Pen Tan Dimsum Bar

I came here thanks to their social media ads, their offer on AYCE dimsum was so intriguing. "Why not?“ so I said. First of all, theis social media game was on point: cheeky yet cheap humor, fast response in direct messaging, and follow up call the day before my reservation day. The spot is located on the back area of The East building. My first impression was this place utilizes such a compact and simple area with almost no partition, so basically it's like a small hall with chinoiserie decor. The there was a (supposedly) ground-level mini stage with PENTAN neon art on one side, and small bar area on the other side. And I need to mention that the olace has two entryway: one from the outdoor area, and the main entrance is from the office building area. Besides their AYCE dim sum promo, their cocktail and beer selection was interesting. I underestimated their Truffle Bao which in the end turned out to be one of my favorite. My note would be that their dumpling variants felt a little 'dough-ey' like there's a trace of slightly undercooked flour in their dumpling skin like ha kao, siu mai, and xiao long bao. Please keep in mind that I was one of their first customers on that Saturday. Made a 11 AM reservation for that day. On a different batch of order, their xiao long bao's skin was perceived to be slightly overcooked that made the skin fragile when I was taking the dumpling out of the paper lining from the steamer basket. So I hope they can work on their quality control and consistency. Taste wise, the dishes were all good! Although some menu are not available for the AYCE promo, there were still many that you can pick. My recommendation would be their seaweed hakau since it was nicely cooked, not undercooled nor overcooked, and also the texture of the skin was softer as well with that jelly-like texture for the skin. Another highlight would be their truffle bao with (supposedly) sprinkled truffle powder on top to let you know which one is which. The filling was rather savory with of course truffle notes followed by a hint of garlic as well as diced mushroom inside. Don't get me wrong, it's not that thei siu mai or ha kao was a failure, it's more because they've got some point to be improved, but I can assure you that their siu mai and ha kao, and practically any other dumpling were tasty. And oh, you can find chili oil on tour table just like any other chinese dim sum restaurant would provide as a condiment. Let me tell you something: that made everything better. Not only it being mildly hot and savory, but you can also notice something like dried shrimp, or better known as Ebi that gave the chili oil a twist. As for the service, the staffs were all great and responsive. They've managed to accommodate our expectations of what a dim sum restaurant should be, in a more contemporary approach. So kudos for the great work!

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