This dim sum and Cheung Fun festival is the best way to celebrate the Chinese New year

If you like your food filled, steamed and (optionally) dunked in sauce, chances are that dim sums range high on your list of things you love to eat. Calling out to all dim sum lovers, is The Park’s Cheung Fun & Dim Sum Festival at A2, on till February 25. We are told that the Cheung Fun is a variety of dim sum, one that is not just an appetiser but makes for a meal by itself.

 
The dim sum menu is divided into categories — gyoza, crystal and siu mai. That apart, the menu also offers money bags (a crispy fried snack of Chinese cabbage, bok choy and spring onion) and the most interesting ‘wrap’ (burnt garlic chicken and bok choy), which we begin our meal with.
“For the wrap, we’ve basically replaced the dough with the bok choy leaf and the stuffing is a garlic chicken that comes in a soy broth. It is a different way of presenting the dim sums,” says Ashutosh Nerlaker, the executive chef. Sure enough, the wrap is a textured mix of crunch on the outside, soft filling and a flavour-packed broth.

Next up, we try the pan seared mushroom dim sum (from the gyoza) with its earthy flavour. The edamame and truffle (from the crystal section) meanwhile is a happy marriage of the green bean and truffle, best had without the chilli and coriander-olive oil. But what really impressed us was the siu mai section — where the unlikely combination of broccoli and cream cheese filling in a super light shell hit home in terms of flavour. The Char siu braised pork belly, however, was a bit of a let-down, for the filling seemed quite bland, save for the generous amount of salt. 

While we were under the impression that the best accompaniment for the Thai curry was jasmine rice, we were proved wrong with the mixed mushroom green curry Cheung Fun. Super glutenous noodles line the bottom of the plate, topped with a generous dose of aromatic mushroom green curry, with sprouts, fried onions and garlic providing the crunch — quite the meal in itself, if you ask us. The Char Siu chicken in a hot basil sauce was, on the other hand, spicier. But what really had us take second and third helpings of, was the asparagus and broccoli rendang topping, a coconutty concoction that checks all the right boxes. 

On till February 25 at A2, The Park. Meal for two: `1,500+taxes.