried shrimp, lup cheong (dried chinese sausage) and topped with spring onion, this dish tastes even better when paired with their fried chilli-garlic sauce-dip. Make sure you ask for this dip!
 

The fried spring rolls were simple, nothing spectacular…while the Chicken Rice could’ve been better I felt. It was a pity that they ran out of steamed pork ribs too. Although the majority of Victor’s dim sum is mouthwatering and value-for-money, I would suggest sticking to familiar favourites and leaving room for popular items like the Custard Egg Pau for dessert. With all the good dim sum that’s on the menu, I always run out of space before I get to dessert. Won’t happen again for sure. I’ve got my mind set on trying that custard egg pau I’ve heard rave reviews about.

 / No GST and Service Charge.

The I-wanna-know[s]:

Taste – 8/10
Price – $ to $$
Service – 7/10
Ambience – 6/10
Accessibility – 7/10

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)
[* to *****] – rating(s) for individual dishes

Tel: +65 9838 2851

Address:
91 Bencoolen St, Sunshine Plaza, #01-21. (next to Prinsep Street)

Opening hours:
10am – 8pm daily
/ Closed Mondays

Dress code: Casual
Buses: 65, 857, 131, 147…

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut

/ image of victor’s kitchen taken from the hungry cow

Mummy’s Dim Sum

I’d like to applaud my mum’s valiant first attempt at making her very own dim sum. Armed with a newly-purchased book of dim sum recipes and 2 bamboo steamers, my mum battled the steam and splattering oil to come up with some yummy family favourites to pair with a pot of warm minced pork congee…

Panfried Beancurd Skin Roll with Mayonnaise: 1 of my favourites…thanks mum. Tasted suspiciously like her nghor hiam (nonya beancurd skin meat roll) because of her addition of water chestnuts. Crispy skin and great filling nonetheless.

Steamed Prawn Chee Cheong Fun: When this first popped out of the steamer, the skin was thin and translucent, and her generous prawn fillings were in plain view. Great effort mum. I’m certain your subsequent tries will succeed, and I’ll always be a willing ‘guinea pig’.

Steamed Har Gao (Prawn Dumpling): Aha, 1 of the 2 bamboo steamers makes its virgin appearance. The skins were a little thick on this dish, but the prawn fillings were yum. If you can’t already tell by now, prawns are practically a family staple.

Steamed Seaweed Pork Rolls: The second bamboo steamer was a pleasant surprise, and my favourite of the lot. Kudos to you mum for trying something different. The pork rolls retained a light juicyness from the steamed meat, and the combination of parsley, carrots and others made this dish a mouthwatering one.

Can’t wait for more dim sum! Who knows, I might try my hand at making some the next time my mum steps into the kitchen with her bamboo steamers…

The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice

Just when I was getting a tad bored with the variety of waffles we’ve got in places like Gelare and neighbourhood bakeries, I realised that I’ve not gotten round to trying The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice’s Liège Waffles [*****]. That changed last night when I decided to have dinner at Old Airport Road Food Centre before the Osmonds’ concert. Snaking our way through tables of hungry folks, my mum, sis and I ended up beside my favourite chee cheong fun stall – Freshly Made Chee Cheong Fun at #01-155. Little did I know that Sweet Stone Parad’Ice over at Golden Mile Food Centre had opened a new branch at 1 of my favourite hawker centres! They’ve got different sets to choose from: Set A consists of 1 Liège waffle & a Belgian chocolate dip ($2.50), Set B comes with 2 Liège waffles & a Belgian chocolate dip. I had Set B after a really heavy dinner of orh luak (oyster omelette), kueh pie tee, chee cheong fun, otah and BBQ-ed chicken wings.

The simple combination of thick-crusted waffles served fresh and piping hot with decadent Belgian chocolate in a bowl is simply divine. Expecting my waffle to taste more than a little buttery, I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t taste dry or buttery. Even after leaving it to cool for more than 15 minutes, the waffle still tasted great. The Belgian chocolate dip not only oozed wholesome cacao goodness, the best part was it wasn’t watered down to a thin blend the way some dessert places do. I’ll definitely make another trip down on an emptier stomach to sample other things on the menu. In addition to their signature waffles, they also serve their very own gelato at $1.80/scoop, and regular chocolate fondue (with that yummy Belgian dip) from $7.80 onwards. Those of you in groups might want to share the Royal Claypot Fondue (for 2-3 people) priced at $14.80..it should look like this photo on the right.

With more ‘Western’ stalls such as Modern Italian Food (Old Airport Rd Food Centre, #01-35) and Mien (Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre, #02-133) joining the ranks of local food haunts, our hawker food experience looks set to scale new gastronomical heights.

/ images were taken from Sweet Stone Parad’Ice’s Facebook Fan page

The I-wanna-know[s]:

Taste – 8.5/10
Price – $
Service – 8/10
Ambience – 7/10
Accessibility – 7/10

Legend:
[$]-cheap like peanuts: ($10 & below/person)
[$$]-average Jane ($15-$25/person)
[$$$]-you might wanna tke tht card out..($30-$60/person)
[$$$$]-extremely exorbitant ($70 & above/person)
[* to *****] – rating(s) for individual dishes

Address:
Old Airport Rd Food Centre, #01-84, Singapore 390051

Website:
http://www.thesweetstone.com

Opening hours:
Mon - Thu: 12pm – 10pm
Fri & Sat: 12pm – 12am
/ Closed Wednesdays

Dress code: Casual
Buses: 32, 33, 16, 10, 31…

Daddy’s Guilty Pleasures

The way to your dad’s heart is through his tummy. Or so they say with most men…While some of us may be feeling experimental enough to whip up something in the kitchen, why not bring daddy dearest out for some of his hawker favourites from the good ol’ days? I’d venture to say that most dads have fond memories of lard-laden unhealthy food but won’t admit it for fear of being chided by mum or you. So do make the first move to let him know you’d like to indulge his food cravings. It could be a simple bowl of mee pok from the stall he grew up with, or sinful char kway teow piled high with batu ham (cockles). Here are some of my recommendations to jog your dad’s trip down memory lane…or perhaps introduce newer guilty pleasures for his diet:

• Zion Road Fried Kway Teow [****]/ No. 17-18, Zion Riverside Food Centre, 86 Zion Road 

/image taken from 88DB Service Portal

• Noi’s Bak Chor Mee (prev. known as Shun Lu Bak Chor Mee) [****]/ 588 Jalan Datoh off Balestier Road

/ image taken from the travelling hungryboy

• Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodles (fr. Cuppage Centre) [*****]/ #01-06, Blk 22 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh 

/ image taken from dancing blue seal

• Geylang Lor 9 Beef Kway Teow / 237 Geylang Lor 9
• Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee / No 2 Jalan Ayer (opp Kallang MRT) Closed on Tue
• Whitley road big prawn mee / 18 lorong telok: 7am-9pm
• Ah Chuan Oyster Omelette / Blk 22, Toa Payoh Lor 7 #01-25, 3pm – 9pm (closed Tue)
• Hai Sheng Carrot Cake / Bendemeer Road Food Centre: for no frills plain black/white carrot cake

• Singapore Hokkien Mee / Whampoa Hawker Centre
• Nam Sing Fried Hokkien Mee / Old Airport Road Food Centre, #01-32

Remember, these are just some ideas from my own forages in various hawker centres. If your dad’s tummy or memory serves otherwise, do indulge this once and have fun along the way. Charlinary.com wishes all dads out there a HAPPY FATHERS’ DAY!