I found out about this newly established Dim Sum restaurant through one of the local food bloggers on Instagram. Yam Cha Restaurant is located where Element Fusion Restaurant used to be. They are currently on soft opening stage and it is their third day of operation today.
Mom and I arrived about half past eight in the morning with at least half of the place full and a couple of tables had been reserved beforehand. But luckily for us, we managed to secure a table which can accommodates at least five pax. Once seated, we were being given an order chit to place order. I ordered enough to feed four as my colleagues joined us for breakfast this morning.
Fish Roe Siu Mai | B$3.00 (3 pieces)
Quite steeply priced, I would say. A dollar for a piece. Taste wise, it was decent in my opinion. When this was served, we were surprised to see that there were only three pieces on the steam basket when it was stated four pieces on the order chit. The waitress then explained to us that there was printing error on the order chit. I wonder why they didn’t bother to correct the printing error.
Bamboo Charcoal Salted Egg Bun | B$3.50 (3 pieces)
The ones I had seen advertised on Instagram had smooth surfaces but the ones that we had all came wrinkled. According to my colleagues, they were overcooked hence the wrinkled surface. Filling wise, it was disappointing as I wasn’t greeted with liquid salted egg oozing out from the bun but a rather solid filling.
Stir Fry Carrot Cake | B$4.00
As usual, I requested for no bean sprout in my Stir Fry Carrot Cake. I quite like the texture but it was too salty for our liking. We ended up not finishing the whole thing and we saw that there was also leftover of Stir Fry Carrot Cake on the next table. So, I am guessing that they also had the same verdict as we did?
Yam Dumpling | B$3.50 (3 pieces)
This turned out to be the nicest among all in my opinion. I like that the yam was fragrant and smooth in texture. The filling was juicy and the flavoring was just right.
Plain Cheong Fun | B$2.80
I have high expectation on Plain Cheong Fan as it is not easy to achieve the thin and yet smooth texture of Cheong Fan. I find the texture rather too thick for my liking and it tasted bland despite I dipped them into the sambal paste provided. I wonder if Char Siu Cheong Fun would be nicer?
Verdict: Food wise, there are hits and misses. Food takes a long time to be served. We were there for about 50 minutes and only five of the above dishes were served. We left the restaurant cancelling four items as the waitress apologetically told us that they will take some time to be served. To be honest, I don’t think I will be returning any time soon if there’s no improvement in their food serving time.
Yam Cha Restaurant
Unit 8 & 9, First Floor,
Gadong Central,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
Negara Brunei Darussalam
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