Marigold Restaurant @ Chinatown, Sydney

Here we are again and so soon. New colleagues loves the whole yum cha scene and quite honestly, in the last 4 months I've been in Sydney, I've only had one other time of yum cha. It was a restaurant in Rhodes that only allows patrons 2 hours at the table. After watching the ridiculous line building up when we left, I think I can understand why.

This time, we went to Marigold Restaurant along George Street in Chinatown. I furiously looked up reviewed prior to going there and noted they were quite famous. That is to say there aren't bad reviews thrown at them ranging from tasteless food to bad service, but overall, I was quite optimistic about what I was about to partake.

Let's start with the typical Har Gao. Well, it is typical. The prawns were fresh but I think the skin is a little thick. Otherwise good.

Scallop version of the Har Gao. I honestly couldn't taste much in terms of scallops here. Will be a miss in the future.

My favourite in pork spare ribs. I can't wax poetic enough about this. Juicy and well marinated, I whacked nearly all of it myself. Definitely will call for seconds next round.

Supposedly Lor Mai Kai, but looks like Hor Yip Fan instead,

Let's have a peek inside. Not too bad. Not exactly memorable though.

Nice lovely and juicy Siew Mai. Right mixture of pork and prawn. Lovely.

I haven't had Kai Lan with Oyster sauce in ages. This is a simple dish but it's one of those comfort food that reminds me of home. Lovely. Not to mention provides you with your daily dose of greens.

Char Leong. This was rather hard to make I feel because if not freshly made and served, the Yao Char Kwai will be soft and therefore totally disgusting. This was warm, with the Yao Char Kwai crispy to taste. Served with dipping sauce, it made for a satisfying crunch.

The egg tarts were were good, but a tad sweet. I like the smoothness of the egg and the crumbly texture of the pastry. Less sugar and it would have been a winner.

Ham Sui Kok. My colleagues loved the mochi texture of the 'skin' that had a slight touch of sweetness but not overpoweringly so. Coupled with the savoury filling, it made for a lovely dish.

This was the favourite of both my colleagues, the famed 'Durian Sou'. I expected something along the lines of Yik Kee Durian Bomb, so I was really disappointed when the result was a filling that was rather not creamy with it tasting barely like durian. 

Marigold Restaurant

683-689 George Street  Sydney NSW 2000

Siang Seafood Restaurant @ Sogo, KL

A farewell to a colleague took us to a halal dim sum restaurant in Sogo.

I am pretty wary about halal dim sum. There is always something about the pork that gives it that extra 'oomph'. But I'm happy to say, this place does serve very good dim sum.

Pre-lunch food of braised peanuts and something that I liked but not sure what it was.

The egg tarts are famous here. I can see why. The filling is smooth and not too sweet while the crust is fluffy and crispy. It came fresh out of the oven so it was still warm.

Their siew mai was chicken of course but hid a few prawns at the base and very flavourful.

Har gao that was prawns, crunchy prawns. Enough said.

Our xiao long bao was a disappointment as I could immediately taste that it was chicken. There flavour from the pork is missing.

This was one of their specials of the month. The inside was a mixture of seafood that was unique. It was finished in record time.

Prawn Chee Cheong Fun which was regular. Not much to comment on it actually.

My grouse about the char xiao bao was that they had coriander leaves in them. And I hate coriander. The other liked it but I couldn't get past the herb.

The fried carrot cake came to the table piping hot and smelling super fragrant. It was excellently prepared with just the right flavour so the carrot cake didn't taste bland.

This was something we had taste before in other visits and we just had to order it again. Noodles cooked in spicy sauce with eggplant. Slurpilicious.

They also have 50% off on all dim sum during weekends so it worth to go there for morning 'yam cha'.

Siang Seafood Restaurant

6th Floor, KL Sogo