Ah Yat Abalone, Bangkok

On the second day in Bangkok we had dim sum brunch at Ah Yat Abalone (Forum?) in Menam Riverside Hotel. The Singapore branches are also quite good, we believe.

The chee cheong fun was tasty and came with a horde of shrimp. The flour skin was shilky shmooth and each shrimp was firm to the bite. The bear declares this dish was on par with the ones he has had in HK (= approval).

Carrot (turnip!) cake was good too, but not mindblowingly awesome in our books. The exterior was a bit crispy, and the interior was not too starchy/gooey. The bunny wolfed this down while appreciating the not-so-oiliness of this often cloying fried dish.

The yam thing (?) was actually pretty yum and fried to near-perfection. Each was quite yammy (obviously...but most dim sum places offer less yam-filling and more air-and-dough) with generous chunks of pork.

Char siew was delicious fatty goodness! Look at how the skin glistens in pure decadence. The bear had several helpings.

The po lo char siew bun was pretty interesting - the outside of the bun was sweet with the cookie dough and the inside with pretty good char siew (though the actual char siew was unbeatable). The regular buns work better imo.

But the best was yet to come! This stairway to heaven of roast pork fared better ("Divine!" exclaims the bear, to which the bunny nods in fervent agreement). Each piece was a balance between crunch of the skin and the tenderness of the slightly charred pork. We thought this was really well done, as the fat tends to become a bit sticky and renders itself on our teeth - but this doesn't!

Sin.

And that's us again :D

Chicken feet were okay by regular standards.

The salted egg yolk custard buns were a disappointment. For one, the custard was not 'flowy' and did not gush out of the buns upon bite (that's the literal name of the dish in Chinese: 流沙包which means bun of flowing sand). The custard may have been overcooked, hence the texture. Perhaps this is the Thai way? Shrugs. Also the dough of the bun was a wee bit tough.. the bunny likes hers softer and more yielding to teeth.

Was a good brunch overall. Not sure if the Singapore branches match to these standards, but we would be keen to try one day! We actually ended up with a few more extra dishes that we did not order - that's how it rolls in Bangkok.