If Kuai San Dian Xin 块三点心 sounds familiar to you, you might have read our previous article on the Woodlands outlet. Tucked in a corner of Lakeside, this second outlet maintains its affordable price at only $1.30 per basket of dim sum, but does not operate 24/7 like the one at Woodlands.
You will find the humble stall in the Choh Dee Place kopitiam under Block 346A.
Dim sum is obviously the name of the game here, and we were greeted with a glass display full of glistening fried items. There was a wide variety to choose from, and we wanted to try everything (lucky it’s only $1.30!).
Kuai San Dian Xin steams the dim sum upon order to ensure freshness and that the food is not overcooked. This way, you can expect your food to be piping hot!
My favourite dim sum dish of all time, the Siew Mai ($1.30) did not disappoint.
The skin was thin and soft, making it easy to bite into. There were also visible chunks of meat, so you know Kuai San Dian Xin is not scrimping on ingredients just because of its competitive price. The ikura on top of the Siew Mai also added extra texture when they popped in my mouth.
The Prawn Dumpling ($1.30) or what we all know as Har Gow, however, was not as impressive. Although the prawns were big and fresh, the skin was a tad too thick for our liking.
The HK Style Char Siew Chee Cheong Fun ($1.30) comes with thin rice sheets wrapped around bits of char siew, before being topped with fried shallots and spring onions, and drizzled with a special homemade sauce.
We loved how the thin and chewy rice sheets were wrapped around generous chunks of char siew, but felt that the sauce was a tad too salty.
If you are a soon kueh fan, you might like the Prawn Fen Guo ($1.30) here. These rolls tasted similar to soon kueh, but with additional prawns, peanut and coriander.
The prawns were huge and the skin was so thin that you could see the ingredients inside, but the coriander threw me off a little. If you’re someone who hates coriander, you might want to avoid this dish as it is brimming with them.
If not, you’ll love this!
I am not usually a fan of Char Siew Paus, but the small-sized Char Siew Paus ($1.30) here surprised me. The skin encased rich, fatty char siew coated in homemade barbecue sauce and the meat was the perfect ratio of fatty and lean.
Being a huge coffee lover, the Coffee Bun ($1.30) was one of the first things to catch my attention. This is a very unique flavour for a dim sum pau, and I loved it.
The skin of this particular pau was much thicker than the skin of the Char Siew Paus we had, but I felt that it balanced perfectly with the rich coffee-flavoured custard in the middle. The filling was also not too sweet, so it would be easy to have more than one without feeling jelak.
Carrot Cake ($1.30) is a Singaporean favourite and this crispy deliciousness will put carrot cakes from many dim sum places to shame.
Although the carrot cakes were not re-fried upon order, they were still perfectly crisp and fragrant. The insides of the carrot cake were soft and tender, and you could also see bits of radish and lap cheong.
The Spring Roll ($1.30) or Popiah had thin, crispy skin encasing shredded jicama, carrots, and cabbage. These are best consumed after dipping in sweet chili sauce.
The filling was seasoned perfectly and complemented the crispy skin well. I ate two whole rolls in a seating! You know that old oil taste that we all hate? All the fried items we tried bore no trace of that.
The Century Egg Porridge ($1.30) however, was not something to rave about. Although the porridge did come with a generous serving of century eggs, there was no minced pork like most dim sum shops usually include, and was a little on the bland side.
However, for its small price tag, I still think that it is worth it if you’re craving a warm dish on a cold rainy day, or when you’re feeling under the weather.
We ended our meal with Crispy Banana fritters ($1.30). This fritter is filled with red bean paste and slices of banana, all wrapped up in crispy fried vermicelli.
Don’t diss it until you try it as it may sound weird but actually came together very well. In fact, it was one of the top 10 desserts I have ever tried, and I wish all dim sum stalls sold these fritters.
This shop is indeed the definition of affordable dim sum, but there were hits and misses amongst the dishes we tried. Of course, you cannot expect restaurant-quality dim sum here but for $1.30 per basket, I think the standard is pretty decent.
Head down to this dim sum shop to try the food for yourselves, especially for days where you crave dim sum, but don’t feel like burning a hole in your pocket.
If it’s really late at night but you NEED to satisfy a dim sum craving, pop over to the other outlet at Woodlands Primz Bizhub instead, where the shop is open 24/7 with prices still at only $1.30 per basket.
Expected damage: $5 – $10 per pax