Dim sum dollies

Victoria Peak
181 Orchard Road (Orchard Central)
#11-01/02
Tel: +65 6238 7666

My love of dim sum has been well documented in these pages (and well evidenced by my physique), so when Winnie told me about the latest HK import to hit Singapore’s shores – Victoria Peak at Orchard Central – I immediately filed it away for future reference. Now, Winnie is one of my dearest friends and has many strong points – but a discerning palate is sadly not among them. She is also prone to hyperbole, especially when it comes to recommending restaurants, so I normally take what she says with a huge pinch of salt. But when the time rolled around for Winnie to buy us a meal, I suggested this place – so she could put her money where her mouth was.

(I felt a little tinge of guilt at going through with swindling the treat out of her, since the original reason for it was very trivial. But hey – who’s going to pass on a free lunch, right? I admit, I am a shameless person.)

Victoria Peak was brought here by the group that was responsible for Victoria City Restaurant in Hong Kong – apparently a multi-award winning restaurant but sadly, one that I have not tried. It opened atop Orchard Central, amidst a roof garden, about seven or so months ago. Any foodie worth his salt can tell you that you never go to a new restaurant within a month of their opening – instead you wait for them to iron the kinks out in their menu or in the rest of their operations. Then normally you wait a few months for your friends to try it and tell you what the good dishes are (and what to avoid).

Victoria Peak professes to be the only Chinese restaurant in Singapore that also specialises in wine, and indeed the glass columns that you see as you walk in are stacked full of bottles. But while I did not peruse the wine list carefully, my awe soon turned to a minor disappointment, for a different reason. The tea at Victoria Peak is a bit of a letdown – the selection is limited and the quality decidedly second-rate. Might it not have been a good idea to carve out some of the wine budget to get some good Chinese tea?

Now, I concede, it is a common gripe that Chinese restaurants typically shit the bed when it comes to wine – the large majority have laughable selections of undrinkable piss. If you go to the top end restaurants, granted, you can get very extensive winelists, with impressive arrays of premium wines. Most times this is because the best restaurants are typically housed within hotels and have access to the purchasing power and expertise of seasoned hospitality personnel. But I have never been to a Chinese restaurant with a thoughtful winelist, painstakingly crafted to match the restaurant’s cuisine while reflecting the individual character of the sommelier or wine director. Perhaps Victoria Peak’s winelist is just such a winelist, but I did not have the chance to find out.

In any case, it is a Chinese restaurant, and when I go to a Chinese restaurant, I want some good Chinese tea.

My other initial impressions of Victoria Peak, though, are more positive. The décor manages to avoid the cliché of typical Chinese restaurants, and the soothing green motif is complemented well by the natural light let in by the large glass panels facing east. The service personnel are delightful – polite and eager to please, all the while remaining the epitome of professionalism. Throughout the meal they were nothing but a credit to their profession.

The food is a little harder to place. It is not bad – far from it – and I can honestly say that I enjoyed almost everything I had. I cannot say it is spectacular – of all the various dishes we ordered not a single one screamed out at us, begging us to return. Yet it would be a tremendous disservice to the restaurant to pass the food off merely as good. It is more than that. As dim sum goes, it is definitely one of the better places to go in Singapore. Standards taste like they should, dishes are executed well and with care.

(Dishes to try: there is a dish of poached rice in seafood stock that is quite remarkable. Grains of rice are poached till they are partially cooked, then served with a consommé containing scallops, fish slices, prawns and other seafood. You add the grains to the consommé and eat it like you would drink soup or eat porridge. The grains are crunchy and have a tinge of wok fire, while the consommé is light and flavourful, and the freshness of the seafood rounds out what is a rather marvellous dish. Also worth trying is the shark cartilage soup – peppery and not as creamy as versions at other restaurants.

Dishes to avoid: the roasted pork – siu yoke. The slices of pork are cubed for uniformity, which means that the fat is cut away and you’re left with small, dry pieces of meat. The skin doesn’t crackle like it should, and the pieces of pork are paired with a very ordinary dijon mustard. Also not up to scratch was the XO carrot cake – the texture was too mushy and it was a pale shadow of versions that I have enjoyed elsewhere.)

At their prices, I suppose they would be considered a treat for a large majority of Singaporeans. And if they are viewed as such – as a place to go for a special occasion – then Victoria Peak disappoints. It is solid without being spectacular; it comforts without inspiring. But it is not excessively expensive either, and nowhere near the stratospheric prices you pay at your Humble Houses or your Hai Tien Los. If money were no object this would be a great place to become a regular of, to come for Sunday brunch every few weeks. I suppose that in this – as with all things else in life – it all depends on your point of view.

In sum, though, I rather enjoyed my trip to Victoria Peak. Good restaurants are easy to find. Good company – not so much, and I was more than grateful to break bread with a couple of good friends.