New Dim Sum Menu at Red House 小红楼, Prinsep Street

小红楼 Red House has been one of the iconic seafood restaurants of Singapore. It had its beginnings in a red colonial house along Upper East Coast Road and had for many years operated in the East Coast Seafood Centre. 小红楼 Red House Seafood outlet at East Coast Seafood Centre had ceased operations earlier this year. The good news for seafood lovers is that Red House has opened a new outlet in the city at Prinsep Street. The better news is that they have a new dim sum menu and their dim sum we had tried were quite good.

Red House seafood restaurant occupies 2 shop houses at Prinsep Street. There is a small al fresco dining area in front. The main dining hall is on the ground floor. There are also a dining area and private rooms on the second level. The decor is simple. The clever use of colours and lighting make the place looked quite attractive and cosy.

Red House at Prinsep Street has their usual full seafood restaurant menu. Drunken Prawns, Crispy Roasted Chicken, Seafood Fried Rice, Razor Clams, Geoduck Clam Sashimi and of course Crabs in Red House Special Chilli Stew or Spicy Black Pepper are all available.

Red House also introduced a new dim sum menu which has the usual dim sum items like siew mai and carrot cake and a few interesting new variations.

We went to Red House at Prinsep Street for lunch and ordered 2 standard items – BBQ Pork Pastry or Char Siew Soh ($6 for 3 pieces) and Pork Ribs with black bean sauce ($6). We also tried their new signature dim sum items – Truffle Wild Mushroom Dumplings ($6 for 3 pieces) and Takasumi Chilli Crab Bun ($10 for a basket of 3 buns). Tea and towel were charged at $1.80 per person and the braised peanuts appetizer $3. The usual service charge and GST were added to the bill.

We did not have to wait long for the food to be served. We liked the fact that not all the items were served at about the same time. Whether by design or coincidence, two items were served followed by the other two items when we were done with the first lot.

The Char Siew Soh was of the expected standard. The pastry was buttery and flaky and the sweet savoury char siew fillings were tasty. The simple Pork Ribs dish, with pieces of very well braised yam, also met expectations.

Next came the more exotic dim sum items. The Truffle Wild Mushroom Dumplings had emerald green skins which were thin but firm enough to hold in the fillings. The scent and earthly taste of mushroom were really strong. It would be a treat for those who like mushrooms.

The Takasumi Chilli Crab Bun was the star of the day. The shiny black steamed soft bamboo charcoal buns looked interesting and attractive. The buns were fluffy and with chilli crab filling was delicious. The filling was not just chilli crab paste but was made of discrete pieces of crab meat cooked in luscious sauce. We would go back to Red House just for this dim sum item.

We had a very enjoyable dim sum lunch at Red House at Prinsep Street. The staff were friendly and efficient. The place was pleasant and comfortable. The dim sum items we tried were good and the chilli crab bun was excellent. We also enjoyed 50 per cent discount on all the dim sum items – which meant it was really a great value meal. The 50 per cent discount promotion on dim sum items for lunch will last till 31 December 2015.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 4
Value: 5 (based on special promotion price)
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs