So, it has been quite a busy week for me lately that I haven't had the time to write! Let's get back to blogging. About a couple of weeks ago, for the first time, yes, you read it right - and somehow I feel ashamed - I visited Dimsum Babura, a very well known local restaurant for dim sum and hotpot. Fyi, Dimsum Babura serves dishes that contain pork - you know what I mean. It was actually called Dimsum Ayong (maybe still uses that name), but since it is located on Jl. Babura, people generally acknowledged it, and they also named it as Dimsum Babura.

Entering the restaurant, I could really feel a very homey-authentic-Chinese atmosphere. Loud, noisy, crowded, well, very Chinese indeed! The huge room is decorated with some red pineapple lanterns which is believed to bring luck, wealth, and fortune. Huge round tables are mostly used in the restaurant that implies it is mostly intended for large groups eating. There are numbers of four-people seating available too.

As I have mentioned before, this place is very notorious for its dim sum, especially the hotpot they offer. Unfortunately, our tummy is not that empty to be filled with the huge portion of hotpot (110K each, with minimal order of two portion), so, instead, we ordered the dim sum and some other Chinese meals. Our first order that came out was a sweet delight they named as "Tan Tak" It is simply egg tarts, a couple of them, that is too few for us to share. The taste? OK, nothing special, but not at all disappointing. The pastry crust was so soft and fragile that made me felt sad I wanted to finish its life quickly.

The next stuff is very authentic of Indonesian-Chinese origin, local people called it Leng Hong Kien. After some research, it is derived from the words 龍凰卷 which is romanized as lóng huáng juǎn (please correct me if I am wrong). I could not find this dish outside Indonesia (again, please correct me if I am wrong), and especially if not in a particular restaurant that serves this. The dish is actually a deep-fried shrimp paste roll, covered with "special" mayonnaise. I called it special because it is different from each restaurant serving the dish. This dish is always a favourite dish wherever it is served, and it was well served in this restaurant as well. If it not as pricey as it is, I could ordered it more.

The restaurant turns out serving Vietnamese dish too. Well, Vietnam has quite a great shared history with China, so maybe there are similarity and resemblance of Chinese and Vietnamese dishes that they decided to serve this delicacy. Based with lettuces, filled with beansprouts, rice vermicelli, thinly sliced carrots, yam bean, topped with the juicy, sour/acidic sauce and generous sprinkles of fried shallots, the salad dish was quite delightful. 

I love delicacies with tangy-authentic-tasting sauce/dressing, and this one surely have that quality. I always adore the moment of the salad mixing and finishing to the last pieces of the vegetables. A perfect build-up of my appetite that night.

We ordered quite a number of dim sums because we wanted to try as many as we could. But somehow, the most anticipated (since I have never tried this and it looked so tempting) dish was the most let-down of that night. Call it shrimp dumpling with small pieces of vegetable inside. Maybe some peas, carrots, corns and other unidentified vegetables inside didn't go well with the taste of the shrimp? I don't know, I didn't enjoy it very much.

A small portion of fried rice vermicelli came to us next. This is one of the very recommended variety dish they say should be tried if you visit this place. It seems so unattractive, and we could always go with the variety of dish with meats cooked with it. But for your own indulgence, try it once. I think once is enough. Flavorful indeed, but I could show you more places that sell the exact same thing with half the price and at least the same deliciousness.

Who doesn't love fried turnip? Fried turnip is one of the most well known savoury snacks of Chinese people. Pump it up by stir-frying the dish with beansprout, egg, and other vegetables, the dish become scrumptious, succulent, more flavorful than ever. This is TOP NOTCH, and one of the most recommended dish they offer. The fried turnip will somehow melts and oozes your tongue with the savoury flavor that you won't stop until there is nothing left.

The seventh dish came out, afraid not, we are not full yet. This dish somehow have a special place in my heart that I will order something like this whenever I see it in any restaurants menu. It is no other than the most delicious meat in the world, pork, prepared in a way that no one (expect those who dislike/restricted) could say no to. Fried to a perfect crispness, well marinated, served along with one of the best sambal (spicy sauce) using Andaliman (could cause numb sensation, with hint of fresh and acidic lemon flavor), this dish of pork belly (samcan) slices easily won my heart belly. Don't look at the price, it was always worth it.

Last main dish, the longest dish that we waited that evening, was finally served to us. It was called Mie Raja or you could say Emperor Noodle. A dish usually eaten on a special occasion. Nope, there were no special occasion that evening, it was just to satisfy my curiosity. They cooked it well and I liked it, as simple as that. The noodle texture is not pretty much distinguishable from the usual egg noodle, it is just thinner.

Do you think we were finished? I also thought so. But then, somehow one of the waitress offered us this succulent Thai dessert. All of us couldn't resist the temptation to accept the offer. The sticky rice texture was fine, very well matched with the sweet-tasting coconut milk. About the mango, it is a seasonal produce that makes the overall taste vary. Ours was not that sweet, yet still enjoyable. What a good way to finish a great meal!

DIMSUM SANGWO BABURA
Jl. Babura Lama No.12, Medan, Indonesia
Everyday, 7 am - 2.30 pm; 5 pm - 9.30 pm
+6261 456 7839 (456 6161) or +62878 686 028 28
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