In my continuous search for a good dim sum restaurant for my mum, I cannot believe that we have never eaten here at Swatow Established in 2010, Swatow serves traditional authentic Teochew-styled seafood cuisine as well as Hong Kong dim sum duri…
In my continuous search for a good dim sum restaurant for my mum, I cannot believe that we have never eaten here at Swatow
Established in 2010, Swatow serves traditional authentic Teochew-styled seafood cuisine as well as Hong Kong dim sum during the day. With its wide variety of offerings, Swatow is a favourite amongst families and elderly
Located within Toa Payoh Shopping Mall, the restaurant is visited by families often and has enabled customers to bring their elderly folks in wheelchairs via this singular lift for wheelchair-bound customers
The interior of the restaurant is typical for an old-school Chinese restaurant with lantern-shaped chandeliers lighting, red carpeting, wooden Chinese craving decorations and satin cloth tablecloth
To start, we ordered traditional steamed dim sum like siew mai, har gow, steamed pork ribs with black bean sauce and xiao long bao. The dim sum arrived pretty fast in 8 minutes after placing the order and was all piping hot in their bamboo steamers. The flavours were traditional, the ingredients were fresh and the meat in the dim sum was bouncy
We also ordered the steamed custard bun, char siew bun and porridge century egg porridge which came served in a small clay pot. The porridge was smooth yet with a thick consistency which is perfect for congee. It was light yet flavourful enough and the clay pot kept the congee hot which was great for warming up the stomach. The staff introduced their lava custard bun as one of the best sellers and indeed they are quite nice with thin skin and smooth liquid flowing lava custard which was sweet and savoury. The char siew bun was also nice with fluffy skin and sweet char siew filling
We also ordered some of the fried dim sum like the banana mango roll and prawn paste toast with sesame. Surprisingly, I found the steamed dim sum nicer than the fried ones as they were not very crispy and some of the batter or toast was too thick. While they were not horrible in terms of taste, they just pale in comparison to other fried dim sum offered by other restaurants
Since we were in an authentic Teochew restaurant, we definitely had to order some of their signature dishes like the Teochew braised duck, steamed squid with chilli and chilled pig trotter jelly. These are infamous dishes found in all Teochew restaurants and in fact, used to determine the standards of the restaurant. The duck was flavourful and tender with a balanced soy-flavoured sweetness infused into the duck meat while the pig trotter jelly was gelatinous and crunchy with a light refreshing flavour dipped in the chilli sauce given. The squid was also nice and crunchy without being too rubbery. Overall, I must say the Teochew dishes were the key stars of the meal and definitely a notch better than the dim sum offerings
To complete the meal, we ordered the Teochew yam paste which is also one of the items featured in all Teochew restaurants. Their version has some chunky yam bits for texture and the pumpkin provides a nice sweet balance. The dessert is ok but not my favourite version of the yam paste
Overall, the Teochew dishes at Swatow are a win for me and I would be excited to visit them again to try more of their signature Teochew seafood dishes instead of the dim sum. The service is also friendly and familiar as most of the servers were middle-aged ladies who treat you like family. If you are looking for a traditional Chinese restaurant for family gatherings with elderlies, this would be a restaurant to consider
Address: 181 Lor 4 Toa Payoh, #02-602, Singapore 310181
Operating hours: 9 am to 2 pm, 3 pm to 5pm and 6 pm to 10 pm (Starting from 8 am on Sat and Sun)
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