Today was yum cha day. And it's always when you're super hungry (after all, yum cha preparation requires 'preparation' from 6pm the night before to make room for you to eat your body weight in dumplings and rice noodles) and your taste buds have pre-prepared to receive the flavours of a particular cuisine (especially yum cha), that it all goes wrong.
Over a year ago (it might even be two) our very favourite yum cha restaurant burnt down. And yes, apparently it did have something to do with an overenthusiastic wok. It was the best ever. Efficient, tasty, appeared healthy and clean, with a plentiful supply of jasmine tea and BBQ pork buns. I once was seated at a very large table still with the spoils of the
last feast intact - endless bowls, chopsticks, steamers and the
tablecloth painted with chilli and soy. In five seconds flat, the
corners were drawn up all together at once, bundling the remains away
to the kitchen and new bowls, chopsticks and a crispy white tablecloth
were all juggled into place. I've always wanted to do that at home. It was enormous (by suburban standards), probably easily seating 200 hungry yum cha enthusiasts. Red and wood paneled walls lit with chandeleirs, and a healthy smattering of Christmas decorations around an abundance of good feng sui mirrors all year 'round.
Today we concurred that surely it was back by now and we'd meet my mum and dad there in 15 minutes.
Sadly, it had turned into a tea house and mini photo booth shop.
So off we went over to the 'other' yum cha across the road only to find at 11am, a line up that would take us over an hour to navigate to a table. Miss M says "Dinner nooooow". We agreed and trotted back across the road to a local Malaysian called Malaysian Corner (at Market Square for those of you local).
Superb.
Hainam Chicken, Lamb Roti, Laska, Spring Rolls, Noodles, Deep Fried Tofu. Yum.
And now I have a two year old child high on that red sauce containing every additive known to man that comes with the spring rolls. But geez it was good...