Dimsum at reasonable prices all day long in Pluit

Kim Griffiths, Contributor, The Jakarta Post

In tearooms in China, dimsum is an inseparable part of yum cha (tea drinking). Dimsum are little dough dumplings, filled with vegetables, many different kinds of meat or shrimps, and there are other small dishes, which can be salty or sweet. The dishes are usually served in bamboo baskets the size of a dessert plate.

If you feel like dimsum early on Saturday morning, you may like to take a leisurely drive up north to Muara Karang.

Location: Make your way towards Mega Mall Pluit, then instead of turning into the parking lot, follow the road to Muara Karang. The moment you cross the bridge into Muara Karang, turn left and Eldoon Hong Kong Dimsum is somewhere in the middle of the first block of shops.

You can't miss the restaurant because it stands out clearly, with its wooden fittings and brown bricks.

Looks: As you enter, you are greeted by staff suitably attired in white samfoos and black pants.

Red lanterns hang on the walls. The tables are square and made from dark, heavy wood. Instead of chairs, there are squat wooden stools. You feel you are stepping into a tearoom in ancient rural China.

The restaurant is very spacious and seats about 50 people. The huge freestanding air conditioners and generous number of wall fans ventilate the restaurant well.

What's it got: The restaurant is casual, but cozy. While it may look right out of ancient China, it is hygienic as far as the eye can see, with modern conveniences. The kitchen is visible through a glass partition so you can see how the food is handled.

Service is good and fast. When we told the waiter that one of our orders was not hot enough, he took our half-eaten portion away and replaced it with a fresh hot portion.

The dimsum menu at Eldoon is available from the time it opens till the restaurant closes. It has about 15 items of dimsum and another 15 of Chinese "fast-food" noodles and rice items.

For lunch and dinner, they serve a more elaborate Chinese menu with stir-fried dishes.

Taste factor: Ha kau came steaming hot in a bamboo basket and there were four pieces per serving. The translucent dough was surprisingly thin and fine. There was "oomph" as you bite into the tasty ha kau. The prawn was whole and fairly large, and there were no fillers. Really worth the Rp 7,800.

We found the kue lobak goreng (fried radish cake, Rp7,000) a bit too soft. The radish had been ground too finely. As a result, it didn't hold up its shape very well. But it was tasty and contained chopped char siu (red barbecued pork).

We decided to order both versions of chi cheong fan (thin pieces of rolled-up steamed rice dough) - fried (Rp 7,800) and steamed (Rp 7,800). The traditional way of preparing chi cheong fan is to steam it again and then drizzle sesame oil and soy sauce over it before serving. The glorified versions have fillings such as prawns or char siu in them.

The steamed chi cheong fan was fine and smooth. However, we found the pieces of char siu filling a wee bit too big and tough.

The fried chi cheong fan was quite interesting, albeit unusual. The steamed dough was panfried till golden brown. It was served smothered in a delicious peanut butter sauce.

The steamed kulit tahu (Rp 7,800) was excellent. It was made from dried beancurd with a filling of a mixture of chopped prawns and char siu, drenched in a thick dark sauce made from ginger, soy sauce and flour.

We finished off our meal with tau sa pau. There are two pieces of this sweet dumpling in one portion. The dough was fine and had a generous filling of tau sa (red bean paste). The filling was smooth and delicious although a little too sweet for us. We thought it was a steal at Rp 3,500.

Price points: Dimsum prices are reasonable, averaging Rp 7,000 per dish. Two people can have a satisfying meal for under Rp 50,000.

Minus points: We found the nondimsum items disappointing. The nasi tim ayam (steamed chicken rice, Rp 13,800), for example, was too bland and the chicken was gamey. The mie pok rebus (Rp 10,000), a noodle that looked like tagliatelle, was a second-rate version of the mie pok you can find in Singapore or Hong Kong. Moreover, it was served on an oval plate that was so tiny we couldn't handle the blob of noodles without it spilling over.

Verdict: Eldoon is a charming little tearoom for hot dimsum at reasonable prices. However, we recommend that you stick with the dimsum, as our experience with the other dishes was disappointing.