yumcha @ Summer Palace

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Dimsum for the Last Emperor

Summer Palace is a long standing Chinese restaurant serving a traditional Cantonese specialty menu in Bangkok. Just like any hotel's Chinese restaurant, Summer Palace also serves dimsum during lunch time (it is called yumcha in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, where Cantonese yumcha culture has its roots there).

Yumcha, or drinking tea eating dimsum (bite-sized food in small portions, usually served in a small bamboo streamer basket or on a small plate); at Summer Palace, of the Intercontinental Hotel Bangkok, it is set in an ambiance of opulence, with the choices of a la carte and all-you-can-eat. The dimsum dishes, enjoyable but not outstanding; and service is pleasant but not impeccable!

Cantonese yum-cha lunch ***

at Summer Palace Chinese Restaurant 夏宮金殿

InterContinental Hotel Bangkok

973 Ploenchit Road

Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Tel.: 02.656.04444

Summer Palace

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6:30 - 10:30 pm

Pay (yum-cha lunch for two): around THB 1,500

weekdays all-you-can-eat dimsum offer THB 638++ per person

yumcha @ Fei Ya

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Dim-sums for dragons

In just a short two years after its debut, Fei Ya Chinese Restaurant has already earned a reputation for its lychee wood roasted Peking duck and baked beggar chicken in lotus leaf; and its authentic Hong Kong style (not Thai-Chinese) yum-cha (drinking tea, eating dim-sum, bite-sized food in small portions, usually served in a small bamboo steamer basket) is arguably one of the best served in Bangkok. Let's have some dim-sums to start the year of the Golden Dragon.

Cantonese yum-cha lunch ****
Fei Ya Chinese Restaurant
Renaissance Rajprasong Bangkok Hotel
518/8 Ploenchit Road
Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.125.5000
Fei Ya

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10 pm
Pay (a la carte yum-cha for two): around THB 1,500
* weekdays all-you-can-eat dim-sum THB 680++ per person

yumcha @ Silk Road

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Drinking tea eating dim-sum

Chinese Cantonese yum-cha (drinking tea, and eating dim-sum, bite-sized food in small portions, usually served in a small bamboo steamer basket, or on a small plate), was listed as #7 of the World's 50 most delicious foods from readers' picks (2011) by CNNGo. So recently I have gone for yum-cha more often, to sample those highly rated Cantonese bite-sized dim-sum treats.

One restaurant I visited lately was the Silk Road, a small Chinese restaurant in the luxurious Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok. I eat at the Silk Road quite often for dinner, but for yum-cha (dim-sum lunch), this was my first time.

I found, that the barbecue pork bun (char siu bao) at Silk Road is a must try, above average, while the rest of the dim-sum being (just) average. Besides dim-sum, I also ordered the Peking roast duck three ways, THB 1,200++. Duck skin was so crispy and aromatic, fried duck meat in sweet and sour sauce was superb, while the congee with minced duck meat was disappointing and the chef put too much shredded ginger in it.



Cantonese yum-cha lunch ***
Silk Road Chinese Restaurant
Plaza Athenee Hotel Bangkok
(a Royal Meridien Hotel)
61 Wireless Road
Lumpini, Bangkok 10330
Tel.: 02.650.8800
Silk Road

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10:30 pm
Pay (a la carte dim-sum lunch for two): around THB 1,600
(All-you-can-eat dim-sum lunch is THB 950 net per person)

yumcha @ Ah Yat Forum

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Surf on Chaophraya River

While a legendary hotel's Chinese restaurant on Charoenkrung Road having its dimsum quality dives in the river, on the other side of the same road, a renowned Hong Kong celebrities canteen presents in Bangkok - Ah Yat Abalone Forum Seafood Restaurant, her dimsum quality enjoys flying high.


half Peking duck to start my yumcha feast at Ah Yat

Peking duck meat soup with preserved vegetable

har-gau (dumpling of shrimp wrapped in a thin wheat starch sheet)
siu-mai (dumpling of shrimp and pork fillings wrapped in a thin wheat flour wrapper)

cheong-fun (rice roll filled with BBQ pork, and rice roll filled with shrimp)
glutinous rice with chicken

all dimsum quality are of highest standard

lo-bak-go (pan-fried daikon radish cakes)
foo-pae-gheun (deep-fried bean curd sheet wrapped in shrimp fillings)

dan-ta, ham-sui-kok and taro puff; Ah Yat almond tea

Ah Yat Abalone Forum Seafood Restaurant 富臨酒家
(weekdays dimsum ****1/2) (weekends dimsum ****)
Ramada Plaza Menam Riverside Hotel
2074 Charoenkrung Road
Bangkholaem, Bangkok 10120
Tel.: 02.291.7781

Open daily : 11:00 am - 2:30pm, 6 pm - 10:30 pm
Pay (yumcha lunch for two): weekdays- around THB 800*, weekends- around THB 1,200
* 50% discount off dimsum items during weekdays, until further notice


friends asked how did Ah Yat Forum look like before the renovation?
left picture, before renovation; right picture, new look as we see today

yumcha @ China House

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Dive in Chaophraya River

Once-upon-a-time China House offered yumcha lunch with a la carte dimsum served, that was good. Sad, the glory doesn't extend after the Unlimited Dimsum Lunch resumed!

The Unlimited Dimsum Lunch works this way; I am encouraged to order as much dimsum I could digest from an army of 22 dimsum items (that's all-you-can-eat kind), paired with a soup (5 choices), rice or noodles (4 choices), and a dessert (also 4 choices), at a fixed cost of THB 888 net per person.

Quite disappointed that China House abandoned the hiring of a Thai national restaurant host of who received applause from around the world for the way Thais serve customers with human touch and a warm heart. Need not to mention the renowned Thai smile and caring. Importing a host from another ASEAN country doesn't let me feel I am being served better. Instead, the opposite!

The China House (dimsum unlimited) ***1/2
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Bangkok
48 Oriental Avenue
Soi 40, Charoenkrung Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Tel.: 02.659.9000
China House

Open daily: Unlimited Dimsum Lunch 11:30 am - 2:30pm,
dinner 6 pm - 11:30 pm
Pay (Unlimited Dimsum Lunch for two): THB 1,776 net



(* some pictures on courtesy of J.Ho)

Ho Kitchen

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Ho Kitchen 釆華軒

Sometimes I crave for roasted suckling pig (real week-old baby pig but not those small pigs presented in most Thai-Chinese eateries) and rare seafood, eating them may simply make my day. Good seafood restaurants accommodate chefs with decent culinary skill aren't being seen everywhere though Bangkok is the center of seafood trading in Thailand. Frustrated isn't it?

Nesting in the humdrum Bangkapi residential community, Ho Kitchen Meng-jai branch came to my rescue.

Occupying two rais of land with spacious parking, this two-storey club-house-look seafood restaurant with the Cantonese accent is easy to be mistaken as a fancy seafood joint without true enthusiasm in the feast if we neither try once nor hear of the restaurant's what-about. Behind Ho Kitchen is a celebrity chef Mr. Ho once mastered the China House @ the Oriental Hotel Bangkok and the same man who made the Shang Palace @ the Shangri-la Hotel Bangkok shone in the 90's before he ventures into his own restaurant business in the entrance to the 21st Century. In Bangkok, Chef Ho believes a feast after authentic and quality Cantonese dining shouldn't be the privilege of those rich tourists and the few well-off Bangkok elites. Thus in contrast to many celebrity chefs tend to open fancy and high-end individual restaurants, Chef Ho aims to the plebeian. With highest quality on an easy pricing in mind Chef Ho opened his first wallet-friendly Ho Kitchen around 10 years ago on Rama 3 Road, soon a second branch opened in Bangkok seaside Bang-khun-thian, and the latest Meng-jai branch is the sign showing to Thais how much he is devoting to the country's restaurant business he found in love with.

In Ho Kitchen Meng-jai branch, a chilled-water fish tank system is being introduced to the country. Imported live seafood enjoy the nursing in some very cold (some even icy) water fish tanks with adjusted temperature for those seafood came from the cooler water region, such as lobster, abalone and barramundi cod (pla-karang-naa-ngon) from Australia, geoduck clam from Canada, and king crab from Alaska. They swim in a similar environment (in term of water temperature) therefore result in the seafood live happier and the meat stay fresher with a firmer texture and a (naturally) sweeter taste. The handling costs increase, but the price doesn't. Instead it is slightly cheaper than those prominent seafood joints even without having such chilled-water fish tank system installed to keep seafood live longer and stronger.

Knowing to keep live seafood happier is one point but having patrons eating happier is even more important, now the responsibility of those Chef Ho trained chefs. To kick off the dinner we had Live Geoduck Clam (Baht 3,100) prepared in sashimi with a hot pot on the side. Need not to describe the geoduck clam was ultra fresh with a hints of crunchy texture thanks to the icy-water tank, the taste was so naturally sweet yield a full flavor of the clam without any help of seasoning. Bravo! The best live geoduck clam I have sampled in Thailand. I remember once I paid for a dish of overpriced stiff and frozen-tasted stir-fried geoduck clam in a Rajprasong area five-star hotel's outlet; therefore, some of those so called 5-star-hotel Chinese executive chefs may have better knowledge in golfing (if not mahjong playing) than cooking!

Our second dish, my favorite, the Roasted Suckling Pig Hong Kong style. Two dishes namely roasted suckling pig HK style and pigeon HK style are among my most wanted list on the dinner table. However, in Bangkok having a good HK style pigeon (you get one in Roselamoon) and roasted HK suckling pig are as difficult as you want some traditional pasta prepared with Abla white truffle flake! Lucky, suckling pig in Ho Kitchen was marinated and roasted the Hong Kong way without any mistake, crispy on skin with thin layer of aromatic meat attached. Critical notice - only her Meng-jai branch has good suckling pig, not the branch in Rama III Road (that one sucks as they deep-fried it). Why one restaurant group has two standards? Maybe Chef Ho has learned from China one country two standards, ooops, it is one country two systems indeed.

Followed was soup to do the cleansing. I had Bird Nest Soup with Minced Chicken (Baht 550) while my friends took the Braised Shark Fin Soup in Supreme Brown Broth (Baht 800) and Monk-Jump-Over-the-Wall (Baht 1,200). Except the monk-jump-over-the-wall, my bird nest soup and the braised fin soup were pleasant.

To go with some rice we ordered the Roasted Pigeon, Stir-fried US Scallop, Yum Sea Conch (boiled sea conch in Thai style spicy salad), and Stir-fried Pak-waan Vegetable (local watercress). They were acceptable though not outstanding.

For a Cantonese dinner we never missed out the fish. Although Ho Kitchen has a wide range of fish to offer from the five continents, but we still stuck to our favorite Steamed Coral Trout in Warm Soy Sauce (Baht 1,600). The fish was steamed to perfection, 90% done with the center of the fish (attached to the bone) left sightly in pink-red. Don't be scare! This is the way a well prepared steamed fish supposed to be.

Although we have heard that the Snowy Taro (puak hima) and Ginkgo Nuts in Roasted Coconut are outstanding desserts in Ho Kitchen but we had to save them for next visit as we were very full by now.

Authentic Cantonese cuisine tends to be on the bland side in tern of seasoning. Real gourmet relies on the freshness and the natural taste of the ingredients instead of the seasonings. Since Ho Kitchen tends to taking care mostly local customers with stronger palate, some Cantonese-cum-Thai dishes were added to the menu. For most dishes original taste couldn't be adjusted due to authentication, house-recipe dipping sauce on the helping hand. Chef Ho trained a team of hotsy-totsy chefs benefited from the state-of-the-art fish tank system, best to keep all seafood live healthier, did prepare us a feast of freshest tasting and quite delicious seafood dinner at Ho Kitchen Meng-jai branch.

Ho Kitchen (Meng-jai branch) 釆華軒 ***3/4

510 Prachauthit-mengjai Road

(off Pradit-manutham Road),

Wangtonglang, Bangkok 10310;
Tel.: 02-934 7723
(Ho Kitchen Rama 3 branch not recommended)

Open daily : lunch 11:30 am - 2:30 pm; dinner 6 - 10 pm

Pay (food only for two): lunch around THB 600; dinner around THB 1,000 (or around THB 3,000 for live seafood dining)

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yumcha @ Crystal Jade

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yumcha at
Crystal Jade

Last week we went to Grill Tokyo in the Siam Paragon Mall we promised a revisit to the Crystal Jade situated at the next door. Crystal Jade is a famous Chinese restaurant chain in Singapore and also with extension to Hong Kong by offering Chinese Northern provincial cuisine such as xiao-long-bao (steamed mini rice flour bun with minced pork filling), dumplings, noodles, and authentic Northern provincial dishes. Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant in the Siam Paragon instead offering Cantonese (Canton is a province includes Hong Kong in Southern China and better referred as Guangdong in today’s knowledge) fine dining while the sister Crystal Jade Lai Mei Xian Long Bao (in the Erawan Plaza) offering a more casual array of Chinese Northern bistro delis.

Like most Chinese restaurants catering Canton specialty, Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant offering us a yum-cha (drinking tea eating dim sum ready in a small bamboo basket) experience during lunch. The yum-cha culinary arts of Chinese Cantonese cuisine are unique and practical. A decent basket of dim sum requires the preparation and expertise of a dim sum chef with matching high quality of tea to become a treat. It is a routine eating habit for Hong Kong people going yum cha during lunch, or foreign visitors to Hong Kong will be advised to copy so.

In Bangkok, there are handsome amount of Chinese restaurants do the dim sum right, mostly in hotels’ outlets. Stand-alone likes Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant, the quality was among the top three that we have sampled in Bangkok. Here was the treat we had.

A complete yum cha experience should start with the roasted dishes, such as a portion of Roasted Duck, Soy Sauce Chicken, Suckling Pig, and Roasted Honey Pork Ribs. Those roasted dishes were among the best we have sampled in Bangkok.

Followed by bowls of Canpoy (dried scallop) Soup Dumpling with Shark’s Fin or Meat Fillings, and Cheong-fun (Rice Roll filled with Prawn or BBQ Pork) enhanced our yum cha pleasure. In Crystal Jade the cheong-fun skin was too thick and sticky, but the fillings had the right taste. Not the best but definitely above average.

On the dim sum part we had a real treat that day starting with Har-gau (dumplings of shrimp wrapped in a thin wheat starch sheet), Siu-mai (dumplings of shrimp and pork fillings wrapped in a thin wheat flour wrapper), and Char-siu-baau (steam buns of BBQ pork fillings). These dim sum trio were the most popular dim sum choices in the Cantonese yum cha culture. In the old days a dim-sum-lady carrying the trio would announce in loud ‘har-gar, siu-mai, char-siu-bauu’ together to attract awareness while cruising around the restaurant. We also picked a basket of Rabbit Dumpling with Vegetable Fillings.

Further we sampled the Steam Spare Pork Ribs, Steam Beef Meat Balls, a popular dim sum item in Hong Kong but hardly found in Bangkok, Foo-pae-gheun (deep-fried bean curd sheet wrapped in prawn fillings), Lo-bak-go (daikon radish cakes), Ham-sui-kok (deep-fried salty meat puff), and Durian-sou (pastry filled with durian).

Also served were the Wok-fried Vegetables (Tong-O) with Garlic, and the Fried Rice Yin-Yan (fried rice of tomato sauce with meat and cream sauce with prawn). Although the fried rice wasn’t impressive but we appreciated that Crystal Jade include this once popular fried rice in the menu. Maybe it was the first fusion offer in the Cantonese culinary history.

We ended the scrumptious yum cha journey with some sweets. They were Dan-ta (egg custard tart), and Mango Pudding.

In Hong Kong, quality dim sum served everywhere; however, in Bangkok please make sure only enjoy yum cha or eat dim sum in a 4 or 5-star hotel or a prominent Chinese (Cantonese) eatery otherwise you may never want to eat dim sum again. Avoid Thai-Chinese eateries and local small vendors as they don’t provide authentic Cantonese dim sum and lack of using fresh ingredients unless you would like a round of Thai-Chinese version.

Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant 翡翠酒家 ****

G/F, Siam Paragon Mall, Rama 1 Road, Prathumwan, Bangkok. Tel.:02-1294343.

Open daily : lunch 11 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10 pm
Pay (food only for two): lunch around THB 1,000, dinner around THB 2,000

yumcha @ Emporia

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yum cha
Emporia 猷茜樓 @ the Emporium Suites

I had an appointment with one of my associates, a Sukhumvit guru, at the Emporium Shopping Mall for dim sum lunch. He kept asking did I mean the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel or the nearby Novotel as within the shopping mall there shall be no decent Chinese eatery. Well my Sukhumvit guru was half wrong and half correct only have to blame local media low attention to the Emporia, a Chinese restaurant in the Emporium Building occupying on the hotel wing. I walked him to the entrance for the Emporium Suites, a serviced apartment cum hotel, through Starbucks Coffee on 2nd floor of the shopping mall to the Emporium's office lobby. There we took the hotel lift to the EL floor, only to sample Emporia's all-you-can-eat dim sum lunch in this luxury version of the city's hole-in-the-wall.

The Emporia is run by the Bangkok Club, a Bangkok Bank's private club for fellow tycoons of which membership by invitation only (of course), has one of Bangkok's top Chinese eateries head by Chef Fong from Hong Kong. When the Emporium Suites decided to put an exquisite Chinese restaurant in the hotel property to replace the unwelcome coffee shop, they had Bangkok Club's Ivory Palace (a Cantonese restaurant) to help building a solid foundation for the Club sponsored Emporia Chinese Restaurant in the Emporium Suites. Five years have passed, although the Emporia doesn't fly high, but it does well in her low profile presentation.

Emporia, with modern interior featuring contemporary Asian in green, brown and gold color scheme, it is surrounding elegant and quiet, with a sense of tranquility and style rarely found in a downtown Chinese restaurant.

During lunch, both a la carte and all-you-can-eat (Baht 499++) dim sum were offered. We picked the all-you-can-eat dim sum offer. Started with a bowl of soup (with choices), followed by hau-gar (dumplings of shrimp and bamboo shoot wrapped in a thin rice starch sheet) and siu-mai (dumplings of pork and shrimp fillings wrapped in a thin kansui flour wrapper), a must. Also delighted were the lo-bak-go (pan-fried daikon radish cakes), though less impressive than fu-pae-gheun (deep-fried bean curd sheet wrapper in shrimp paste fillings). I also took the cheong-fun (steamed rice roll filled with BBQ pork), steamed fish fillet, and the e-fu noodles. They were steamed-to-order and kept my mouth busy most of the time.



No one would describe the food as outstanding, but it is good having Cantonese yum cha near the cloud with the hustle and bustle Sukhumvit Road beneath. In terms of service, you can expect no less attention from Emporia's service staff compared to what you could get at a five-star hotel, but without any trace of pretentious. This is an excellent place to entertain visiting guests, or even dine-with-a-view alone to cheer up the mood.

All in all, Emporia's all-you-can-eat Dim Sum Lunch at Baht 499++ is a venue for value-for-money fare and is recommended if you are in and around the Emporium Shopping Mall. Stunning panorama view is complimentary from the restaurant.

Emporia Chinese Restaurant 猷茜樓 ***1/2

EL Floor (25/F), the Emporium Suites
622 Sukhumvit Road
Klong Toey, Bangkok 10110
Tel.: 02.664.9999 ext.1608

Open daily : lunch 11 am - 2:30 pm, dinner 6 - 10pm
Pay (food only for two): lunch around THB 1,300, dinner around THB 2,500
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