D'Shanghai 大上海點心酒樓 - Dim Sum restaurant offer much more than Dim Sum

• Operating Hours: 10 AM - 10 PM
• Operating Days: Daily
• Address: 
• KSL - Taman Century, 80250, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
• Sutera Mall - 1, Jalan Sutera Tanjung 8/4, Taman Sutera Utama, 81300, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
• Permas Jaya - 56, Jalan Permas 15/1, Bandar Baru Permas Jaya, 81750 Masai, Malaysia
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Trying to look for good dim sum restaurants in Johor Bahru? D'Shanghai is definitely one of the top choices. D'Shanghai is also available in KSL City and Permas Jaya. We went to the one at Sutera Mall.

The Oriental exterior in red with big Chinese words "大上海" on the top (a translation of "Big Shanghai" in Mandarin) can be easily spotted from far.

The place was quite crowded but there were enough seats for us in the waiting area. It was a busy restaurant so you might have to wait for 20 mins to be seated. Typically, the environment will make you feel like you are dining at Crystal Jade or Tim Ho Wan.

There are a lot of varieties of dim sum offered. Besides dim sum, this restaurant also offered fried rice, noodles etc.

There were quite a number of varieties on the menu. You will be spoilt for choice.

They recommend D'Shanghai special Dried Shrimp Chili which they sell it in bottle format too. I'm sure anyone will enjoy the Dim Sum dip with this.

The first item that came was the XO fried carrot cake. This is one of my favorite here, it was fried with bean sprouts, spring onions, eggs and Taiwan sausage.

The exterior of the carrot cake was very springy and chewy, while the interior was soft and tasteful! It was something I have not tasted before, a good dish to start off with.

Next item brought to us was the dry Wanton Char Siew Mee.

The dry version was really really dry, till all the noodle were in a pile together. We had to use the spoon to separate it up. Overall the noodle was a bit too soft for me as I like my wanton noodle to be cooked slightly harder. The char siew and the wanton were also pretty normal, but it was a good portion for one.

Their next chef recommendation, fried prawn dumpling with wasabi mayonnaise sauce was very crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The wasabi mayonnaise adds another novelty taste to the fried dumpling but it tastes good on its own as well.

Liu Sha Bao 流沙包 is a mixture of egg custard with salted egg's yolk, which the mixture will usually flow out of the bun like golden sand. But it was not hot at all, so not that much of the 'lava' flow, but it is still good to have it if you visit.

Their Prawn dumpling 蝦餃 was plump and juicy with shrimps just barely visible through its translucent dumpling skin. When you take the first bite, the elasticity of the minced shrimp and meat mixture has a nice contrast to the skin. The skin was neither soft nor feeling plastic-y, definitely, a must have!

The Xiao Long Bao 小笼包 here is their highlight dish. It is often referred as soup dumplings. The skin is extremely thin and we can easily see through the content in each dumpling. The broth in the dumplings was really good that we finished it all three clean just within minutes!

Siew Mai was also one of the chef recommendation here. Each of it was filled with at least one shrimp, with a generous amount of pork given. The meat was tender and does not split into pieces when you take the first bite.

Steamed rice rolls 猪肠粉 is another dish which we will usually order whenever we eat dim sum. We ordered the one filled with You Tiao, and they came with the sauce separated.

The skin was thin, soft and chewy. As for the You Tiao, it is crispy to our mouth, but it was too oily for our liking. Be sure to share with three or more people for one portion.

The food served was relatively fast but they were all warm, none of the dishes were steaming hot, the temperature of the food was acceptable so do make sure you finish your's food ASAP so not to get them cold.

Price is definitely not cheap for the locals, however, their Dim Sum is one of the best I have eaten in Johor Bahru (though still not comparable to Din Tai Feng or Tim Ho Wan).

Overall, the environment was good, spacious and cozy with friendly services. If you want to dine in an air-conditioned place and in big groups, D'Shanghai is one of the places for your consideration.

Wen Dou Sek (126) - Solve your Dim Sum supper craving anytime!

• Operating Hours: Daily (5 PM to 2 AM)
• Address: 1086 Serangoon Road S328187 another branch at 126 Sims Ave S387449
• How to get there: Boon Keng MRT station walk towards Kallang River direction, walking distance est 5 to 10 mins.
• Food I had: Waterchestnut Drink, Har Gao (虾饺), Siew Mai (烧卖), Fried Shrimp Dumpling (明虾角), Fried Carrot Cake (炸萝卜糕).
• Total Cost: $18.90SGD

Many Singaporeans are spoilt for supper choices when we are feeling hungry in the middle of the night. Or even sometimes, you just feel like eating something small and satisfying, and the best scenario is to not queue up for too long before you get a seat. At 126 温到食, you can easily meet all the criteria you've set- satisfying and comforting food, and of course without the need to queue! (Well, at least for me :))

The name of the 126 温到食 dim sum restaurant is actually a direct translation from Cantonese. The word "温到食” in Cantonese is actually pronounced as "wen dou sek", which means "food comforting". I guess the number 126 derives from the address of its main branch, 126 Sims Ave, and to me, "126" sounds very similar to the pronunciation of "wen dou sek" (if you pronounce fast enough). It is very interesting to know the fact of this restaurant and somehow, the name of the restaurant has too much coincidence to its location as well.

The branch we visited is actually the second branch, located at Serangoon road. The menu provided is more or less the same as the main branch.

There are so many choices for you to choose on the menu! We've been there several times and most of the food we ordered is up to standard. Food is prepared only when you have ordered, be sure not to swallow them at once when the food is served!

Other than dim sum, they provide zi char menu as well! However, the zi char menu is only available from 5pm-8pm. Be sure to arrive during that timing if you want something heavier.

As we were not very hungry, we didn't order a lot this time round. 

Most of their drinks are served in the container, the type you always see when you pack your food from hawker center. They will provide the lid of the container if you choose to tabao (takeaway).

We ordered this carrot cake based on the recommendation online. We love how they dipped the carrot cake with egg before they put inside the hot oil to fry. Nice!

The deep fried carrot cake is crispy on the outside and very soft inside. It is very flavourful, with abundant of fried onion, lup cheong, and shrimp in it. It is nice and the taste is to our liking, however, it will be better if the carrot cake can be made slightly harder to enhance the springy feel in every bite. 

Fried prawn dumpling is not uncommon in a dim sum restaurant, including here as well. The amount of prawn they wrapped into a dumpling is so much that you can taste the prawn in every bite you take. It compliments really well with the mayonnaise, and I love the way how each dumpling can retain it's moist within when the skin of the dumpling is so crispy. It was piping hot when served, definitely a plus point!

Har gow (steam prawn dumpling) and Siew Mai (steam pork dumpling) are also commonly seen in almost every dim sum restaurant. At 126, they have many types of har gow and Siew Mai, and of course priced differently. Be sure to flip through the menu first before you order :)

The Siew Mai we had was good! Fresh minced pork meat was used, with the meat infused with sesame oil and soya sauce. Though simple ingredients used, the taste is definitely not compromised, and it is a must order dish whenever we are at this restaurant. Some restaurants of similar price use frozen minced pork and it has spoiled the overall taste. Glad that 126 still uses fresh minced pork for their Siew Mai.

The steam prawn dumpling (har gow) was an utter disappointment despite the great taste we had from other dishes. Though the whole piece of shrimp is used, the crystal skin which was used to wrap the prawns stuck onto the parchment paper underneath. It was almost impossible to pick up the whole har gow without tearing the skin. It sticks to the tooth as well when you bite it. Though the ingredients they used is fresh, we dislike the texture of the skin and didn't really like it.

126 温到食 has many food choices to satisfy your dim sum cravings, and most of their food are still nice in general. It is a restaurant which I will keep going back despite the disappointment from their har gow. Their chee Chong fun and fan choy is also another "must order dish", but we were too full to order this time round. They have many uniqueness in their other dishes, so feel free to let us know what are the other nice dishes at 126 温到食.