Dimsum Break : Steamed Rice Craving, Satisfied!

I wrote about how excited I was that Dimsum Break is opening a branch in SM North Edsa last year, and I was desperate to finally have a taste of their Steamed Rice again after years of longing for it since I moved back here in 2009 after my 1-year stay in Cebu. Days after their opening in October 2012 (I know, this post is a year late), I dragged my nanay to their first branch at SM Annex and ordered away.

Cebu may be known for many delicious food, but I’m willing to bet that Steamed Rice is on the list of dishes that Cebuanos, or anyone who has lived or even visited Cebu, are craving for when they go anywhere else.

Dimsum Break is the self-service, fast food restaurant of Harbour City Dimsum House, one of the popular Chinese restaurants in Cebu. I’ve dined in both restaurants there and the quality of the dim sum and Steamed Fried Rice are well-kept, so I know they’d make sure to maintain the quality even here in Manila.

So, Steamed Fried Rice, or simply Steamed Rice, is like your typical rice topping dish – rice topped with a savory mix of their ‘secret’ rich sauce, peas, shrimp and pork. The sauce is what makes this rice bowl so irresistible. We’ve tried making them at home – check out Mai’s Steamed Rice recipe – but we have yet to finally uncover the formula of Dimsum Break or Harbour City’s Steamed Rice.

Anyway, my nanay was intrigued about how desperate I was to taste this again. She wondered what’s with the Steamed Rice that had me starving for a taste. Well, let’s say after that quick lunch at Dimsum Break, I knew she’s hooked too! 😉

I was supposed to order 2 bowls of their Original Steamed Fried Rice, but nanay wanted for us to also try their other rice pots (all priced at Php 68). One bowl of these steamed rice pots is sure to fill you up. We wanted to order all my favorite dim sum so we only picked one rice bowl each.

I, of course, had a bowl of their Original Steamed Rice. It tasted exactly how I remembered it. Flavorful thick sauce and meaty with generous bits of shrimps and tender pork.

You can have this alone and be full with just one bowl. Don’t forget to mix them all together so you get everything in every spoonful. 🙂 It’s one rich, hearty dish, definitely.

My nanay’s choice of Dimsum Break’s rice pot was their Beef Steak Rice. This had the tasty combination of salty and sweet. We both loved it, BUT, my heart is still with their Original Steamed Fried Rice. 😉

I was planning on ordering another bowl of my steamed rice, but I didn’t get to it since I was too full by the time we finished eating all the dim sum and the steamed rice. 😀

Here’s all the dim sum we ordered, starting with the Steamed Dimsum (Php 65 each). What I love about their siomai / shaomai is how chunky each piece is, giving you that yummy bite every time. They’re all meaty, unlike the usual siomai you’d buy from food stalls.

My favorite is, of course, their Bacon Shaomai! I was supposed to share this with nanay, but I ended up eating both pieces. Sorry. 😀 I mean, like what I always say, how can you go wrong with bacon-wrapped anything?! Never miss ordering this and their steamed rice.

Next was their Quail’s Egg Shaomai – definitely another favorite. I can eat boiled quail’s eggs like popping candy in my mouth even when I was a kid, so this is one of my staple dim sum dishes too. 😀

I also ordered their Mushroom Shaomai that came in 3 pieces. Nothing really dramatic about this one, but I loved it all the same. 🙂

I had nanay pick her own dim sum, so she ordered the Empress Roll. We got 2 pieces of this cabbage-wrapped siomai. It had this delicate taste, and still had that chunky pork bits.

Surprisingly, I decided to order their Chicken Feet. I wasn’t a fan of this dim sum before, but throughout the past 4 years, my palate has quite matured and I wanted to see if I’ll have a different appreciation of this dish.

Well, I did. I liked the flavors rendered by all the spices they used to prepare it. Some might find it a li’l icky to eat this, which was exactly how I felt back then, but the flavors should be enough to make you enjoy each piece.

I wanted to order another Bacon Shaomai, but nanay wanted to try the Fried Dimsum (Php 65 each also), so I gave in. Her first pick was the Crab Pincers. It was slightly oily. I didn’t get to taste this since I’m allergic to crabs. Nanay enjoyed them despite the oiliness, and she wiped them out in no time.

She also ordered the Fried Wanton which were coated and fried in this flower-like wrapper. Well, it was just okay. I would’ve preferred to order any of the steamed dim sum instead.

Nanay also decided to order their Mango Custard (Php 55). After eating this and all the dim sum nanay ordered, I concluded that I’ll never let her order for me again. Hahahaha 😀 This Mango Custard was a li’l bland for my taste.

We usually don’t eat at the same restaurant more than twice unless they’re really good, which is why I went back with a friend – Alex or Kim – for the Steamed Rice alone, but we ordered only those dim sum that I particularly like. This was part of his prize when he won in our giveaway last year. Took us a longggg time to get together for the food trip that came with his prize.

Of course, we ordered a bowl of Steamed Fried Rice each. Alex was trying to avoid eating rice prior to this, but I told him he MUST try the Steamed Rice. He loved it, and he, too, was too full by the end of our meal. You can read his review here.

We ordered my favorite dim sum. There’s the Bacon Shaomai, Mushroom Shaomai and Quail’s Egg Shaomai.

Since I didn’t try this during my first visit, I ordered their Steamed Hakao too. I liked their version of this shrimp dumpling, but I would still easily pick Wai Ying‘s over theirs.

We also decided to try the Fried Shrimp Balls, which were just giant balls of breading, if you ask me. Should’ve skipped this altogether.

I really enjoyed our meals at Dimsum Break, especially the Steamed Rice, of course. I can’t wait to go back with Ken real soon since we’ve been craving for Asian dishes lately. He got to try their dim sum and steamed rice when we dined in at Harbour City when he visited me in Cebu and he loved every bit. 🙂 On my next visit, I’ll try sweet & sour pork and chicken, and the garlic pork spareribs.

If you are craving for some really delicious dim sum, Dimsum Break is definitely a must-visit. The prices are fair and, I’ll say, affordable. They now have 2 branches – SM North Edsa Annex and at the University Belt in Recto, Manila.

What’s your favorite dish from Dimsum Break?

Dimsum Break

• Branches: SM North Edsa Annex in QC & UBelt in Recto
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/DimsumBreak
• Twitter: @DimsumBreak