Let's Eat: Zi Yean Restaurant 自然酒楼 (Dim Sum)

Before I went for my wisdom tooth surgery (which was 2 months ago, so yes, this post is long overdue), I was determined to satisfy my dim sum cravings. My friend and I decided to check this place out after reading Eatbook's review. Although we live nowhere near the west, we travelled to this little eatery before we going to school (talk about effort). 

Let's get a few things out of the way before I begin.

Firstly, you need to try out this place. The food is excellent, and it's not that pricey. Secondly, I don't think the $2.50 dim sum offer is available anymore. I went there in the morning, but they said that the discount  has been discontinued.

I absolutely had to try out the yam bao and mushroom bao because I'm a sucker for the gram. If you know me in real life, I'm that person who always takes a picture before anyone can eat. It was the first thing that caught my attention when I was reading up about this place. The pictures looked so cute online and I'm glad to report that they didn't disappoint me in real life. 

I liked the yam bao because it's not as sweet as normal yam baos. The filling is slightly creamier compared those I've tried. I love the attention to detail they put in making this. It's legit 10/10. On the outside, it looks similar to a watermelon. Once you bite into it, it reveals a pink yam filling with some black seeds, which resembles the inside of a watermelon.

The mushroom bao was okay in terms of taste, but the design was really cute too. But, to me, both are highly Instagram-worthy.

If you're checking out this place, I highly recommend their sweet potato custard balls. It doesn't look mind-blowing, but trust me when I say you will fall in love with it. 

When I first bit into it, I fell in love with the crispy exterior and the custard's ooze. Every bite is a delight. We had to order more because having one per person wasn't enough. It's deep-fried, but not too greasy. In fact, it didn't make me feel guilty about eating it. I miss this dish the most, so if you're trying this restaurant out, be sure to try these.

The next star of the show was their fried yam cake. Just like the sweet potato balls, these had a crispy exterior, but the inside was really soft. Even though this dish was fried, it didn't feel too greasy. Again, we ordered more because it was so good. 

Other dishes I would recommend are the mushroom chee cheong fun. I'm not a huge chee cheong fan - I eat it only when someone buys it -  but this was something I re-ordered (yes, I reorder a lot of things).

They also have other main dishes. I can't remember the name of these noodles, but dayummm, the gravy was so flavourful. The best part of this dish was that the noodles were soaked in the gravy. I was blown away. However, the beef wasn't my favorite; it was slightly tough to chew. 

I recommend this place, especially if you need to satisfy your dim sum cravings.  

The waiting time varies for the dishes, but I think it's worth it because most of the dishes are freshly made. The dishes didn't take too long to reach our tables. Some dishes, like the Char Siew puff, took a long time. But most of their dim sum come out after roughly 10 minutes. I visited this place twice, and each time I spent roughly around $15+. Oh how I wish they opened one outlet in the East.

Address: 56 Lengkok Bahru,#01-443

Singapore 150056

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