Golden Horse yum cha

What are the three sweetest words in the English language?

"I love you"?

"Marry me, please"?

I say they're...

"YUM CHA DAILY" !

The Golden Horse has just opened on possibly Footscray's best corner site, and is ready to feed you these sweet nothings seven days a week.

There aren't many small yum cha restaurants like this around.  Usually when a yum cha place is small, it means no trolleys, or a very small range of food.  That's not the case here.  Golden Horse have a great range of dim sum, and it's not dumbed down - I spied chicken feet, pork ribs, tendon and silken tofu with prawn.

The small space does mean it's tricky to get a table of exactly the size you require, which means you might have to share a table.  I felt pretty sorry for the couple who had to share an eight-seater with me and my three grotty kids, but luckily the first trolley hit within seconds of sitting, so I could plug them with food straight away.

Shu mai, or "the ones with the dot on top" as they're known in our family.  They're made from prawn and pork with a wonton wrapper enclosing the bottom and sides.  These were really chunky and quite awesome.  Love how you get four to a basket rather than the usual three!

An equally generous serve of har gao or prawn dumplings.  Great.

Ridiculously amazing pastry - short, flaky, feathery and totally melt-in-the-mouth.  It was curled around a jammy BBQ pork filling.  Pounce the minute you see these come out of the kitchen.

These prawn noodle rolls are one of my favourite things - big noodle sheets (like lasagne sheets) flopped around prawns.  Pro tip - attack these with an empty bowl, ie, not one full of soy sauce.  The sauce with these is really light and sweet and deserves to be enjoyed on its own.

Crisp prawn rolls, I believe wrapped in rice paper, served with a little dish of mayo.  Also try the very similar golden brown-coloured variety, where the prawn is wrapped in fried bean curd skin (those ones come with a violently coloured yet delicious sweet-and-sour sauce).

Forgo the standard jasmine and order some chrysanthemum tea.  It has a fresh taste, a little like chamomile but much more gentle.

Ham sui gok, aka "football dumplings".  These have a glutinous rice flour batter around a filling - normally pork mince and a bit of mushroom.

These ones had a pretty filling with chopped pork and a little (what I think is) Chinese chive.  With the perfect crisp exterior and warm, slightly gummy interior, they were great.  Try these with chilli sauce.

Wasn't a fan of these panfried dumps - they were not hot enough.  Honestly, I'm never a huge fan of this type of dumpling (jiao zi) at yum cha.  If you want fried dumplings, go order a whole plate for ten or so bucks at 1+1 across the road.

This squid obviously never skipped leg day.  Even though these calamari tentacles were really big, they weren't tough, and the light coating was great.

Just enough room for char siu bao - fluffy steamed buns with a warm dob of BBQ pork in the middle.

Something to keep the kids quiet while I go to pay the bill (which, for all of the above for a very greedy adult and three kids, came to $61.80)...

...and after paying, I got chatting to Barry Diep, whose family restaurant this is.  All the yum cha is made in house.  There are some serious dumpling smarts going on here - one of the chefs is the ex-head chef of a Gold Leaf restaurant, and was coaxed out of retirement to saddle up the Golden Horse.  (Barry's uncle is one of the owners of the Gold Leaf chain, which includes Sunshine's Gold Leaf - a big favourite of mine.)

Barry's dad is also a chef at the Golden Horse.  He did his formal training in Hong Kong in the 1970s with an apparently very highly regarded chef of the time, and one of his fellow students was the current head chef of Laksa King.  He has been cooking since he was eight, including up and down the length of Vietnam.  As such, Barry reports that he was exposed to French techniques and ingredients.  His signature dish is snow crab with foie gras.  CAN YOU SAY HELL YES?!

Dad's other specialty is his XO sauce.  Barry kindly gave me this little pot to take home and try, while the kids all got a mango pudding each.  The sauce is a knockout and the puds were all fantastic - they had tiny little real mango bits in them.

I really like the Golden Horse.  Eating yum cha in a big dim sum barn can feel like you're on a conveyer belt, but this is a really friendly little place.  This site is an iconic one for the suburb, and it feels so right to have a big, busy yum cha restaurant full of people right here in the guts of the 'scray.  I love that everything's made here, and afterwards the insatiable salt/MSG-induced thirst that normally attacks me after a yum cha session was nowhere to be found.  Can't wait to come back in the evening and try the a la carte stuff.

You could say Footscray is now a one-horse town, and I think it's all the better for it.

Golden Horse

Cnr Hopkins and Leeds Streets, Footscray

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Claypots and Herbal Soups at First Taste

We have one of those daggy "bag bags" you stuff all your supermarket shopping bags into for use later.  When I got back from an extended overseas trip recently, literally every third bag in the bag bag was a plastic bag from Nhu Lan.  It transpired that Mr Baklover had subsisted almost entirely on banh mi or Vietnamese rolls - and the fact that he got a bag from them each time meant at least two banh mi per session.

I mention this because a food blog is by its very nature a subjective record of one individual's tastes and opinions.  If Mr Baklover were to write a food blog, it would probably be a Nhu Lan greatest hits interspersed with the occasional souvlaki from Stalactites.  But for better or worse, this is my blog and therefore a record of merely what I like - not at all a definite judgment on restaurants, dishes or cuisines.

We had planned to visit the new Chilli Padi in Flemington but due to my epic food blogger fail (forgetting to charge my camera battery), I pleaded my friend to come home for a beer while I charged up and then we headed for closer territory - First Taste in Footscray, a southern Chinese claypot rice and herbal soup restaurant.

First Taste have a number of branches across Melbourne and Sydney and are really popular.  The windows in the Footscray branch are somewhat blacked out by large-scale images of their dishes but as we dined, the door constantly swung open, admitting couples and families hungry for something warm and comforting.

Ginseng Stewed Black Chicken Soup, $5.80

The menu of Chinese herbal soups is quite impressive, with pigeon, pear & white fungus, even frog fat.  Black chicken is a Chinese herbal ingredient that is thought to be very restorative, particularly for a woman who has just given birth.  You can see the tiny blue-black skinned chickens for sale in the chicken shops in Footscray market.  Apparently they are silkies, small, fluffy white chickens (see an interesting New York Times article here).  The flavour was great and you could really taste the fresh, clean ginger.  However, the meat was still in the pot and it had that scummy, brown-feathery look that meat gets when you cook it for stock.  I love my stock but I hate the collapsed vegetables and gross, flaccid carcasses I have to dispose of.  The meat in this reminded me of that - I much prefer to use bones for my stock, drain, even strain through muslin (aka old baby wrap) to get rid of all the brown floaty bits before poaching fresh meat eg chicken breast in it if I want to have chunks of meat in my soup.  So this was a bit of a fail for me.

Coconut and Herbs Stewed Crocodile Meat Soup, $6.90

We also tried crocodile with coconut.  This broth was really intriguing - it tasted somewhere between pork and seafood.  I think the coconut was sweet coconut juice rather than milk.  I liked its flavour a lot.  The crocodile meat was very oily and rich, similar to eel.  It had a good flavour but had so many tiny shards of bone that stuck in your teeth that we got put off.  Thankfully these soups had nice little lids so we did not have to be the embarrassing gweilos who did not finish them - at least until we were safely halfway down Hopkins Street!

Quail with rice, $8.80 (add Chinese sausage, $2)

The main attraction here is claypot rice.  Searing hot stone bowls of rice arrived at our table, a toasty aroma emanating from them.  I went with quail with optional added Chinese sausage ($2).  The quail was tasty but after the bony soup, I was a bit boned out and didn't persist with teasing all the meat off the tiny quails.  I did like the Chinese sausage.

X.O.Sauce Hand-made Prawn Ball with Rice, $8.80

These prawn balls were quite tasty, obviously home made, dressed with XO sauce.  XO sauce is seen on menus at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and I absolutely love it.  It's a total umami overload (umami being the elusive, savoury "fifth taste" of Parmesan cheese, mushrooms, meat stock and MSG).  It's made with small, dried seafood like tiny scallops and prawns, chilli and garlic as well as Chinese air-dried jinhua ham which is like prosciutto.  The name XO comes from XO cognac as it was thought to be very special like that particular brand of drink.

Chinese Broccoli, $4.50

We also shared a bowl of Chinese broccoli or gai larn, well-cooked and dressed with a thick sauce that seemed quite mild, thick and beany compared to the classic oyster sauce.

The claypots were well made, the rice having crusted perfectly, lifting from the bottom with lots of toasty crunch.  I just was not mad on the whole thing, though.  It was quite dense and filling and actually pretty plain.  It reminded me of a Chinese version of Aussie pub grub - simple, slightly stodgy, filling food that isn't going to win any prizes for originality, but that is what you want.  Notably I do not eat much pub grub or much other heavy, filling fare - my palate is heavily skewed towards fresh, light Vietnamese, Malaysian and South Indian flavours.  So I was not rapt with my soup and claypot, but that is not to say you will not love them.  I know plenty in the area do including a reader, Monica.  So go try them out - if you are not a fan, there is always Nhu Lan up the road for a banh mi.  Say hi to Mr Baklover at the counter.



First Taste
104-106 Hopkins Street, Footscray (map)
Phone:  9689 4274

Wheelchair Access
Step.

Shanghai Dynasty

UPDATE:  Shanghai Dynasty no longer does yum cha!!!!  SOB!!!!!!

Isn't it funny when you have interstate visitors and you haul them around doing all the things in Melbourne you think they want to do, but you yourself never do?  Go down to St Kilda beach, go up the Rialto, go walk along Southbank, ho hum.  When we have visitors here a while back we took them to yum cha in Chinatown and it was so bad I wish I had showed them the real Melbourne and driven to Gold Leaf Sunshine, made them walk 20 minutes from the only parking spot we could find, crammed them into the waiting area eyeball to eyeball with the lobsters, before pillaging each cart filled with fabulous, authentic dim sum.

That was why when Penny said she had found a great yum cha place in the city, I could not wait to check it out.  Shanghai Dynasty is on the second floor of the new centre that is on (I think) the old Village Cinemas site in Bourke Street.  China Red is on the ground floor as well as Dragon Boat (AVOID, AVOID)

Take the escalators up and it is as if you have been transported to a casino on the Las Vegas strip.  Opulence everywhere - filigree-encrusted grandfather clocks, diamantes, chandeliers galore.

 

Faux bronze statuettes of horsemen with bugles, Versace-esque medusa heads, marble columns, naves and apses and everywhere staff in natty livery dashing about with walkie talkies.

 It seems so old world Europe - seemingly so un-Melbourne - yet I love it!

Mantou

These are plain buns made of a similar dough to char siu bao, deep fried and served with condensed milk.  They were very naughty - the most processed white flour with a fried, crunchy exterior, dunked in fatty, sugary milk.  I was keen to try other more highly flavoursome things but the kids liked them.  First time seeing these at yum cha.

Prawns in beancurd

Love this dish and this was a fantastic version.  Prawns are rolled into neat packages with beancurd skin which when fried becomes crispy like pastry with the soft, sweet prawns inside.  I may be wrong but I believe this wrapping is the skin formed when soy milk is boiled (just like the skin on your truckstop latte - mmm, not!)  There are also steamed versions which I am not a massive fan of.

 Tofu with enoki mushrooms

Fantastic dish!  Little tofu lifeboats, bundles of enoki mushrooms lashed to them with a nori strip.  A fabulous textural contrast between the soft tofu and the pleasantly stringy mushrooms - and when I say "textural" it is not a euphemism (as it it often is) for bland.  Fabulous!

Salt and pepper squid

Pretty much perfect - soft and juicy squid in light, non-greasy batter, covered with that fabulous sprinkle of garlic, chilli, spring onion and all the little crispy battered bits that sloughed off.  Mmm!  This was more your classic restaurant style - I do like the other versions I have had at Gold Leaf in particular where the legs are less battered and there is no (albeit delicious) garlic/chilli sprinkle.

Sticky rice

I get the sticky rice just about every yum cha and don't really know why.  The kids are never conned that it is fried rice as I always claim and I don't really love it that much myself.  This was the sticky rice turning point - best I have ever had - no kidding!  Each grain was separate, not mushy, nestled with plump pieces of Chinese sausage and umami-rich dried prawns.  So fabulous - I would go there just for this.

Har gow

Plump - check.  Juicy - check.  Delicate - check.  Har gow are a yum cha classic and are said to be a good benchmark dish for a yum cha restaurant as they are hard to not make mushy.  These passed the test with flying colours.

Cha siu bao

Every kid's favourite and big kids too.  Normally there are only two per basket.  I wish Shanghai Dynasty was around when we were little, because being one of three meant that we always had to get two baskets of cha siu bao which would make four and would inevitably lead to a fight over who got the last one.  The dough was soft, delicate and fragrant and the filling very carefully made - the hoi sin flavour was actually very light, they tasted more like pork buns than BBQ pork buns.  Nevertheless, a shining example of good bao.

Cheong fun

Perfect prawn cheong fun, wide rice noodle sheets flopped around a filling to make delicate rolls.  These were well-made, not at all mushy and absolutely delicious.  I love the thin, sweet soy dressing.  Have a look at cheong fun in Macao here on Half-Eaten.

 Stuffed mushrooms

These were very well-executed - button mushrooms stuffed with tender prawn mince, steamed and served in a thick garlic and butter sauce.  The sauce was not to my taste, maybe because it was so divergent from the rest of the Asian flavours.  I think this is one of Shanghai Dynasty's signature dishes though and Penny gave it a big thumbs up, so try it and see what you think.

BBQ pork pastries

No kidding, these were the best BBQ pork pastries I have ever had.  The pastry was incredible - so flaky, literally melt-in-the-mouth, like a savoury yo-yo biscuit (I am sure the result of copious quantities of lard).  Tucked inside like a bulging wallet, the filling was warm, sweet BBQ pork, this time with a real cha siu/BBQ flavour that the bao earlier lacked.  Despite all of these rich ingredients they managed to taste so light.

High chair at Shanghai Dynasty!

Excuse all the superlatives - the bling did not get to me, rather, it was in fact a truly fantastic yum cha experience.  This is the Melbourne branch of the original Shanghai Dynasty, a famed Cantonese restaurant in Shanghai itself.  The service was great - there are two yum cha sittings, 11am and 1pm, which makes it less of a bunfight.  Don't be intimidated by the decor - there is no dress code as such and they are very kid friendly.  Even the prices were a surprise, standard to supreme from $4.80 to $9.80.

Shanghai Dynasty is a winner for yum cha - they have the full package.  I say, it may be baroque, but don't fix it.



Shanghai Dynasty
Address:  Level 1, 206 Bourke St, Melbourne (map)

Phone:  9663 7770
Yum cha $4.80 to $9.80

Wheelchair Access
Lift to first floor
Mention when booking as squishy and busy?

Plume

I've been searching for Matt Preston's "divine brand" for some time now, and Plume is the next feather in my cap.  My sister and I, raised on Sunday lunches of BBQ pork buns, siu mai, and endless glasses of lemonade, went there on Father's Day for a virtual cheers to our dad, who was overseas at the time.

Plume is next to Knifepoint Shopping Centre, which is manic on weekends.  My tip is to park on the upper deck of the carpark opposite and just walk down the stairs nearest the restaurant.

Ham sui gok

These ham sui gok were honestly the best both my sister and I have ever eaten.  These are nicknamed "footballs," and some specimens can be equally as leaden.  Not these - with just the slightest bite, the crispy shell gave way to meltingly soft glutinous rice dough, revealing a warm cavern of delicate pork mince.  WOW!

Jiao zi

These panfried dumplings, cousin of Japanese gyoza, were equally excellent.  Sometimes dumplings at yum cha may look different but they all taste of the same filling.  Not here - the cabbage in the filling was very pronounced, and it was finely minced.  Delectable!

Sticky rice

The sticky rice comes in a clear bowl that is upended.  It is studded with jewels like Chinese sausage and mushroom, and the rice has a "bite" rather than being too soft.  This was very nice.

Siu mai

The yum cha classic - a vaguely cylindrical morsel of pork and prawn mixture, tucked into delicate yellow pastry.  These were juicy, porky, really yummy.  One of mine had a whole prawn in it!  Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know.

Har gow

These were filled with big chunks of prawn and shredded ginger.  The skin was thicker than most other har gow I have eaten, but the flavour was excellent.

Shanghai dumplings

Every yum cha place tries to do these xiao long bao, the famous, soup-filled dumplings, and none of them get it right.  Here at Plume, they came in a little cupcake cup, I assume to stop the soup leaking out the bottoms if they stuck to their steamer or each other.  However, it was impossible to get them out of the cups without the pastry breaking, and there was only a dribble of soup in each one.  Leave these up to the experts, please! 

Wu gok

These are the same as ham sui gok, but instead of a glutinous rice dough, it's mashed taro.  You may have seen this vegetable at Little Saigon Market or your local Asian grocer. They look a bit like a deformed coconut, brown, woody, and hairy, and when sliced their flesh is white, shot through with brown squiggles.  This one was for you, Billy!  I am not a fan though, sadly.  Maybe it was bad wu but it was grainy and mushy.  These went to the baby in the highchair (who has thankfully moved on from prawn toast).

Baby octopus and jellyfish

And this one was for you, Dad!  We couldn't go the duck tongues, but these baby octopus were great.  They were chilled and dressed with sesame and a little chilli.  This was good jellyfish, too - kind of half crunchy, half chewy, a little like al dente rice noodles perhaps.  The taste is similarly "nothing" - just a carrier for the dressing.

Pipis, $17

I got overexcited and ordered these pipis.  FAIL.  Many were barely opened and they were dressed in a gloppy sauce which belonged in a bain marie in the food court next door, not coating expensive seafood.

Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce

Looks yummy, right?  WRONG - the stems were so woody, I had to revert to childhood and spit it out in my napkin.  Sorry if TMI!

Whitebait

These tiny fish are lightly battered, fried, and eaten whole.  See the tiny black eye in the fish looking to the right?  The kids loved these - "Mum, did the fish turn into chips?"

Squid

A tentacular tangle of deliciousness!  I love the contrast of frizzled suckers and juicy, fat legs.

Char siu bao

Plume had soared, floundered, and now returned to dizzying heights with a fabulous grand finale.  These BBQ pork buns were absolutely amazing.  The dough was so fluffy and tender, concealing juicy, fragrant BBQ pork slices within.  These always come in sets of 2, and as kids, there would always be a fight over who got the last one (I am one of 3 siblings).  Despite my protests that I could not eat any more, a sisterly squabble ensued over these, just like old times.

Plume is notoriously expensive, but is it worth the extra dough?  The dumplings and the bao were really, really good, but when you front up to pay, it stings a bit.  If you eat yum cha regularly like I do, it stings too much to make it my regular haunt.  I would recommend it for a special occasion.  For everyday, I like Gold Leaf Docklands or Sunshine for the balance of price and quality, plus Sunshine has the chandelier X factor.  A bit of glam on a Sunday morning never goes astray!



Plume
200 Rosamond Rd, Maribyrnong (map)
Phone: 9318 6833
Prices: $5, $6.50, $8, $9.50