DolceBunnie

Showing posts with label Yumcha. Show all posts

Tim Ho Wan Westfield Sydney | Sydney, AUSTRALIA

If you are after one of the best cheap eat options in Sydney, Tim Ho Wan is a no brainer. Following its great success in Hong Kong, the world’s cheapest 1 Michelin starred restaurant expanded its business down under. Hooray!

It’s been a few years since our first visit to the original Tim Ho Wan in Mongkok, Hong Kong, so when I found out that Tim Ho Wan made their presence in Sydney, I was ecstatic! Our initial plan was to have dinner at the Chatswood branch on the first night of our arrival, luckily the Westfield Sydney branch in the CBD opened just in time to save us from travelling all the way out (which can be a little inconvenient for Minibun George). Albeit intended as a takeaway only shop, the Westfield CBD branch’s menu still offers most of the popular items that you would want to eat at Tim Ho Wan.

Their baked buns with BBQ pork ($7.80 for a serve of 3) are not to be missed. Those crumbly yet fluffy buns treasured with steamy, sweet BBQ pork filling are just too irresistible and have made Tim Ho Wan famous. Other yum cha quintessentials such as sui mai (pork dumplings with shrimps) and prawn dumplings were also thoroughly enjoyed; although I would rate the sui mai over the prawn dumplings, as I loved the firm texture and every bite was packed with ample flavour. I may have gone slightly overboard with the ordering, but for under $60, you can be sure to have an awesome feast.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $57.40

Landmark, Shop 101 Cnr Mains Road & McCullough Street, SUNNYBANK QLD 4109

I can’t remember the last time we had yum cha - It must’ve been around the beginning of this year.

I asked for the opinion of one of my colleagues from Hong Kong about the best yum cha restaurant in town and she told me that it had to be Landmark.

So the bunnies ventured out to Sunnybank last Sunday for an authentic Cantonese feast.

Sunday has to be the busiest day for any yum cha restaurant. When we arrived at the place, the area outside was already full of patrons waiting for tables. We joined the queue and got ours about thirty minutes later.

Landmark is considerable in size for a typical Chinese restaurant and it caters for up to 450 diners. The restaurant is well-lit with its giant, sparking chandeliers and the chaotic atmosphere and trays of steamy dim sum reminded me of our trip to Hong Kong last year.

It took me a while to realise that you can actually take your docket and go to the yum cha station to pick out whatever that you desire from trays after trays of freshly steamed dim sum that are nicely presented in bamboo baskets.

Sure, the food isn't exactly mind-blowingly amazing, but it is delicious and the quality is, dare I say it, far superior to a number of the yum cha restaurants that you get in the city. I thought the highlight was the crispy skinned pork belly with hot mustard, however the other travel bunnie preferred the prawns dumplings the best.

Service could've been better, all the wait staff appeared to be in a great rush to get to somewhere and it was hard to get anyone's attention. But other than that, we had a great time.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $65.

Luk Yu Tea House, Central, Hong Kong, CHINA

If you walk into Luk Yu Tea House thinking that this place has a very unique, almost ancient atmosphere, it's because it is old. Opened in 1933, the restaurant has made a good effort to retain it's traditional way of serving good yumcha. I remember reading from the description of this place in a travel guide and it explained that even the waiters from this restaurant make you feel like they are from the Qing Dynasty.

Despite the waiters age, we received some exceptional service, our tea pot was never empty and our empty dim sim trays were cleared quickly.

Although it had slightly higher prices than the average yumcha restaurants in the area, Luk Yu serves some seriously good dim sims and it's morning tea is like no other. They are also famous for their roasted chinese-style ham, which we ordered and I think the ham disappeared within seconds.

Luk Yu tea house is a fantastic place for you to sit down, sip some tea and take your time to enjoy the art of the traditional chinese cuisine (part of it anyway) and literally sink your body and mind into the surroundings.

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莲香楼 - Lin Heung Lau Yum Cha, Central, Hong Kong, CHINA

I should apologise first, for not taking enough photos of the food at this yumcha place but, this place is mad!

On the day when the travel bunnies went there, this restaurant was filled with loads of hungry HongKong locals craving good dim sims in the heat of the morning. We shared a table with about eight other people and do not expect trolleys of food being pushed in front of you for you to take your time and decide on what to have. This place means business, when you see trolleys of steamy dim sims coming out of the kitchen, you take you little yumcha docket and you push and shove your way toward them, otherwise you'll end up hungry, waiting and losing that ever Hong Kong pride you had previously gained from negotiating even getting a table. Desperation led us to taking plates of things that we've never ever seen in our lives, things that might have included chicken carcass congee etc etc.

Oh well, it was deliciously weird and sort of worth it anyway... On the way out, I saw a whiteboard with Anthony Bourdain's autograph so see if you can you spot it.

Food, atmosphere, the unmistakable click-clacking for bowls being cleaning makes for a truly authentic HK yumcha experience!

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