And on days when we don’t feel like having brunch staples (you know, like egg benedict, pancake, etc) for breakfast, my girlfriends and I would then next think of dim sum! No? =p

We were off to The Cathay Restaurant for dim sum. My frog-in-the-well girlfriend did not realise The Cathay was actually the name of the Chinese restaurant we were heading to. Although I got to admit it can be confusing since The Cathay was also located within The Cathay.

Reservation was definitely needed. There was a queue when we reached at 1.30pm. Well okie, it was a late breakfast. Keke! So to save on the waiting time, one must make reservation!

And from the dim sum menu (pages 1, 2) and dessert menu, we ordered:-

1) Steamed fresh prawn dumpling, $5.60 (4 pieces) (above)

2) Steamed xiao long bao, $4.20 (3 pieces) (above)

3) Steamed siew mai with crab roe, $5.20 (4 pieces) (above) – I preferred the rendition with a whole piece of fresh and crunchy prawn. Cause the one served at The Cathay did not have, I was slightly disappointed. Not that it wasn’t good though. Just a personal preference!

4) Steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce, $4.20 (above)

5) Baked mini egg tarts, $4.20 (3 pieces) (above) – A must try! Crust was buttery and crisp with its many layer while the egg custard was smooth. It looked fragile for its small size but held up well.

6) Steamed chicken feet with black pepper sauce, $3.90 (above) – Was a little spicy for non-spicy eaters like myself.

7) Deep-fried chicken winglet with prawn paste, $8 (6 pieces) (above)

8) Pan-fried cheong fan “home-style”, $8 (above)

9) Pan-fried carrot cake with Chinese sausages, $4.20 (3 pieces) (above) – Of the 2 carrot cakes, I actually preferred this over the one with XO chilli sauce (item 10). Although it did not come in the irregular shape as I liked mine to, this was sticky just as how I preferred it to be. And it was with an interesting twist with small bits of sausages within.

10) Fried carrot cake with bean sprout and XO chilli sauce, $10 (above)

11) Pig’s trotter in vinegar sauce, $8 (above) – As this had the icon of a chef’s hat on the menu, I just had to order it although pig’s trotter was something we won’t normally try. Please tell me I am normal to be more bias towards ‘chef’s recommended dishes’. Keke. And this was indeed good. Although do be careful! What looked like big (rectangular) pieces of lean meat was actually ginger!

12) Steamed yolk cream bun, $4.20 (3 pieces) (above)

13) Steamed BBQ pork bun, $3.90 (3 pieces) (above) – A must try. I loved how the bun was packed tightly with sweet and lean pork.

14) Century egg porridge, $5 (above)

15) Deep-fried prawn roll with mango, $4.80 (3 pieces) (above) – I did not like this. It was weird having the mushy mango against the crunchy prawn. I guess I’m still rigid to the idea of mixing fruits with food so blatantly / directly.

16) Deep-fried beancurd skin roll with seaweed, $4.20 (3 pieces) (above)

17) Fried rice with diced seafood and fish roe, $30 (medium) (above) – My girlfriends wanted rice, so we decided to try their fried rice. The staff gave us the medium size since there was 6 of us. A small was priced at $20 on the a-la carte menu. And it was really not too bad. It’s amazing how a simple dish of fried rice can be so addictive.

18) Durian mochi, $6 (above) – Ordered this from the a-la carte menu although I noticed there’s also one on the dim sum menu for $6.60. If one is a lover of mochi and durian, I would recommend ordering this!

19) Chilled fresh mango pudding, $4.80 (above)

20) Chilled coconut jelly served in young coconut, $6.80 (above)

The Cathay Restaurant makes an ideal place for big (group) gathering. Although the place was packed, my girlfriends and I were oblivious to the noise and were very engrossed in our conversations. Ha. But because it was packed, it was a little difficult getting the attention of the staff when we wanted to order additional items. Nonetheless, I will recommend The Cathay for we really enjoyed the food.

Related posts:

Dim sum @ Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine Dinner @ Tao’s Restaurant // CLOSED Dim sum @ Swa Tow Restaurant Dim sum @ Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant Dim sum @ Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant 瑞春点心餐厅