It's been 4 years since I've been home to Brisbane and Indooroopilly's Westfield Shopping Centre has changed a lot. This yum cha (dim sum) place is a fancier version of the ones that have usually been in existence in Brisbane and is packed!
I met my god-parents for lunch -- there were 6 of us -- on a Saturday around 11.30am. The place was already buzzing. The booth seating is uncomfortable and awkward. We are boxed in and squished.
The steamed dim sum was sub-par.... the dumpling wrappers are mushy and thick. They fell apart the minute I picked them up with my chopsticks. The har gow and the seafood dumplings -- in fact, any of the dumplings that have the same wrapper -- all possessed this terrible wrapper. I don't recommend it.
Seen juk guen (beancurd rolls) were really dense with a filling that is almost completely meat and nothing else. Flavor-wise it was fine. Chicken's feet were decent, with the claws cooked to a good consistency so it fell off the bone.
The fried items were much better. The woo gok filled with taro was good -- nice and crumbly on the outside and the filling a good consistency. My favorite was the fried radish cake which were little nuggets of perfectly tender radish cake fried to a crispy perfection.
The crispy pork belly (siu yuk) was awful. The fat is not rendered through well enough making the pork pieces unpleasant to eat.
Service is hit and miss as well. One minute someone is efficient coming around to refill water, and then, nothing even when you ask for it.
Maybe I'm comparing it to dim sum places in the US, but it's weird to me that they didn't have Chinese mustard (gai lat) when my son asked for it. The one thing I love about Chinese restaurants in Australia is that they give you soy sauce with slices of hot chile peppers in them. Wish restaurants in the US would offer this to you as a regular condiment. read more