FortunAte Dim Sum (The Woodleigh Mall)

Not sure if it is the case for most whom have grown up in Singapore around the ‘90s, but we have definitely heard of the name Fortunate Restaurant 幸福饮茶 at some point of our lives before perhaps more than a decade ago. Times seem to have changed considering how these folks no longer operate as a restaurant for quite a good amount of time; that being said, the brand still exists in a much more scaled-down format being a food court stall with just a small number of outlets located islandwide; these stalls operate under the Fortunate Dim Sum name, though one can still find the mention of Fortunate Restaurant at some of such locations. One of their newest stalls situated within a food court would be that of the Food Republic food court at The Woodleigh Mall that has been in operation for a while. Whilst we had never been to Fortunate Restaurant to know how their menu was previously when they were still operating as a restaurant, Fortunate Dim Sum stalls serve up a variety of baked and steamed dim sum — think the usual selection of dumplings, buns, tarts and rice vermicelli rolls being the sort of things that Fortunate Dim Sum would offer. There is also another display chiller located at the other side of the counter that is stocked with a variety of desserts such as Mango Sago, Durian Pudding, Chilled Peach Gum with Red Dates etc. that are retailed in small buckets which look good to be shared between two to three pax.

The idea of dropping by the outlet of Fortunate Dim Sum at The Woodleigh Mall came about after having observed that they actually do have a small variety of Bo Lo Bun dishes listed on their menu — thought it would be a good opportunity to give Fortunate Dim Sum a go since the availability of those items seem to have resonated with us and we were really curious about the brand after hearing about them as a child. We got ourselves both Bo Lo Buns that they are offering — these would be the Steamed BBQ Pork Bo Lo Bun and the Durian Bo Lo Bun. Between the two, our preferences seem to lie towards the former; that being said, the Bo Lo Buns were both not particularly fantastic — whilst we did enjoy the crusty and crunchy layer over the top that hints of a buttery and milky note, we really didn’t like the extremely dry bun especially towards the bottom here. If anything, the bread felt at the bottom felt stale and left out in the open for too long; and single-handedly impacted the entire impression of their Bo Lo Bun lineup for us. The Steamed BBQ Pork Bo Lo Bun comes with a decent portion of BBQ Pork filling within; the BBQ Pork filling was pretty decent with the BBQ Pork being diced into small bits — one can feel some fatty bits that carried a melt-in-the-mouth texture within, while the BBQ Pork filling was suitably sweet with a slight note of savouriness from XO sauce. In comparison, the Durian Bo Lo Bun comes with durian paste within; the durian paste being a little dried out considering how it was baked with the bun and stored in the display warmer for the entire day before being served to us in the evening when we dropped by. That being said, there is a pungent note from the King of Fruits here that one can detect from the durian paste here still.

Also opting for the Prawn Dumpling and the Shrimp & Pork Siew Mai during our visit, the classic dim sum items are still the ones that Fortunate Dim Sum still does well enough. These are only steamed upon order so that the dim sum would not be over-steamed; the former coming with chunky prawn that provided a good bite while the dumpling wrapper doesn’t stick to the teeth. Meanwhile, the Shrimp & Pork Siew Mai sees the Tobiko (i.e. flying fish roe) being plated onto the Siew Mai only at the point of serving — while these ended up being stuck together after cooled down after we left them alone for a while on the table, these still tasted pretty decent with more emphasis on the shrimp and pork fillings; chunky from both the pork and prawn, it is also not too meaty considering the slight hint of natural sweetness the prawn brings. The Tobiko also provides a popping sensation in the mouth as one chews on them. Overall, it does seem that Fortunate Dim Sum seems to do slightly better in their classic steamed dim sum items as compared to the more modern creations — prices of their steamed dim sum which are served in portions of three (3) pieces are below $5, though the baked dim sum are available in portions of either single pieces or three (3) pieces per serving; the former being priced around the $2 price point for the pricier items. There really isn’t much of a reason to make a special visit down to Fortunate Dim Sum to check them out; the quality of their fare is rather reminiscent to other locally-founded commercial dim sum establishments elsewhere, though the quality of their fare does surpass those that one would typically find at coffeeshops, hawker centres and food courts and does work for those having a craving for dim sum and looking for a convenient spot to head to to get that itch sorted out.