Sik Bao Sin – Desmond’s Creation

Old school Tze char goodness. This is the brother restaurant of Sik Wai Sin (287 Geylang Road), an institution in Geylang. The menu is essentially the same with the same signature dishes. It is a small menu, subscribing to the concept of «you do not need a big menu if all the dishes are done well».
I love it. My fav is the steamed fish head with bean sauce. Because of the type of fish, you have to like the «muddy» type of fish if you know what I mean. Thus, this is not for everyone.
The other dishes are all good as well. The steamed meat patty with salted fish, the bitter gourd with pork ribs, the beef with kai lan, the tofu prawns. Respectable Cantonese food. Yes, a lot of it are familiar home cooked dishes but they do it traditional and well.
On weekends, reservations can only be made for groups of more than 10. But I usually find going at lunchtime is an easy wait. Dinner gets crazier, so does the parking hell of geylang.

Only managed to try two of their signature dishes, the steamed fish n tofu prawns, they didn’t disappoint. Been advised by my folks the steamed pork with salted egg is a classic. I also noted a number of tables having the watercress soup & black chicken soup.
Better idea to plan your trip in advance also. I went by on a Saturday night and it was packed. Call if party of 8 (& up) due limited big tables. Otherwise, go weekdays or afternoons.

I finally had the chance to try the ‘brother’ restaurant of a famous zi char restaurant called Sik Wai Sin in Geylang area on a Sunday night for dinner. Four of us came at about 7:30pm and had to wait for 30 mins to be seated. Apparently we are only allowed to do reservation for at least 6 people but that still does not guarantee that the signature fish head dish to be available as well (just like what happened to us! We came for the fish head but it was sold out already).
We ordered:
Tofu prawn $ 26
A must order dish but a little too salty! Prawns are huge too!
Kang kong balachan $ 12
It’s one of my favorites as well although it’s pretty hot and salty
Ginger chicken $ 26
Very nicely coated chicken with the red fermented bean (hence it looks like food coloring when you bite it) and buried in ginger sauce!
Steamed pork with salted fish $ 15
Extremely fragrant and tender!
Bitter gourd with pork ribs $ 17
This is meh! Pork ribs are not tender enough, although the sauce is delicious
I personally think most of the dishes I ordered are pretty popular among other customers also, that’s why mostly are excellent but I find that they are pretty salty (this again depends on preference).
However be prepared for crazily long waiting time between each dish, probably about 90 mins in total for 5 dishes. If you’re in a rush, skip this place.