~ Curious Charlie ~

Yum Cha @ Tai Pan @ Sunday, September 15, 2013

Sunday 8th Sept

Today we had our annual Father's Day luncheon, yum cha as always. Instead of going to Shark Fin we went to Tai Pan in Doncaster. Translation: If it's bad or prices/food is unagreeable it's my fault as I picked the place.

Arriving just on time at 1.30pm for the 3rd yum cha session there was lots of people leaving/coming at the same time. The doorway wasn't as big as it should be for such a popular place, double doors would be better. In the small lobby we got our name checked on the list and then waited for a table, which took a few minutes. So glad I made a booking - always book.

We were led upstairs by the manager and positioned by the window overlooking the car park (if you turned around that is). Great lighting for pictures, though not everyone liked it being "squished in the corner". Pessimism whining bitching, moaning and nagging runs in the family though. Ignore them.

Bánh Cam (Orange Sesame Ball)

As everyone was coming and going at the same time our first dish was dessert! It's a deep fried ball of some sort of yellow bean (mung bean?) rolled in sesame seeds. I do love these - not enough to serve them at the wedding though.

Fried Prawn & Quail's Egg

Loved it!

Something Vegetarian.

Didn't try it, looks like it's covered in pastry.

Steamed Prawn Rice Noodles

Yum! I quite like this.

Fried Prawn Dumplings with Mayo

Really liked this, there's a theme. I love prawns.

Something with Potato & Cheese in an Oyster Shell

Andy said it was good, potato mixed with stuff topped with melted cheese.

Didn't try it as the smell was a turnoff as well as the ugly shell it was served in.

Beef Buns

Average. I prefer chicken buns from asian bakeries,

though I question their hygiene most of the time. Don't try this.

Baskets

Top left is Shanghai Dumplings, pork. To the right is prawn & greens, nice but kinda average. Lower left pork, the only thing I touched but didn't eat. There was a bit of grumbling on that. Right is beef with pepper, very very chewy I had an unsuccessful nibble.

Wtf is this?

Andy said it tastes like animal fat & gelatin. Eww... I didn't try it. And no one liked it.

Silken Tofu Dessert & Egg White Custard

The adults liked the tofu, though mother said it was plain and wasn't infused with ginger and vanilla. This is her favourite dessert.

I had the custard, which was like custard but with egg whites. I like it but wouldn't recommend it or try it again. Smells like egg whites. What I really wanted was the egg tarts which were sold out :(

Service was good though they spoke Chinese to us which is strange as most of us don't look asian. Fortunately we had a friend who translated, though most of the communication was done via hand gestures and small words by the adults.

The bill for all the above (I took pictures of every dish) was $127, for 6 people including tea. My estimate says it was a bit under $25 pp, calculator says $21.20. Great price was a filling yum cha lunch. I would recommend Tai Pan, though they didn't have amazing desserts. Mother however says Shark Finn had more variety. Unfortunately Yum Cha doesn't seem to work so well for two people as they both have to like the same things or not everything will get eaten.

Do you like Yum Cha? Where do you like to do? What's your favourite dishes?

Yes I do make it sound like an interrogation when I ask people questions. :P

Sue // www.suelovexx.com said... on September 16, 2013 at 3:25 PM

I love Tai Pan! My bf lives really close by so I always go there with his family. It's incredibly busy on weekends, we always book yet still have to wait about 5 mins to get seated! The dumplings are great though and granted it is quite packed and crowded but the ambience is all part of the experience! :D