Had been passing through Jalan Besar and found ourselves noticing this particularly unfamiliar sight along the street in the area opposite Hoa Nam Building — the bright yellow signboard indicating the location of Pan • Dim Sum 半·点心 being rather a new sight to us. Turns out, Pan • Dim Sum is indeed a relatively new addition in the neighbourhood; while Jalan Besar itself is pretty notable for being an area that is filled with Dim Sum establishments along the street such as that of Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant, Sum Dim Sum and Dim Sum Haus just to name a few, Pan • Dim Sum finds itself located on the opposite end of the road where all the other Dim Sum establishments are located at — Pan • Dim Sum being situated closer to Kam Leng Hotel, the outlet of Abundance at Jalan Besar, and the outlet of Punggol Nasi Lemak at Jalan Besar. While not mentioned on the signboard of Pan • Dim Sum, it does seem that Pan • Dim Sum can also be referred to as Q Cafe based on the lighted signboard fitted near the counter. For its interior, Pan • Dim Sum maintains a simple look for the interior of its space — the use of wooden, cushioned seating and wooden tables alongside white walls and styled ceiling lamp suggests that a more functional approach is applied in the design of the space. Being an establishment that focuses much on its dim sum offerings, Pan • Dim Sum’s menu is split into categories such as Steamed, Pan/Fried, Baked, Rice Roll, Vegetables, Rice/Noodle/Dumpling, Seafood and Bites (Sweet). Beverages offered at Pan • Dim Sum include items like Sour Plum Juice, Winter Melon, and Pear Juice; these would be alongside a line-up of teas as well as canned drinks amongst others.

While hard copies of the menu are available, diners at Pan • Dim Sum would also be required to place their orders via a an ordering sheet which is presented to the table by the staff together with the hard copy menu. That being said, we would probably recommend to refer to the ordering sheet rather than the hard copy menu when making the order — we do note that there are some discrepancies between the ordering sheet and the hard copy menu whereby the hard copy menu is missing of the illustration and listing of the items that have been included in the ordering sheet. We did manage to try several dishes that Pan • Dim Sum has to offer, though one dish that stood out particularly for us was the Taro in Sugar Flake. For one, the Taro in Sugar Flake is by itself a dish that is difficult to find across the island; an item that is more likely to be found in an actual Chinese restaurant rather than that of a Dim Sum establishment, it is noted that the preparation process of the dish is laborious and tedious — therefore making it an item that most establishments would not be willing to serve up.

One serving of the Taro in Sugar Flake consists of 8 pieces; the yam having sliced into rectangular-sized pieces that has been sprinkled with some sugary crust all over it. Taking a bite into one piece of the yam, the yam comes with a firm bite; something similar to what some establishments serving up Putian / Heng Hwa cuisine will do with the Stir-Fried Yam dish. Rather obvious would be the earthiness of the yam which meets the sweet notes and slightly crusty texture of the sugar flakes that makes it kinda addictive — a dish that one should not miss out whilst here. Truth to be told, we did have our reservations on Pan • Dim Sum before making our visit there — the entire outlook of the space was one that we had no idea on what to expect about it. That being said, there are dishes like the Brown Sugar Rice Cake and the White Taro Ball that really impressed; the former being a deep-fried rice cake that carried a mochi-like texture with molten brown sugar that added sweetness like how one would expect it to be in Boba Tea, while the latter is a deep-fried mochi ball comprising of yam and pumpkin(?) filling. We also quite liked the texture of the rice roll as per the Beef Rice Roll that we ordered; a little sticky but one of the more QQ ones that we had come across. The Egg Tart, which is freshly baked upon order, comes with a light and flaky pastry skin that is buttery but not greasy; the egg curd also being sufficiently eggy but not too sweet at the same time. Overall, Pan • Dim Sum does have some really interesting items with a wow-factor; that being said, some patience is required for the serving of the dishes since most of them are prepared only upon order. The people whom run the place do seem earnest, and the dim sum and other dishes do feel like they are prepared from the heart — a spot worth supporting, and also one that we would look forward to seeing them introducing new items as they smoothen out their operations!