The restaurant decor, inspired by olden chinese ways of the affluent community spending the day sipping tea and listening to chirping birds in cages, has a ceiling full of hanging bird cages painted in black, giving it a modern touch. In stark contrast with the all black ceiling is pristine white tables and chairs with some being 'caged' up in fuschia pink dividers.
We had a big group so we were allocated seating outside the pink 'cages'. Table setting is in consistent with the white theme with touches of black.
The menu, with food items being carefully divided into various categories. They have good selection of items in every category. There is also a Set menu with set meals available for 1pax - 8pax.
As the prices are on the steep side for main courses, we decided to order assorted dim sum dishes and 2 fried rice to share. The kids also shared 1pax set meals.
Instead of peanuts or pickles, we had Beancurd skin salad 凉拌豆腐皮 $3++ (charged as pickle dish on bill) served at every table. This was delicious, the springy beancurd skin is tossed with vinegar, chili oil and shredded cucumber for extra crunch.
The pickled cucumber that came with the set meals. I didn't try this one.
Some of us who are early birds ordered the 8 Treasure tea $4.50++, their feedback for this was it tasted rather bland initially and got sweeter when the water became fully infused with the sweetness of the ingredients...typical character of such tea.
I did not order the 8 Treasure tea as I have other plans. This being the 2nd visit to an Arteastiq restaurant, I ordered Lychee Tea $8.90++ (cold) from the premium tea section and viola, this is how the tea set looks like...cute isn't it?
Other than just looking cute, this tea was bursting with lychee flavor and was refreshingly sweet. These delish teas were initially priced at $11++ and would come on a nice tray with a shot glass of sugar and a cookie/biscuit, similar to those we had at Museo. But they have since revised the price downward and do away with the nice presentation.
The first dish to arrive at the table was the Fried rice w/ crabmeat, dried scallop & egg white $16.90++. This pricey dish didn't score in the looks department but amazes us with rich flavors of crabmeat and savory dried scallops. It was perfectly fried with enough wok hei and the egg white compliments the crabmeat really well...everyone was singing praises after having the first mouthful!
The dim sum dishes started arriving in custom made Japanese style wooden steamers. We had the Custard & Salted egg yolk buns $4.90++ first, it was really good, with buns being soft and fluffy and the filling was thick and flowy. Thumbs up.
Prawn dumpling $4.90++ was good as well, skin was thin and translucent and prawn filling was fresh and crunchy.
Shanghai Xiao Long Bao $7.90++, this was another stellar dish, the juicy marinated minced pork was swimming in a big pool of broth! We were all pleasantly surprised with the amount of broth these thinly skinned dumplings can contain. This is yummier than the Din Tai Fung ones in my opinion...must try!
Crispy mango prawn rolls w/ sesame seeds $4.90++, this was delish too. The skin was dotted with aromatic roasted sesame seeds and the savory prawn meat filling blends well with the tangy mango puree...yums.
Chicken Char siew sou $4.90++, I didn't eat this one as my friends feedback that the pastry was buttery like good quality CNY pineapple tarts...so hands off for me.
The much anticipated Twelves beauties 金陵十二钗 $25.90++, consists of 6 pairs of the restaurant's signature dim sum. Impressive presentation!
The Sesame glutinous rice dumpling was not bad, nice and chewy with not too sweet red bean paste. The Crispy wanton was packed with crunchy fresh prawns.
The Baked Lotus paste pastry was as buttery as the Char siew sou, hands off for me again. The savory Chicken wrap with crispy prata skin was pretty good though.
Last two items (prawn dumpling & custard bun) tasted as delicious as the ala carte ones we had ordered.
Dining experience here was very pleasant with fantastic food, chic & cozy ambiance and decent service from the waiting staffs. I highly recommend the dim sum dishes for those who doesn't have a deep pocket as they are great value for money!
Hong Shi Yi 鸿食藝 Food Artistry
9 Raffles Boulevard Millenia Walk #02-19/20 Singapore 039596
Tel: 6333 5117 (Art Gallery)
6333 5116 (Restaurant)
Operating Hours:
Monday - Sunday & Public Holidays
11am - 10pm (Restaurant)
11am - 9pm (Art Gallery)
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