Imperial Treasure Nan Bei: Great Dim Sum?

Dim Sum is one of the classic favourites from Hong Kong...and in Singapore. We love our dim sum (also variously spelled tim sum).

Imperial Treasure restaurant is one of the flag bearers of Chinese cuisine in Singapore...interestingly, though I have eaten at a number of their outlets, and particularly like their Super Peking Duck outlet in Paragon, I have never eaten at their Nanbei outlet in Ngee Ann City. My good buddy was surprised, as this was her favourite, so we went to sample it one lunchtime.

We started with the chee cheong fun...with prawns.

From this first dish, it was clear the chef in charge was very good. The chee cheong fun was very fine, more similar in texture and fineness with those in the great Hong Kong establishments than those more commonly found in Singapore. The cheong fun itself was very ncie...smooth, clean, and provided a beautiful palette to show the crunchy, sweet, fresh prawns. The soy sauce added a nice little push to lift the taste. And eaten with a bit of the inhouse heh bee hiam (a kind of sambal with dried prawns), quite divine.

Much the same, with the next dish...congee with pork balls

Again the adjective fine comes to mind. The congee is very smooth, very refined. And again, the starch provides a clean, clear palate to show off the deep fried, crispy croutons and the magnificent pork balls. Very good.

Next, bean curd skin...

Bean curd skin, wrapped around fresh prawns, deep fried, and eaten with Worchestershire sauce. A classic in classical interpretation. So very agreeable. I found the dish a bit on the greasy side, but cannot fault the taste.

Polo pau is next

Again, superb. Seems to be the theme in this restaurant...but indeed it is. The sweet. crumbly topping is just superb to bite into...the bite, of course gives way to the more resilient bread bun, which in turn reveals the sweet and salty char siew within. Very good.

Xiao Loong Pau was our next dish

The skin of the XLP was exceptionally fine...but did not break when picked up with chopsticks. The soup was intense, a bit salty, but good flavour. The meat was also very nice, and a delight to bite into.

We finished it with another classical Hong Kong dish...the kon chau hor...or hor fun fried dry with seafood

A kind of char kway teow. Very beautifully fried. Note the bits of the huge prawns were charred...the fire of the wok used to fry this must have been ferocious. And the wok hei very present. Nicely done with spring onions and taugeh providing some crunch. The dish is very tasty, but again I found it a tad greasy.

This is an excellent establishment for dim sum. Very nice. Very fine. Highly recommended.

Imperial Treasure Nan Bei Restaurant (Ngee Ann City)
391 Orchard Road
#05-12/13/14 Ngee Ann City
67381238