Fraser Court

The one day I actually felt like doing absolutely nothing, Viv decides that we should go for Dim Sum. Rather than complain and whine, I would never pass up an opportunity to eat. Well, I did once, when Vandelay and Rich Guy went to Song Houng without me. The restaurant of choice for today was Fraser Court. As the name suggests, it's on Fraser Street. Furthermore it is actually the old location of the Flamingo Restaurant. It had been closed for awhile and after renovations it has reopened for business. Apparently they weren't done with the renovations because the lobby was littered with building materials. Once up on the 2nd floor, the future waiting area was packed with chairs, packaging and a scaffold. Couldn't they have temporarily stored this somewhere else? It's like restaurant makeover gone wrong. This resulted in some crowding around the entrance since there was really nowhere to stand and wait for a table. On that note, we had called in a reservation and much like Fortune House, that only gets you into another lineup of other people who made a reservation. I think it took us 30 minutes to get a table. Despite the wait, I felt that the staff were trying their very best to keep everyone happy.

The first thing that one will notice about the restaurant is the open floor design of the restaurant. For people who want to hold a large banquet with unobstructed views, this place would work. Unfortunately for me, we were seated in the back corner of the restaurant far from the window; however, there was more than enough light for pictures. This was a result of the freakishly bright lighting within the restaurant. This has to be one of the most well-lit places I've ever been to. The whole place was a mad house and what really impressed me was that our server did everything in his power to keep us happy.

The first dish to arrive was the Shrimp Stuffed Fried Eggplant. Being more like shrimp with eggplant, it was executed very well. The eggplant was soft; but not overcooked and the shrimp was juicy. It's really too bad that the accompanying black bean sauce was stone cold. For what it's worth, the sauce did taste good without being salty. For the first time in awhile, we got Spring Rolls that were not filled with shrimp. Don't get me wrong, I love shrimp; but it is becoming increasing difficult to find meat and veggie filled
spring rolls. By the way, these were crispy and not too oily. It seems like we order Haw Gow (or Shrimp Dumpling) every time we go for Dim Sum. Well, unless you're allergic to shrimp, this is the dish you must order at Dim Sum. The ones here were quite good with large pieces of crunchy shrimp inside. The flavour was delicate bordering on sweet rather than salty. I only wish that the outer wrapper was a bit thinner and less gummy.

We originally ordered a Spareribs and Chinese Sausage Rice for the kiddies; but they were already quite full from the other food. In the end we finished it off. We often call this dish "the filler" because it essentially fills you up. Despite not being a huge fan of ordering rice during Dim Sum, I did enjoy this one. The rice had a good consistency (not being mushy) and the spareribs was plentiful, tender and lightly seasoned. There was no need for excess salt on the spareribs since the "lap cheun" (Chinese sausage) is salty enough already. Moreover, there is a sweetened soya sauce served on the rice as well.

A favourite of mine (and also the kiddies) is the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings. Granted, it's not the healthiest choice; but it's so darn good! It is comprised of cooked pork and shitake mushrooms encased with mashed taro. The taro dumplings here were pretty good. Despite being deep fried, there was not pool of oil at the bottom of the plate and the underside of the dumpling wasn't oil-soaked either. The crispy exterior gave way to fluffy taro and curried ground pork. I had to eat all the pork out of my son's dumpling because he doesn't like "things" in his food. This "things" business has got to end! One thing to note was that there were 4 dumplings (same with the spring rolls) which makes it a good value.

Okay, the next dish was a bit of an error on my part. Despite ordering spareribs rice already, I also ordered a dish of Olive Spareribs. No matter, that just meant more ribs for me... err... for everyone else I mean. If you were wondering if the olive part was a typo of some sort, it wasn't. These ribs are steamed with crushed olives on top. Not many places prepare it this way. It usually the common black bean sauce or preserved plum sauce. Tart, salty and a bit bitter, the ribs were well-seasoned by the olives (and any other seasonings). It was definitely a refreshing change from black bean. Another filler item is the Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. Lots of carbs to fill up your stomach! Luckily, these ones were fluffy with a good amount of BBQ pork filling which was a good balance of salty and sweet.

The first hiccup in our meal occurred with the Satay Honeycomb Tripe. Well, for some people, I guess tripe in general is not only a hiccup, it's a full vomit. However, I love tripe and really can't get enough of it. The flavour of the tripe was mostly sweet with little satay flavour. The tripe itself was a bit soft, almost being mushy. I do like my tripe soft; but there was not much texture left. The very next dish, Pea Leaves and Shrimp Dumplings were also a miss. These dumplings were so horribly overcooked, the outer wrapper was stuck to the bamboo steamer. When we tried to pick it up, everything fell apart. Suffice to say, the leaves had the texture of creamed spinach and the shrimp was a bit chewy. Flavour wise, it was fine being lightly seasoned. I'm pretty sure that the dumplings would've been good if they had not over steamed them.

For dessert, we went with the ol' standby - Egg Tarts. We like them and really, it was for the kiddies. If you look at the picture, the tarts are some of the worst looking ones we've ever seen. It almost appears that it's all tart crust and very little egg. Upon eating them, we found out that the flaky crust merely expanded too much and cooked a little over the egg filling. Whatever the case, they were not aesthetically appealing. Viv also thought they were a bit bland and runny.

All-in-all, it was a pretty solid Dim Sum at Fraser Court. The Dim Sum was well-seasoned without being too salty or oily. Portions were good with
the prices being quite reasonable. It's even cheaper if you order before 11:00am (everything is 15% off). However, be prepared to participate in the thing known as "Chinese people clamoring for a deal" mob during this time. Although I love a deal as well (it's in the genes), we choose not to do this since the kiddies get quite cranky with waiting and crowds. Despite the long wait for a table even though we had a reservation, we never felt the service was ever rude or impatient. This is significant because if you've ever been to Po King or Floata, you would be considered lucky to escape verbal abuse or rudeness.

The Good:
- Good portions
- Good service (for this type of restaurant)
- Reasonable prices

The Bad:
- Reservation system much like Fortune Court (which means that there isn't one)
- The place is packed tightly
- Food comes out a bit slow