TL;DR: Not mind-blowing, or paradigm shifting in any ways, but like any sort of enjoyable yum cha place, it has its fair share of great bites to be found on the menu, and is possibly the best in bringing a big group along.
What we have here is another yum cha restaurant. That is about all the needs to be known before diving right in. Well into the Valley, right here is possibly closer to the Emporium than it is to Chinatown and regardless of the location, the food was not half-bad.
Going here one weekend with my house mate, it was a gift for lunch in trying something a bit different to the norm. All these times passing by, it had been tempting and intriguing with what they were advertising outside. For a set price, with the given time limit of an hour, it is an all-you-can-eat yum cha. Small differences exist between lunch and dinner, namely a few extras for the latter, and the choices are put to what comes around on the carts. Well, it was time to dust off the gloves and say "game on" to this one.
Definitely where the credit gets given is with the design. For something that is right off the main road, there has definitely been an effort to make it look presentable, if not the best and most picturesque of places - though the points will always go more for what they do with what they got, and they managed to get good mileage here. From what I could tell, they have a second level here but don't quote me on that one. Each table is set up perfectly, complete with the paper in the middle, chopsticks, plate, bowl and all that, all of it ready for any patron to come through the door and take a seat.
With the service, put these two aspects in mind. This is a Chinese restaurant, and more importantly, the style of dining is yum cha. Everything here is done to clockwork, and if that means sacrificing the personable aspects of customer service, it is at a point of thinking "so be it". In other words, it is efficient to a T but don't expect to much of a smile or a salutation - that is just how it is here. That goes from the moment you step in the door, and it does not take them long to bring you to a table, and from plonking yourself down, it does not take long for them to get orders for drinks and take away excess crockery from the table. It all works similar to a computer system. In choosing the foods, it is from the carts that are carted around, and they stop and present the choices to each and every table. It is all set up and ready, with the plates, the sauces, and everything to present on the table - followed up by the items being marked off on the ticket - and on the other end of the service, they frequently cart around trolleys to collect dirty dishes to take to the kitchen. Efficiency is definitely the name of the game, since any little tasks like collecting the plates when they pile up and filling up the tea pots on the table will be done without a second's pause.
Now, let's get onto the fare that they have. This is one massive menu, and the yum cha part of it that I tried out extensively is just one component of the entire selection they have. These include all the famous and infamous delights galore, which are a range of dumplings, little nibbles, sweets, and some good old industrial cuts of meat. That is at lunch time. At dinner, four more options arrive - a couple of classic take-away style meals (nothing wrong with them in all honesty), some bok choy and a side of rice. Only making something pretty good, better by that virtue. When it comes to special occasions like Chinese New Year - just brace yourself.
Yum cha or some other time, what remains consistent is that a feast is guaranteed with a big group right here. On the a la carte menu, the options start with some sizzling dishes mainly involving lamb. A vegetarian sections exists in the abstract sense of the word with "vegetables and tofu" but those with that kind of diet should be more vigilant and read closer with seafood and pork popping up a lot. Both clay pots and noodle soups are also big draws, beef and pork dishes are aplenty followed up by some massive noodle dishes. Dessert is there, only a small selection but it sure will round a row of some involved eating to a delightful conclusion.
Of course, the drinks cannot be forgotten about either. They have all kinds of beers, and wines here, as well as spirits and liqueurs. On the non-alcoholic front, it has the usual sodas, some iced tea, orange juice, or just good old hot tea.
Starting off the meal, the offers of the soft drink of choice was given. As always when it comes to Chinese eating, the choice defaulted to some hot tea. This tea was pretty good, though not a whole lot of it was finished - you need either a few hours, or a couple of people drinking it - but was refreshing nonetheless. The flavour was mild here, and was the simple Chinese tea.
From all that I ate from the trays, the following is possibly not a complete list but only what could easily be recollected. It goes without saying that some are better and more memorable than others, with each one of them being pretty good in their own way. The selection of items that I tried included beef balls, bean curd rolls, several sorts of dumplings and wantons, barbecue pork pastry, and there was not any chance of leaving the place without getting the good old favourite that is sticky rice.
Practically every item was plump and filling, first starting with some beef balls that were made from a tender cut of beef that was flavoursome from the sauce they used. Others were pretty much what they were, the main examples being spring rolls and chicken satays with the latter honestly being served with a thick and rich sauce that made it that tad better. Also what were pretty good, if simple, there was barbecue pork pastries that were a bit sweet, with some buttery pastry and sweet pork, and the sesame ball was pretty similar as well. What also was good was the fried prawn dumpling, which easily speaks for itself.
The big stand outs go to the dim sum, which is always good when cooked right though hard to describe why beyond a delicious pork mince mixture, the scallop dumplings are a delight with the sweet, plump meat, and the prawn dumplings prove just as much there. But in saying all of this, two items stick out in my mind. The first one is the bean curd roll, that was soft and tender, infused well with sauce, and filled with pork and prawns in the middle. It is a plump, robust and delicious delight. The second one was the sticky rice, a mound of rice cooked with various fillings and items, wrapped in a banana leaf. Part of why it is good is what you find in it, here the main treasure was small bits of sausage. Hot, steamy and always a delight - if this was not the pick of the bunch, it is up there with them.
Finishing it off, if there was one weak part I would not order if it started over again (with retrospect, of course) that would have to be the turnip cake. Not that it was bad or anything, but next to everything else this was a bit bland and mostly existed as texture.
There really isn't anything that can be rightfully criticised about here, since everything is more or less done right; and on the other hand, as good as it was and as much as I enjoyed myself, there is not that much that stands out about here which is any different from many other yum cha places that I have eaten at over the years. It was just as good as it was expected, was really filling and good value, plus the service - while at the standard level of a Chinese restaurant - was vastly efficient and made the experience all the more worth while. More often than not, it is time like this that the 4.0-score is reserved, since it indicates a good number of strengths (which there were a few here), and that really sums it all up.
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