Macquarie Centre is a massive shopping complex that just got even better with a recently opened Yum Cha restaurant.
The Panda Yum Cha was kind enough to invite me to try their dim sums out, and I of course, cannot refuse dim sum! So without further ado, lets go over all the dim sums I tried.
Here are all the details:
THE PANDA YUM CHA RESTAURANT
- ADDRESS
Shop 3390/55-61 Talavera Rd, Macquarie Park NSW 2113
Panda Yum Cha isn’t actually located inside Macquarie Centre, but around the side of it. You can get to it easily by parking at Macquarie Centre and then following the signs within the carpark.
It’s a few min walk from where I parked my car on the orange level at Macquarie.
The interior was well designed. A lot of natural light, spacious tables and plenty of room to move around for the dim sum carts.
I didn’t catch too much of the interior so you’ll have to go see it for yourself.
I brought my family along this time for dim sum because yum cha is typically a social event, where you gather friends and family to chat and catchup while eating yummy food and sipping on fragrant Chinese teas.
But no one should be turned off from dim sum if you want to have it alone! Even better, you get all the dumplings in the steamer basket to yourself!
First up is the Cantonese steamed sponge cake.
It’s a sweet yellowish, brown colour sponge cake. You typically only find this at dim sum places.
Fun fact, Ma Lai Go is supposedly from Malaysia, which has a big Cantonese population. The local Chinese in Malaysia brought the cake back with them and modified the recipe to what it is today.
The cake gets it’s sweetness from brown sugar which gives the cake a slight caramel note. A good “Ma lai go” is airy, soft, not overly sweet and if you squeeze it slightly, the sponge should bounce back like memory foam.
Their Char Siu Chueng Fun was also really nice. I tend to order this whenever I have dim sum, and I really enjoyed Panda Yum Cha’s take on it.
The rice noodle wasn’t too thin or thick, just enough to support the weight of the filling. The char siu filling was generous and I like how they chopped it into smaller than usual pieces.
The siu mai and prawn dumpling were really fresh. Big chunks of fresh prawn were in both, and the har gao’s wrapper wasn’t thick.
The pork siu mai was very fresh. It had a good bite to it and it was nicely seasoned. I think anyone would be happy to eat it as is with no sauce needed.
These two items got a thumbs up from everyone in my family, which I think shows how good it was because we eat a LOT of dim sum.
Another that was popular among us were the pork buns.
I’m not sure if this is true or not, but apparently a dim sum chef can be judged by how well they make a pork bun because it’s a rather difficult bun to make well.
Panda Yum Cha’s pork buns were fluffy, soft and slightly sweet. The filling had enough meat and sauce inside and the sauce wasn’t too salty or sweet. Overall, I think it was a really tasty pork bun.
Other notable items that are my personal favourites was the beef tripe and pheonix claw (chicken feet)
Beef tripe is one of the many stomachs a cow has. The beef tripe used for this slightly spicy recipe always uses the one with flaps, but you can also find the honeycomb tripe in some beef noodle dishes.
It might not be for you if you’re squeamish about organ meat, however I really like it. It’s very savoury, slightly spicy with a chewy texture. Not rubbery, just chewy.
The pheonix claw, or chicken feet is a dim sum staple. Chicken feet is cooked in a number of ways, but my favourite is this steamed black bean version.
The chicken feet has been cooked until it is pretty much falling off the bone. All you got to do is …well…suck the skin, cartilage and whatnot off the bones.
There isn’t any meat on chicken feet and so this dish is more a textural experience. The skin is one texture, the crunchy cartilage is another, and the sticky tender tendons is another.
They have a lot more to offer on their menu. I didn’t have the stomach room to try every single item, but from what I’ve tried, I’m really happy Sydney just got a new Yum Cha place!
