Loong Seng (Dim Sum) @ SS2 PJ

I chanced upon this dim sum place, Restoran Loong Seng @ SS2 PJ, when we stopped over at Chan Meng Kee for our wantan mee fix.  I noticed that the place was always doing brisk business each time we pass by the place and decided to try it out one Sunday morning.

When you approach this ordinary looking restaurant, you'll find many tables occupying the road (with some laid out along the shop corridor as well).
 

What gives this restaurant the old charm feel is probably the painted Chinese mural on the walls which we don't come across very often in other coffee shops.
 

Here comes our list of dim sum orders:
 

"Siew Mai" (steamed pork dumplings)

 

Beancurd Roll in sweet-sour sauce

 

Another beancurd type thingy

 

Sweet Sour Fried Wantan

 

All these were pretty ordinary but sufficient enough to be acceptable.
 

This next dim sum was quite unique (as I've not seen it served elsewhere).  It's some kind of "la-la" (clams) dim sum which had a mixture of fish/pork paste and la-la with bits of carrot, corn, mushroom and spring onions stuffed in a la-la shell.  It was really good when dipped in the sauce that was at the bottom of the plate.
 

And when I go to a dim sum place, I always order my favourite...the Stuffed Brinjals which were not too oily.  I enjoyed it very much.

Most dim sum places serve steamed fish balls but we found that Fish Balls in Curry Sauce were offered here.  What's not to like....fish balls that tasted like they were made with pure fish paste in a lovely curry sauce.

 

This is the Pan-fried Radish Cake which proved to be really tasty.  The flavour and texture of the radish were scrumptious with the exterior pan-fried to slightly crisp.  If you're in luck and get a plate that's just been freshly made (not the one that that's been sitting in their heated metal cupboard), it tastes even better.
 

Though their radish cake was good, the same could not be said for their Fried Carrot Cake with bean sprouts (though this may sound strange to you).  The radish cake was somewhat mushy, the bean sprouts not that crunchy and there was no fragrant aroma from the wok.  This is probably due to the fact that this dish is not freshly fried to order as I saw ready plates of it in their heated metal cupboard.
 

The Fried "Wor Tip" (Chinese pot stickers) turned out to be the surprise of the day.  It was definitely one of the better ones I've eaten in a while.  The pan-frying of the wor tip was excellent, emitting a very aromatic, charred flavour to the wor tip.  Usually, the wor tip filling is made with minced pork and chopped chives but I detected a strong fragrance from the chopped "yin sai" (Chinese parsley) which elevated this wor tip dish.
 

The "Lor Mai Kai" (steamed glutinous rice) with pieces of chicken, Chinese mushroom and "lap cheong" (Chinese sausage) was not as oily (but also not as good) as some I've eaten.  You can give this a miss and you won't miss a thing!

The "Lotus Leaf Rice" (steamed glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaf) fared much better.  There were chicken pieces, minced pork, mushroom, salted egg yolk and peas in it, very much like what you'd get in a dumpling.
 

This is the Steamed "Chee Cheong Fun" (rice noodle roll) with "char siew" (barbecued pork).  The rolls were soft (though the soya sauce was a tad salty) and the "ma lai chan lat chiew" (sambal belacan) tasted quite close to the one my mom makes...it was good!

This bowl of Porridge turned out to be one of my favourites.  The rice grains were boiled till 'really broken' (which I like) with bits of "hoe see" (dried oysters), salted egg, century egg and minced pork and topped with some "yau char kwai" (fried Chinese crullers) and scallions.  It was really good (and you can really taste the hoe see in it).
 

The Fried "Wu Kok" (yam puff) had a nice, crispy exterior with a moderately good tasting pork filling though not my most favourite one.
 

The 'piece de resistance' was the Fried "Har Guin" (prawn roll) which was really excellent.  The prawns were fresh and crunchy and the bean curd skin was crispy....one of the best I've eaten so far.  We immediately ordered another plate.
 

Just look at the sizeable prawn in one half of the har guin.  If you're really patient (like us), get one (or more) plates that has just been freshly fried and the crispy perfection in one bite is just fantastic!  The accompanying mayo dip was tangy and equally appealing.

Other than the fried prawn roll, the Fried "Sui Kow" (Dumpling) is also very similar with a filling of fresh whole prawns but wrapped in crispy wantan skin instead of bean curd skin.
 

They also have a dessert, Longan "Tau Fu Fah" (soybean pudding) in a sugary syrup, which was refreshing and a good end to our dim sum meal.  Although the serving staff kept referring to it as tau fu fah, it didn't taste like one to me.  As it didn't have the extremely soft texture of tau fu fah, I believe it was mixed with gelatine powder as it had a firmer and more jelly-like texture.

There was another sweet snack that I originally thought was a savoury dim sum coz it looked like fish paste wrapped in seaweed.  The snack was then wrapped in (what I believe to be) fine strands of meehoon and deep fried till crispy.  The black seaweed wrapping turned out to be a blend of red bean paste (and banana?) filling.  If you like sweet stuff, then you should try this one.  I understand it's called "Loong Sow" (or Dragon's Whiskers) from other blogs.
 

I noticed that the table across me ordered quite a few "char siew pau" (steamed barbecued pork buns).  When he tore open the char siew pau, the filling inside looked really inviting.  Although I was too full by then, I couldn't resist the temptation and so "ta pau" (packed) two to take home.  The pau was soft and fluffy and the 'blackish' char siew filling (which I preferred to the reddish ones) was delicious.  Also, the portion of the filling was generous in relation to the size of the pau.  It was one of the better char siew buns I've had for a long time.

On a recent visit, we tried their Baked Minced Pork Bun and it was equally delicious.
 

The prices of their dim sum are displayed on a white board in Chinese (which I don't understand) but I gather that it was based on the type/colour of the plates with prices ranging from RM1.60 - RM6.50.  A dim sum meal here for 3 pax would cost around RM60 on the average.
 

My Personal Opinion

Overall, the dim sum here is pretty good (with a few exceptions) and the prices are even better.  Sometimes, when you least expect it, you discover a food joint that serves good food at reasonable prices...and Loong Seng was one of such places!

The dim sum items are prepared fresh daily in small batches to ensure freshness so that patrons are served piping hot dim sum at all times.  So, if you practise a little patience, get the freshly fried ones (you see coming out of the kitchen) which is worth the wait.

It's a dim sum place that is worthy of return visits.....for sure.

Likes:  The fried har guin, fried wor tip and char siew pau are definitely top-notch!  Also liked the la-la dim sum and pan-fried radish cake.

Didn't like as much:  The lor mai kai, siew mai and fried carrot cake with bean sprouts.

Restoran Loong Seng
50 Jalan SS2/66
47300 Petaling Jaya
Selangor
Tel: 03-7876 2349