Dim Sum is a culinary art beyond the norm. Its presentation is fine, food tasty and variety plenty. Wherever its Malaysia or Australia that I am at, Dim Sum is a monthly ritual for me. My colleague and I went recently went for lunch at Oriental City, a recommendation from his Chinese barber in Amsterdam. Oriental City is a popular family spot on the weekends with a 30 minute wait for a table even thought it was 1pm. This shows how famous Oriental City is with the locals.
At the table, you are given a list to tick the type and quantity of dim sum you would like to order. Naturally, I quickly ticked the usuals suspects and before we knew it, we had about 10 dim sums presented before us (not all pictured).
The Siu Mai; Pork Dumpling
The Har Gow; Prawn Dumpling
The Char Siew Cheong; BBQ Pork Rice Paperoll
The Hor Yip Fan; Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf
These are some of the most traditional offerings that you can find at every Dim Sum place. Oriental City did prepared them quite well although I was not too convinced by the thicker than usual Har Gow skin. This was a surprise for me because the Char Siew Cheong skin was pretty thin which allowed the dark red colour of the BBQ pork to be exposed! My favourite Dim Sum dish the Siu Mai was quite refined unlike the ones I usually have in Perth and Hong Kong where the meat inside is quite chunky. Still every bit as more-ish! The glutinous rice was average at best. I felt that it was lacking something!
The Oriental City Dumpling; Roast Duck, Prawn and Coriander Dumpling.
Shanghai Soup Dumpling
Fried Noodles
While Oriental City excelled with the classics, the same could not be said for its other offerings. The fried noodles were good, I dare not call it classic Soy Fried Noodles in any way. If it was, then its a reinterpretation by the chefs at Oriental City. The reason why the Shanghai Dumpling and the Oriental City Dumpling joins the list of my dislikes it because of the skin wrapping the dumpling. It was seriously thick! So much thicker than the Prawn Dumpling ones! Eventually, I ditched the skin and only ate the fillings :P!
Mango Pudding
Last but not least was the Mango Pudding. Flavour wise it was spot on. But then comes it consistency which was super hard and not like what the Chinese would often describe “Q-Q” which means springy jelly like! Did I like it? No. But did I absolutely hate it no? It was just not a good one that is all.
Oriental City was a promising prospect. Serving over 3 floor of hungry dinners simultaneously shows how busy this place is. But perhaps the 40 minute wait got the better of me and had me set my expectations rather high. Would I come here again? Perhaps yes if there was no wait! The food was at best decent for a fussy eater like me!
But also note that prices for Dim Sum in Europe is more expensive compared to other places too! Be prepared to fork out some €25-30 for decent meal here because 1 bamboo basket is typically around €4.70.
But also note that prices for Dim Sum in Europe is more expensive compared to other places too! Be prepared to fork out some €25-30 for decent meal here because 1 bamboo basket is typically around €4.70.
WenY
