Red Star Restaurant

I've heard so much about this place from the older generation people that the food is good, and a place for aunties gathering too. The food is authentic and tasteful that there's still local Chinese mid-30s couple using this place as their Wedding Banquet venue.

I finally have the chance to visit this place on a Saturday for Dim Sum lunch with my friend who works at the office nearby. We reach just before 12pm on Sat, so no need to wait for seats, still got seats there, but by 12.30pm , the place is almost filled.

It feels like traveling to another country's old Chinese Restaurant with push-carts by older mature waitress, different from the modern Chinese restaurant. Thus, it has its nostalgic ambience of its own, a change from modern restaurant.

The Dim Sum dishes are done in authentic way, not much creativity, but that's what make it special and worth going back to eat original taste of Dim Sum.

I like its char-siew bao, har-gau, chee cheong fun with char-siew or prawn, fried prawn rolls, steamed pork ribs, and its very fragrant Egg tarts... yummy.

Nonetheless, its siew-mai, har-gau & century egg porridge is quite authentically ordinary, as I've found better quality & texture ones at Fortunate Restaurant (Vivo city).

Woke up bright and early on a Sunday morning for some Dim Sum with my gf. Had been wanting to do so ever since we had Dim Sum at Yan Palace some time back. This time we decided to visit one of the old names in Dim Sum - Red Star Restaurant at Chin Swee Road. Located on the top floor of a HDB flat, Red Star is one of the very few Dim Sum places that still serves Dim Sum in pushcarts, just like the old days. The interior in itself is reminiscent of the 80s. We got there at about 0830hrs and the place was more than half filled (It can easily seat about 200 pax).

It would be sheer madness if I were to review everything I ate, so I'll just list out what I find is good and what isn't. You might probably want to avoid the Xiao Long Bao because the skin was a little too starchy and the filling was too dry. The Chee Cheong Fun was a little too rough for my liking and could do with more filling. The Banana with Shrimp Roll was rather unique, with the sweetness of the banana complementing with the taste of shrimp. Other than that, the rest of the items were pretty normal.

The 2 of us paid almost $40/- for the meal, which is expensive by Red Star's standards, considering the last time we ate there, it only cost us about $30. They probably increased the price or something. However, having said that, they are still quite reasonable for the average quality of food that they provide. So if you are looking to relive the old days of the push cart or wish to have Dim Sum as early as 0730hrs, then this is the place for you. As for me I won't be rushing back to patronise anytime soon as I'm still reeling from the shock at my bill. Yan Palace does seem like a more viable option now.

See all my pictures here.