Kuching 2013 - Dim Sum at Nu Er Hong Restaurant Pullman Hotel

Having good Dim Sum, a nice pot of tea and idle chit-chat is one of the great morning pleasures. Unfortunately for the Dim Sum lover, Kuching can be a frustrating place to be. There are just no great dim sum places around, but plenty of mediocre ones and some truly atrocious ones as well.

Making good Dim Sum is surely no rocket science, so it is surprising that there are so few good ones around. The better Dim Sums can be had at the hotel restaurants, but even there the satisfaction is not always guaranteed, and some find the lack of pork in the mix to be sacrilegious. 

We have found Nu Er Hong - the Chinese restaurant at Pullman Hotel to be one of the better restaurants for Dim Sum in town. Sadly there are usually too few patrons for this nice restaurant and eating there can feel a bit lonely with only one or two tables occupied.

The Dim Sum items are generally quite nice. The char siew buns get the thumbs up from our kids.

The Yam Puffs have the requisite fluffy skin  and nice fillings, and is not oily.

This version of the Cheong Fun comes stuffed with Yu Char Kuih inside, and has an interesting play on texture - it is soft outside and crunchy inside. 

The Lor Mai Kai is flavourful, but a bit mushy. 

Egg Tarts are quite average.

What's really nice here is the Cantonese Hor Fun. It is expertly cooked with the requisite "wok hei", and the sauce is made with good stock and not the average MSG-laden stuff. Our only criticism is their use of fake "Dory" which is actually bleached tropical fish of dubious origin. Ask them to leave this out when you are ordering.

We are not sure why this place is usually very empty. Perhaps it is the perception that it is expensive, or perhaps Kuchingites just do not like a place that is perceived to be too formal compared to the average kopitiam. We find the pricing to be reasonable, and the food to be of above-average standard. Hopefully, the lack of patrons does not cause them to abandon their dim sum service like some other hotels in town.