Yen Yen Vietnamese Restaurant (CHANGED HANDS AND UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT AS OF EARLY 2014)

371, High Street, Northcote, VIC 3070

Scoring a 70% from very few ratings, this is a relatively new establishment. I actually think it's the best of the 3 Vietnamese joints that have opened up on High Street, Northcote, in the last 3 years or so. Mainly, because I think it's the most Vietnamese of the three (of the other 2, I think, one is really westernised and the other is more Chinese). This is also a licensed venue.

The Place

Similar to many Vietnamese Restaurants of its kind, the tiles look a bit tired (though the restaurant opened only recently) and the deco consists of various Vietnamese enamel wood paintings. It's a rather no-frills place. Parking is usually easy with a big car park just behind the shop.

Other things to do nearby: Situated on High Street in Northcote, you have the shops there and Northcote Shopping Centre, a small tired shopping mall nearby. The shops on High Street are much more interesting.

The Food
The food here is not bad, depending on what you order. Again, if you focus on key Vietnamese staples, you can't go wrong;

Pho / Beef Noodles; not bad here though not the best in Melbourne.
Broken Rice: their combination special broken rice is really quite good though my complaint is always that I wish there was more. :)
Vietnamese Coleslaw: really fresh, tangy and yummy. Simple and lovely in summer.

Again, not the place I would order things like Mongolian beef, or curry... because those are just not Vietnamese dishes.

The Service
The service is not bad and I would call it unintrusive politeness. Having said that, sometimes, they 'get lost' in the kitchen, and don't have enough staff to see what's going on in the main dining area. So, punters could be left trying to get their attention.

Overall
I think this is quite a cheap and cheerful place, that I would quite happily come through to have a quick meal before I am on my way to do other things. There is no fuss and the food is pretty good though it's not comparable to some of the places in Richmond or Footscray.

Cultural Moment
Broken Rice (Cơm tấm) refers to the broken rice grains - hence, you'll see that there are not full grains. In the past, this would have been the left overs and cheaper grade rice, consumed more commonly amongst the poorer sections of society. The broken rice gives it a different texture to full grain rice. It is more popular in Southern Vietnam around Ho Chi Minh City. It is now served more widely and there are restaurants that specialise in seving this dish.

Flora Indian Restaurant and Cafe

238, Flinders Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

This is a canteen style no frills place to eat. It scored 78% on Urbanspoon, with lots of favourable reviews and some disgruntled punters because of their inconsistencies and service. You get a selection from the bain-marie and it's quick and easy. However, if you are there as a group, and some of you are orderding from the ala carte menu while others are ordering from the pre-prepared meal - don't expect to start your meals (or finish) at the same time.

The Place

To me, this is equivalent to a fast food joint. It's a pretty large space that could accommodate groups. The only ambience you can expect is that of an air-conditined cafetaria at a Senior College. It is situated across from Flinders Street Station and is easy to get to in you are already in the area. (For those new to Melbourne - this means there's no parking here.) If you are in a hurry, say before a move at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and are looking for Indian - this is the place.

Things to do nearby: You are essentially in the heart of the city, surrounded by the shopping precinct, Federation Square and the Arts Centre and Southbank is but 5 minutes away. Heaps to do.

The Food

The food is not bad for this style of restaurant. A testament to this is the number of Indian punters that are usually eating here. One thing I have to say though, it's not very spicy, so if you are into really hot foods - you are better off ordering from the menu (and expect to wait in that situation).

They have the usual range of Indian fare from Vindaloo, to Rogan Josh, to Korma, to Madras style, and of course, butter chicken - all ready to be spooned on to a waiting thali. So, they are generally reliable but do not expect to quality food for it is essentially off the bain-marie. One advice I would give you is to NOT order the dish that looks like it's about to finish and only the dregs are left. Just DON'T. There's usually plenty of others to pick from.

Two things to note; The vegetarian fare is usually rather disappointing here, in my humble opinion, but if they are serving goat on the day you visit (and you like goat) - go for it - but expect it to be on the bone.

You can order a range of different things including biryani and dosai too, but will have to wait.

The Service

This is where it gets a bit challenging. :) The servers are there to scoop up food for you and collect your money. It's essentially self-service, but for what you are paying for, please do not expect a red carpet and over friendly interest in you as another human being. They are not into relationship building, if I might put it delicately.

Some people see this as downright rude - I see it as the most basic of service. They are not rude at all, but they might not smile all the time, and be a bit 'matter of fact' about their jobs.  Their role is to facilitate me getting access to the food, that's it. It's that kind of place. If you want good service with a smile - you need to go to a more expensive proper restaurant. I would have complained if they were actually rude, but I sincerely have never encountered that.

Overall

I have said this before - it is what it is - a fast food joint, where you go in, feed, and get out relatively satisfied. It can get rowdy sometimes if a lot of students are in. I go there as an old reliable if I am in a hurry around Flinders Street.

Cultural Moment

Thali literally means plate. In this case - more of a platter with various dishes on it. In some parts of India, it's almost a big round tray and the various dishes are served in small bowls (katori), whereas in other parts of India and in Nepal, a thali is a big plate with different 'compartments' for the different dishes. It usually comes with rice or chapatis (bread/roti) as a main staple, with all the other accompaniments.

Palookaville

416, Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, VIC 3065

Firstly, this is NOT an Asian restaurant but it does serve a range of international dishes and some of the best dishes happen to be Asian. So it's worth an honorary mention. Also, at 88% on Urbanspoon, I think it's a pretty safe bet if you are looking for a pub meal with Asian influence. Have to thank Pia for introducing this fabulous place to me.

The Place
This is a big space with couches, moveable tables and booths. It's a pub with heaps of dining and chill out spaces. It is also rather dark and you can also play pool here. The bar is clearly well stocked. It is a friendly, chilled out atmosphere than can get noisy once the night crowd files in. Suitable for children during the day.

Being on Brunswick Street, parking is a REAL pain.

Order your meals here

Other things to do nearby: It's on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy - there are heaps to do depending on time of the day/week. Rose Street Artists Market is nearby and opened on Saturdays.

The Food
So, why am I reviewing a non-Asian restaurant? Because, the Asian food here is ACE!
Twice-cooked Pork Belly - those of you who have been following my blog know that I have a soft spot for well cooked pork belly. This is pretty good and it's a basic simple dish, a few sprigs of plain steamed bokchoy on the side, a good serve of steamed rice and the well cooked pork belly. Simple and yummy.

Masterstock Chicken - sticky sweet goodness and moist chicken

Crisp Masterstock Chicken - I day dream about this dish sometimes. It's not easy to cook this well as it could dry out easily. However, they do it well here and its a generous serve. Need to stop writing about this - I am starting to salivate.

Thai Seafood Noodle - This was the last thing I had here and it's good - my only complaint was that I would have loved MORE soup. But it's not meant to be a noodle soup. Still good with fresh seafood.
Salt-pepper Calamri - This could be the new Aussie National Dish since most people like this, and Palookaville does it well (if a bit pricey for the amount served).

This place also serves Palm Sugar Beef Ribs which looked huge, Cambodian vege curry, and Lemongrass Prawn Wontons. And if you are not fancying the Asian fare, there's your range of European dishes too, but I never look past the Asian offerings.

The Service
Friendly Pub Staff with personalities and quite happy to interact with punters. The food comes pretty quickly too and you go up to the pub counter to get your own drinks.

Overall
It's a great place to chill. I would go there more if parking wasn't such an issue.

Cultural Moment
I don't drink - drinking is not a huge part of my family culture. Besides, I am slightly allergic to alcohol, so I have another added reason not to drink. Therefore, in my blogs - other than a cursary nod to whether there's a range of alcoholic offerings, licensed or BYO, I don't usually say much about it.

Having these dishes in a pub is a bit of a novelty and I think represents the Australia of the future where different cuisines are coming together with different aspects of Australian (pub) culture. It's great to see.

Kotaraya Restaurant

237-239, Glenhuntly Road, Elsternwick, VIC 3185

At 76% likes on Urbanspoon, this place is underrated. However, some of the reviews complaints are around their Thai offerings. I am a firm believer that restaurants shouldn't overstretch themselves in terms of culinary styles. Kotaraya is essentially a Malaysian restaurant, which also has some more common 'Thai' dishes (Malaysian style). Therefore, if you go there and order Thai dishes, I think you have to expect a Malaysian filter - which means it's not going to be the same as going to a Thai restaurant.

The Place
This is a good space for gatherings of 8 - 12 and also for couples. It's well set up (though the deco is so 1980s) and easy to find. There's ample parking around the area. This reminds me of a solid family restaurant with comfortable chairs and lots of space for prams and walking frames.

Things to do nearby: This is near the Elsternwick train station and also shops on Glenthuntly Road, as well as the Classic Cinema (Elsternwick).

The Food
The food is reliable and was award winning in the 90s and early 2000s. The West Malaysian dishes are tried and tested. Ocassionally, some of the dishes that are deepfried might have a bit more oil than current sensibilities. Many of the mains are meant to be shared. I have seen too many groups of people order one dish per person without sharing them - not a good idea here, unless if you are ordering from the noodles/rice section.
Lobak - Minced pork roll, wrapped in beancurd skin (Penang and KL style), served with a sweet plum sauce is not bad here. I prefer mine with less flour in it but that's just the East Malaysian part of me speaking.
Coconut Butter Chicken - not for the severely health conscious, this is a rather tasty dish which you should not have all to yourself, and should be eaten with a serve of steamed rice.

Special mention of the Chinese New Year Rainbow Fish Salad. Thanks for Ed who discovered this years ago, this is one of the few places in Melbourne that does Yee Sang/ Yu Sheng, popular amongst the Chinese (esp the Teochews, though everyone jumps on the bandwagon these days) of Malaysian and Singapore.

The Service

It's a relatively friendly and efficient place. You get the sense that they go get a regular clientale here and they go out of their way for these regulars. The whole place does have a 'family friendly' feel and the service is generally good too.

Overall

The go to place for Introductory Malaysian Cuisine. Generally reliable and yummy without being crazily expensive.

Cultural Moment

Yee Sang / Yu Sheng / Fish Salad - is a symbol of abundance and good luck. All the ingredients are assenbled in a large serving dish. Then the family comes together and tosses the ingredients together and mix it up - the higher they 'toss' the ingredients, the better (this is known as 'lo hei' in Cantonese - the prosperity toss).

The picture above is one which my Mum and Bro prepared, covered with raw salmon, sesame, 'gold nuggets' which is really like croutons, and cilantro/coriander.

The picture to the left is where we start the Lo hei (Presperity Toss).

Pacific Seafood BBQ House (South Yarra)

210, Toorak Road, South Yarra, VIC 3141



This is the go to place for in-dining Cantonese barbeque house. Scoring 84% on Urbanspoon, this place is the quintessential Hong Kong mid-range restaurant which serves good food but polite service at best. This review is only about their South Yarra branch. Each of their branches is substantially different to the others.

The Place
Situated on Toorak Road, this is a good space and the good news is, they don't cramp everyone in so that you can almost eat off the plates of neighbouring diners. The ventilation and air-conditining is good and it's a typical brightly lit Chinese restaurant. Parking can be a challenge and you have to look for the side streets off Toorak Road.

Things to do nearby: This is close to the South Yarra train station, and also to all the shops nearby. Como Centre is about 2 minutes away with its cinemas, and Chapel St. is around the corner.

The Food
Classic Cantonese fare here and their barbeque meats are of a really high standard. Some might find their crispy pork a bit salty but it's all relatively good. If you are not sure which roast/barbeque meat to go for, and if there are 3 or more of you, try to Mixed plate with 4 varieties at $28. Trust me - it's good value compared to most other places. Other dishes that stood out for me over the years include:
Pipa Beancurd ("Violin" Beancud) - it's beancurd mashed with seafood, shaped like a Chinese "violin" (Pipa), deep dried and braised. The sauce is really quite tasty and it's served with freshed sauteed brocolli.
Deepfried Calamari with Spicy Salt and Chilli  - everyone know what this is and this place does it quite well.
Fillet Mignon with Black Pepper Sauce - I do like this mostly because the meat is so tender, well marinated and the black pepper sauce is something that I like.
Special Fried Rice (Yangzhou Chao Fan) - If you must have it, this is the place to get it. They do it well with the right ingredients too.

It's also worth checking out the specials board. You might see various items with XO sauce. This has nothing to do with cognac... it's actually a special sauce that comprises a range of dried seafood (fish, shrimp) pounded together, mixed with chilli, oil, garlic, all fried together.

Ok - now for things on the menu I have never tried, nor would I ever order and my reasons why:
Lemon chicken - is served by Chinese restaurants in many parts of the world but not China - really - it's didn't originate from China. I have yet to see any Guangdong restaurants that serve this dish. Even in Hong Kong, it's really not common.
Mongolian beef - I won't order Moussaka at an Italian restaurant, I sure as hell, am not going to order aything 'Mongolian' from a Cantonese restaurant. The distance between Mongolia and Hong Kong is nearly 4 times the distance between Athens and Rome.
Lemongrass anything - Lemongrass is a tropical plant that's used a lot in Southeast Asian cooking and even in the West Indies, but not really in Chinese cooking.

The Service
Ther service ranges from abrupt to really friendly depending on the confidence of the wait person. I am quite jaded about service at low - mid range Cantonese restaurants. Part of it is just they "I am doing you a favour" attitude, and part of it is "You don't speak Cantonese, so we can't really converse". One learns not to expect too much of the service from such places or one just doesn't get to eat the food here (other than maybe, takeaways).

Having said that, I have to be fair, and would argue that service at this joint is probably one of the best ones for it's type of restaurant. They do attempt to communicate (albeit minimally). They provide complementary soup to all tables ordering more the one lunch item (unlike the racist service at C-Culture). Also, if, it's a big group, a plate of complementary sliced oranges is usually served up if no dessert has been ordered. Therefore, all in all, I'd say that's pretty alright.

Overall
Of all the barbeque houses in Melbourne, this is one of the go-to ones for a space to have a gathering where you might want to have a bit of a chat and enjoy a flow of food.

Cultural Moment
Food represents a number of things in Chinese cultures. This means that sometimes, there might be conflict in what they represent between different regions. Here's a brief example of a range of food and what they represent:

Whole Fish (Yu in Madarin) - Yu also means abundance - a Chinese New Year greeting is 'Nian Nian You Yu' (which means "May you have abundance every year"). A whole fish in a lot of abundance and also that where a project is started, it will also have a completion.

Mandarin/Oranges (Kum in Cantonese) - Kum also means Gold - Having mandarins is a good thing as it represents wealth. Pomelos too (which sound like prosperity).

Noodles represent longevity in Chinese culture - so the longer the noodles, the better. Sometimes you will see in Chinese restaurants, families laughing as they try to get the noodles from the communal plate and they have strands of noodles that are really long, and they are holding them really high with their chopsticks - why don't they just cut it and dish it out? Are you CRAZY?

Whole hardboiled Eggs (dyed red) represent fertility. Lots of babies :)

Mushrooms and Fungus are really prolific and represent the multiplication of wealth.

Leek (Seng in Hokkien) - Seng also means counting - Counting money that is, if you have lots of it at Chinese New Year - hopefully, it will bring in the wealth for you to count your money.

Sweet Glutinuous Rice Cakes - represent sweetness in life.

Sweet and Sour preserved plums of various varieties - represent the balance between the sweet and sour moments of life.

8 courses of a banquet represents growth of prosperity, The number 8 (Ba) sounds similar to prosperity. So, this is a good thing.

There are also some things which some families would avoid eating around Chinese New Year, depending on their traditions. These include Vinegar (Chu) which not only sounds like jealousy, but also is extremely 'sour', Preserved Vegetables (Kiam Chai/ Hum Choi) which could represent miserliness and drying up of wealth, Beancurd (traditionally poor man's food).

Hu Tong Dumpling Bars

14- 16, Market Lane, Melbourne, VIC 3000

162, Commercial Rd, Prahran, VIC 3181

http://www.hutong.com.au/

Reviewing both places at once as a comparison because it's worth doing so. The Urbanspoon ratings are starkly different, with 82% (thousands of votes) for the city branch and only 69% for the South Yarra branch (with less than 700 votes). One wonders if this has anything to do with the clientale each of these places attracts, or the positive reviews from Matt Preston a fews back for the city branch, or the actualy experience. I suspect it's a combination of all of the above.

HuTong Dumpling serves northern Szechuan and Shanghainese Cuisine.

The Place
The city branch (pictured below) which is usually crowded goes up 3 storeys. It's a great set up and by and large, the coordination across the floors work quite well. I like the atmosphere which can get noisy some times and you do sit quite closely to neighbouring diners. CBD Parking can be a challenge.

The South Yarra branch is set out in a more 'western' layout, the furniture and deco also reflect a more contemporary feel. There are also private dining rooms up the back. Parking is much easier here where Safeways and Coles are.

Things to do nearby: Lots of things to do in both places, if the shops are opened.

The Food
Both places have identical menus. However, the quality varies slightly between the two places. I believe that the city one is slightly better than the South Yarra branch, but both are still of relatively high standard. The clear winner for both these restaurants is their Xiaolong Bao (Juicy Shanghainese Dumpling) - likely the best Xialong Bao in Melbourne - big call right? But I stand by it for now. Best way to have these, the traditional way, is to have a little bit of ginger and some vinegar with it.

The other good dishes here include;
Dong Bo Rou (Red Braised Pork Belly) - I think if Caroline and I could have these without any health or weight consequences, we would order take away from here at least once a week. But since we can't do that, I can only say - for Pork Belly connoiseurs, this is pretty good. This is an expensive dish here but it's yummmmmy.

Suan La Tang (Hot and Sour Soup) - This is a favourite dish of mine and most places in Melbourne do not do this well. Most Cantonese places do an atrocious job of it. At Hutong, this dish can be inconsistent - I suspect it depends on the chef of the day. So, at worse, it's more sweet than sour, at best - it is really good Hot and Sour Soup with mushrooms, beancurd, shredded meat and peas dowsed in vinegar and chilli.

Won Ton in Hot Chilli Sauce - I really like these because the wontons are tasty but it's not for those who don't like the hot chilli oil (either because of the chilli or for how oily it is). :)

String Beans with Minced Pork - This is their version of 'crack beans" and even I (who do not like string beans) would venture to pick at the minced pork and it's pretty good.

Red Bean Pancake (for dessert) - As I said in the Bok Choy Tang review under the Cultural moment, this is one of the very few Asian desserts that I like. HuTong serves this up with a twist - it comes with ice-cream. Sometimes, this is great, but other times, I just one the good old traditional way by itself. The unfortunate thing is that with HuTong, this can sometimes be a bit inconsistent. There was that one time they brought the pancake to the table and it might as well have been swimming in oil - not good.

There are two dishes that have been real disappointing here (both ordered at the CBD branch);
Dan Dan Noodle - which is really plain and there's simply not enough sauce both times I have ordered this. It's like spaghetti you know (this is like Chinese spaghetti) - if there's not enough sauce - all you get is stodgy pasta, if there's too much sauce - it's overwhelming. In my opinion, HuTong hasn't got the balance right with their Dan Dan noodle - so it's disappointing.

Salt and Spicy Calamari - Don't bother to have this here. It's actually surprising that a restaurant of this quality is not able to get this favourist Aussie Chinese dish right. It is inconsitently mediocre to bad.

The Service
The service is variable but I actually believe that South Yarra does a better job with their service, possibly because of the layout of the restaurant. It's easier to cover up the bad service of the grumpy and clueless wait person, if a more experienced and friendly wait person can see what's going on.

With the CBD layout, you have a separate crew for each level of the restaurant - so if you have a grumpy crew with a disorganised and less experienced supervisor - there's no cover up.

I have to say that during the first 6 months of operation, I went there a few times and the service was impeccable. Since the Matt Preston review and the influx of lots of people, the service has never been the same. The attitude is inconsistent and the greeters are more "people pushers" rather than making you feel welcomed (in the CBD branch). The service (with an occasional lapse) is better at South Yarra.

Overall
Yes, it's more expensive that your regular Shanghai dumpling joint. However, I do not go to a restaurant such as this for just the dumpling -  I want a place where I can hear the conversation with my friends, where I can sit around and relax a bit longer than the "eat and go" place, better service than your average brusque attitude, and ambience - not just the food. Of course, I still expect the food to be better than average, and also expect to pay more. Therefore, I do not compare this to a regular Shanghai Dumpling place - I compare it to what I expect of a restaurant of its standing, and it comes out relatively well.

Cultural Moment
HuTongs refer to the style of housing particularly in Beijing, where clusters of houses are organised in a square, surrounding a main courtyard. There is a pretty excellent article about hutongs on wikipedia, if you are interested in the history.

Having visited one myself - one of the fascinating things about these housing arrangements in the past is that you could tell which family lives where and what their main occupations were just by looking at the designated sculptures situated at the front doors. This is a very old practice.

Another interesting fact alludes to the patriarchal Chinese society. A wealthier family usually has a private courtyard, with 4 buildings surrounding the courtyard housing the extended family. Firstly, entry to the courtyard and 'house' is usually via the south into the courtyard and facing the northern building. The northern building which receives the most welcome light and is usually built on a higher level (or is slightly elevated) is the main living area, where highly honoured guests are received, and where the patriach sleeps. Older Sons and their families reside in the western building (morning sun) and younger sons in the eastern building (setting sun). If there are no younger sons, unmarried daughters live in the eastern building. If there are younger sons living in the eastern building, unmarried daughters are relegated to the back building (behind the main north building) - good luck getting good sunlight there. Servants live in the southern building and the reception hall is here too. There's actually quite a bit of privacy for each branch of the family with their own quarters and buildings.

Gold Leaf (Docklands) Yum Cha

Level 1, Star Circus Harbour Town, Docklands, VIC 3008

http://www.goldleafrestaurant.com.au/

This place has a healthy score on 85% on Urbanspoon and the various negative reviews come from the ocassional lapse in service, harried staff, and carts not being wheeled through the space efficiently enough. Overall, Gold Leaf is one of the only reasons I would pay a visit to Harbour Town. It's a relative good place to take 'newbies' to a yumcha session and to take 'veterans' for a bit of yumcha with relatively good service.
The Place
Well appointed space and tastefully decorated. Really comfortable space and not as squishy as many other yumcha places in town. Prams pose the usual challenge in this sort of places but Gold Leaf Docklands is able to manage it quite well (not as well as their Preston branch - but still ok).

Yes, it is pricier than your average yumcha cafe/shop joint say in Springfield, but this is not meant to be food court style yumcha - so of course it's more expensive.

Other things to do close by: Once you are here, you might as well explore Harbour Town and its shops, the incomplete embarassment that is the Melbourne Star. I will update this when the Star is complete.

The Food
This place serves the usual yumcha fare. Most of the dim sum, the congee, and dessert are of a good standard and usually fresh. The temparature of each of the dishes is appropriate (some places have lukewarm dishes). My favourite here are the Ginger Prawn Dumplings (which is braised) and the Spare Ribs. (See below for a listing of the usual variety of dimsums)

Fair to say, full vegetarians will struggle at this place (and most yumcha places) while vegequarians who don't mind seafood will do just fine.

The Service
Like most places, a yumcha joint is as good as how fast they can bring out the variety of food to satisfy the diversity of customers. The challenge of balancing the steamed staples, with the fried ones, enough 'westernised' dishes, the big dishes (such as salt and pepper calamari, and roast pork), and the congees and beef brisket, and desserts at the opportune time, is not easy. They also have to make sure that all the carts don't just keep going in one circle so that the few tables at the beginning get all the choices and the ones at the end of the cart cycle gets the 'leftovers'.

This place does it relatively well with ocassional lapses. The great thing about this place though is that when those lapses occur - you just have to call over a wait person and order the dish that you one, and it'll come. This is not hard as they speak Mandarin, Cantonese and English all rather fluently.

I think it's above average service here for a yumcha, and they can explain what the various dimsums are, unlike one place which shall be reviewed at a future date where every single dimsum is "seafood dumpling".

Overall
I'd book in advance and keep doing so. It's a place I tend to show to interstate and international visitors because the food is good, the service is fine, and the setting (inside is great) and to regal them with stories of how Harbour Town is a joke. Another plus is that parking (paid) has never been a problem.

Cultural Moment
Dimsum is a Cantonese word that indicates the variety of small dishes served at Yumcha (drinking tea) session. Therefore, the greatest Yumcha experiences are of Cantonese origins and most of the dimsums served derived from the Cantonese Style Cuisine, outlined in another entry. I will be reviewing other Yumcha places in the future and so, in each of these entries, I will introduce you to a small range of dimsums (each will contain the Cantonese name / Mandarin Name / English Description);

Siu Mai / Shao Mai / Pork Dumpling - is the most common dim sum, which has evolved in Australia into your dimsim (dimmy) in your fish and chip shops. This is a common brekkie dimsum throughout southeast China, Singapore and Hong Kong. Both Robbie and I love this LOTS.

Har Gao / Shia Jiao / Prawn Dumpling - is just that, prawns wrapped in pleated translucent flour based skin, that should not stick to each other when you try to pick one up.

Yee Chee Gao / Yu Chi Jiao / Shark Fin Dumpling - is not Shark's Fin Dumpling. It does not contain shark's fin and is so named because it is shaped like a shark fin. That's all - and it is basically and pork and seafood dumpling.

Char Siew Bao / Cha Shao Bao / Steamed Pork Bun - Bao (refers to the particular style of bun) and is a staple in most places. Filled with steaming barbequed pork (Char Siew), the bun should be light and fluffy (watch out for the piece of paper at the bottom). My friend, Deb loves this.

Fung Chao / Feng Jiao / Phoenic Claws (Chicken Feet) - is what it is. Different places might serve it a bit differently from black bean based to spicy sauce. You either like it or you don't. I like it and I believe my friend Jeremy likes it too!

Chee Cheong Fun / Zhu Chang Fen / Rice Noodles - needs a bit of explanation. A literal translation of Chee Cheong Fun is Pig Intestine Noodles. Don't be alarmed, it's not made from any part of a pig. It just looks like a pig's small instestines, hence, the name. With these rice noodles, a coffee shop might sell it with just the noodles, some chives, sesame seeds and a sweet soy sauce. However, most yumcha places will serve a variety, with Char Siew (called Char Siew Cheong), Prawns (Har Cheong), Fried Dough (Cha Leong which translates to fried double, with the fried dough and the noodles making the double). Ev and Nathan do like these :)

Pei Tan (Shao Yuk) Chok / Pi Daan (Shao Rou) Zhou / Century Egg (Roast Pork) Congee - most yum cha places, one would just ask for congee and this would be the variety served (some places with, and others without the roast pork in the congee). What is century egg? It's preseved egg (that's black in colour and a yellowish gray yolk). I have to have this at every yum cha and the other person I know who loves this is Caroline.

Tan Taht / Dan Ta / Egg Custard Tart - When I was young, I used to think that Tan/Dan means Egg and Taht/Ta was just Tart. I recently found the chinese character for Taht/Ta and it actually means 'Flog' - presuming referring to the flogging to the egg into a custard. I have never been a fan though it is one of the most popular dishes. Deb LOVES this.

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know these dimsims, and if you have a request for some unknown dumpling you'd like me to write about - please comment and I'll see what I can do, in a future entry.