Su Zhou Dimsum

I had seen Su Zhou Dimsum in Malate before, and thought to go back to try it some other day, but never did. So when I saw that they had a branch at Robinson's Otis, I definitely made it a point to try their famous xiao long pao. This was actually my second visit. I didn't have my camera with me on my first visit, and almost forgot to take pictures this time. So here we have the 2 remaining steamed xiao long pao, and the 1 remaining pan-fried xiao long pao. We also ordered some fish fillet and fried rice. I forgot what the fish fillet dish was called but it was delicious! Simple food - lightly breaded fish fillet with egg white-cornstarch sauce, some onions, carrots and green pepper, but done really well! It was all gone before I remembered to take a picture.

Their xiao long pao, of course, was much better than what you get at the usual dimsum places in
Onpin. The only other restaurant's that could come close would be Gloriamaris' xiao long pao. Truth be told, it was even better than the xiao long pao we had in Shanghai. We had xiao long pao at one of the restaurants at the Yu Gardens, which Shanghai residents told us was the place to go to for xiao long pao (to be fair, those restaurants did do a brisk business on xiao long pao, and it seemed to be their specialty since even the locals were ordering it table after table).

Su Zhou's xiao long pao was served piping hot. The way to eat it is to use your chopsticks to gently transfer it to your soup spoon (you may dip it into the vinegar/garlic dipping sauce first if you prefer), bite off the top 'peak' to release the heat and maybe cool the xiao long pao a bit, and when it's cool enough to eat without burning your tongue, slowly sip the 'soup' and eat the xiao long pao, taking care not to spill any of the delicious soup. Yes, xiao long pao should have that 'soup' inside the dumpling. Su Zhou's xiao long pao is delicately flavored - with a hint of ginger, the taste of pork, and not too salty nor too sweet. But it is well-flavored. Personally I prefer the pan-fried version. There's just something about pan-fried dimsum that makes it taste better - like fried siopao, potstickers, pan-fried gyoza..

Do check out Su Zhou Dimsum and savor their xiao long pao, making sure not to spill any of the soup. From my experience, the service at their Robinson's Otis branch was a bit mediocre and the staff seemed to be just idling and not as spiffy nor as well-trained compared to the better restaurants, but their food is superb! (When the supervisor served us our xiao long pao, I had to ask for chopsticks and soup spoons...) At P90-95 an order for 4 pieces of xiao long pao, it is a bit expensive, but it is definitely worth trying and going back for maybe every 1-2 months...