Wednesday 26th August




This week's adventure was yum cha not with the family as that one time a year we eat out (the family does not eat out - ever), but with friends. Something different was it wasn't a Sunday lunch, but rather the preferred time slot of a week night dinner.


Oriental Teahouse has $30 for all-you-can-eat yum cha on different days, depending on the location and this week we went to Chadstone. Chapel St is on the list for next month.






Drink menus were offered, being a teahouse there was no free tea, le beau thought yum cha tea was free - no it's like $2.50 a head whether you drink it or not, and when I point out I don't want/like tea they pretend not to speak English. There was a teapot in the background to hold utensils. 

Madison and I both picked the 'Raspberry Lime Iced Tea' $4.50, which turned out to be very popular, for the outdoor group (full house inside, overflowed to fill half the outdoor seating area) collectively ordered a tray of it. I prefer the mason jar rather than coke float/milkshake glasses.



Sauces there was something that tastes like butter/may, hot sauce, sweet & sour (dead bug included) and soy sauce. We didn't use any, and there was no one to ask for more sauce, the waiters were speeding around, no time to talk. 

Like yum cha someone bring a trolley or in this case very heavy tray around is sample/canape sizes of everything (except dumplings, that's normal size) and you say yes/no and how many. We found that one per person was a good idea.

Chicken San Choi Bao - The mess starts. This was the only green thing we collectively ate this evening. For there were no vegetables. Coincidentally this was the first asian dish we ever made in food tech class. 



Pork Bun - We always have to start with pork buns le beau would say, he loves them. I do too, but only the vegetarian ones. Mother ruined asian food for me, because that's her specialty. I didn't eat these btw.



Pork & Vegetarian Spring Rolls - The vegetarian was average. I've had great vegetarian spring rolls before and this is not one of them. Tastes above something from the freezer but not much.

Deep Fried Prawns in Wonton Wrappers - Yum! All this needs is sweet chili sauce. But there was no one around to take my sauce requests. 

















Peking Duck - YUM! This was the highlight of the session, triumphing even dessert! Next time I'll take 3 (no not to share, just for me). I absolutely love duck!







Around came the trolley of steamed dumplings, of which there was about six variations. Lots of prawn, a bit of pork and one vegetarian option. This waitress was lovely and didn't want to be in the picture *I'm sorry*. The guy before here wasn't, he said no to pictures - and I wasn't after a picture of him.



We picked all the prawn ones, of which there were four of: har gaw (the one in the middle), ginger prawn (bottom), chives prawn and a fourth I forget. I discovered the name of that vegetable I don't like is chives!

At was at this point (jas still hadn't arrived as you can see) that Madison & I realized we'd ordered too much. And she ordered more than me, as she eats pork.



Fried Rice - Well it was vegetarian, so we gave it a go. Fried rice is fried rice. A quick fix lunch at home. A filler in this set. 

At some point between the last couple dishes jas has arrived, he thought we were at Chapel St tonight because we spoke about plans of going there next month and he got confused as he often does.









Dessert! I was really hoping for deep fried ice cream, but they didn't have that. Instead there was... well read on to find out.

Wow that's a bad picture, but the table was pretty full so I couldn't move it closer, instead I leaned. Also towards the end it go colder and the lights dimmed. But these were good, I'd eat two.





Stuffed w white choc, topped off with peanut parline. Very sticky but yummy, needs more coconut. Much more.





And we finished off with egg tarts, the classic yum cha dessert. Flaky in theory golden pastry, though it was white in this case, but still yum.



Dessert concluded with another round of drink orders, which I feel should have happened half way through the session. Also we were asked if there was anything else we'd like to order, as food was made and delivered in batches that wouldn't be available, but I feel like this is when you could ask for a salad. 

Also something we noticed (ok, only Madison noticed, being the only adult in the group) was that the groups inside got stuff we didn't. In particular noodles and greens. There were no vegetables at all, other than a lettuce leaf.

Overall there were 16 savory things (that includes all the pork things I didn't eat) and 3 sweets. I didn't get a picture but there was pork belly.

I don't eat pork but there was plenty to eat. If you're a vegetarian don't bother. There's almost nothing for you.

The highlight was the peking duck (which we'll be sure to get more of next time).

I'd recommend skipping the fillers, like noodles and fried rice, and the vegetarian spring roll which was average. Next time I'll ask for all the sauces at the ordering drinks stage, including the plum sauce.

How does it compare to the normal menu? Well this menu is more traditional stuff so no fancy fusion food, like duck spring rolls. Read about our 2nd dinner/post-show snack here. But they had the same set of classic dumplings. Minus the scallop dumpling. I've posted a few prices to show how much this would cost normally.



The bill came to $99, for two drinks and all-you-can-eat for three people. Did we eat our money's worth? I'd say yes. Especially at Oriental Teahouse which is known for being expensive (see our $50 snack with drinks visit).

Service varies on who you get, I asked for a picture and one guy pretty much said no, while another moved (in a helpful way) when I tried to get a quick shot. Throughout the session we weren't offered water refills and weren't asked if we wanted to order more drinks. It was all very prompt.

Recommenced? Yes. Revisit? Yes, but first we'll visit the Chapel St store to compare. 

Note - Not vegetarian friendly, but if you don't eat pork there's still plenty of prawn stuff. If you don't like seafood you'll have a harder time than me. If you're vegetarian, I'd call and ask if they can make you a salad or more vegetarian things. 

Info

UNLIMITED YUM CHA $30pp
@CHAPEL ST - TUE nights, 6pm or 8pm (03 9826 0168)
@CHADSTONE - WED nights, 5:30pm or 7:30pm (03 9949 2071)
@LT COLLINS ST - FRI nights, 6pm or 8pm (03 9600 4230)
Book Online Here.





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Wednesday 12th August


Naturally I picked a trip for dessert first (though decided to post it second). Most if not all stalls except Takis has a shop or restaurant, as that means you can vist them another time we didn't go to those. Mamask, Malaysian is on my list.

As an events planner (a job that does define me, that could be more creative) I checked out the list of stalls and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted: dessert from Takis Milkbar.






The mars bar was a mouthful of awesome! Yes I did feel a bit of an overdose as always with mars bar, but it was good! This should be on everyone's list. Try it, just once. The size was of a medium bar btw, served conviently on a stick.



The oreos were more like donuts, well that was dissapointing... But I'm glad I tried it. Like the mars bar it came with a pot of buttercream. No idea why, wasn't like you could dip it, the consistency was normal, you need to spread it on with a knife.



The bounty milkshake was yummy as well expected, though I'd like to request those big bubble cup sized straws, as the coconut got stuck. It reminded me of Tuck Shop Take Away, I'm a fan of their soft serves and fantale aka salted caramel milkshakes.







The last thing I bought was custard puffs with a beautiful glaze. I only wanted one though they came in pairs. It was average and I regret it... should have tried a cannoli instead.

The sundae stall also took my interest though I'll give it a miss as it was about the toppings and presentation. With so much good ice cream in the city we won't get one here. Especially as Coles has connoisseurs on sale this week and we bought two tubs. The smaller fancy 1L ones.

We tried an Asian caramel custard pancake but like two small ones put together to form a whoopie pie, but with pancakes. At $4 a piece we were iffy but as if by fate there was a sign that  we should go for it. It was ok, the custard wasn't sweet enough though. Before I mentioned that it was Asian custard because asian sweets don't tend to be that sweet.


We had a look around it's food, lines, home wares and accessories, handmade necklace and knitted things were featured. There was two candle stalls. So many pretty things I like, though I really don't need more candles, I rarely use them due to risk of a fire. Reed difussors and so much safer.

Loving the felt garlands but I already have two still sitting in their jars at home. I have no blank walls to put them on.








A good though expensive night, good luck getting a seat. BYO knife/fork and buy things to share. Also wet wipes, bring those too. Come at 5pm to avoid the lines.



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Wednesday 19th August


This Wednesday's adventure took us to dinner with Alice and then a trip to the night markets. Which has been on my 'one day list' for 3-4yrs, because I always have Wednesday classes, marketing or ballroom.

The Winter Night Markets at Queen Victoria Markets is a series of weekly, well night markets on Wednesday Nights throughout winter from 5-10pm. Wear a coat - it will be cold.


Alice lives a few blocks away from the markets and so was our expert guide tonight. As these events are $$$ with spending of around $50 per person, we recommend you go for a savory dinner or dessert, and then come back another week for the other.


The two longest lines were for soup in a bread bowl (somewhere between $10-15 prices not listed) and fancy waffles that star from $8. I saw them and they're the same ones that Waffle On in Degraves and that record shop at Swimburne does. But if you're not familiar with food you wouldn't know that.

If you only eat at two places make soup in a bread bowl one of them.Though she said you won't finish it. What if we share? Hmm... idk if I'm comfortable sharing soup. Not with anyone including bunnikins. She may eat off my plate though I won't eat something that she was close to.



We had the soup in bread bowl, potato leek soup $12. It was very good and I was amazed didn't leak right though as I'm a slow eater. The bread bowl was very cool though a bit tough as required to be a vessel. I ate about half of the bowl.


Alice's other recommendation was the Filipino stall if you eat pork, as they often have one on a spit, though not tonight. 


At the market almost every cuisine except Mexican was there. There were ramen burgers and Indian too. Though the later wasn't popular. We have yet to try a ramen burger. Cassava's on the list for next year.



One of the most interesting looking stalls was this hot pot one. You select your ingredients and then it gets cooked in a pot, that or you steep it in the broth and it cooks that way. Pretty cool idea, double decker stall.


Drinks was awesome! Sugar cane juice no yucky pulp with a shot of coconut for $7 no ice, and no extra cost. Normally with Asians no ice costs extra as they have to give you more products and less ice/water. I love sugar cane juice more than coconut water!


For entertainment there were two stage areas, one a performance space and the other an outdoor movie screen thing. There was a video clip from the 40s that was played. And one of the places featured was where I work (in theory). It looked the same from the outside but with an additional lamp post.











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