Greenwood Seafood Restaurant: Chinese Yum Cha, North Sydney (18 Sept 2010)

Chop G8, Greenwood Level, Greenwood Plaza

101 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060

http://www.greenwoodchinese.com

Uncrowded and very quiet

Yum Cha is one of my families favourite weekend outings and today we venture off to North Sydney. Arriving at 11.30 am we're the first customers of the day which is a little scary and weird — definitely not your usual Haymarket frenzy here. The restaurant is clean and simple with an interesting variety of domestic fish in a large tank on show as you walk in. By noon there's a few more people arriving but still by the time we leave at 12.30 pm most of the restaurant is available. Chinese tea ($2 per person) is refilled more regularly without asking than most other yum cha restaurants I've visited. The classic yet smallish Pork dim sims (special $6.60) are as expected. Pretty decent sized Steamed vegetable dumplings (special $6.60), prawn dumplings (special $6.60), prawn and scallop dumplings (special $6.60) and prawn and vegetable dumplings (special $6.60) are OK too but nothing special. The BBQ pork buns (large $5.20) are filled with a decent amount of meat and quite tasty — I'd happily order these again. Chicken wrapped in tofu (large $5.20) is quite nice although I found the Chinese vegetables in oyster sauce (open food $10) slightly bitter so perhaps the vegetables are not as fresh as I've had at other places. The large pieces of Salt and pepper calamari (deluxe $7.70) is ordered from the kitchen. It's quite tender although I was hoping for smaller and more crispy textured pieces like Palace Chinese Restaurant.

Stock standard Spring rolls (large $5.20) are as expected and the Stuffed green capsicum (deluxe $7.70) was interesting and a table favourite. Fried rice noodles (deluxe $7.70) could have perhaps been fried a bit longer and it didn't seem to have any small shrimp pieces throughout which you sometimes get. A dessert must for me to try is usually the Mango pancake (special $6.60) and this version had nice plump pieces of mango in it although they were still a little cold and somewhat slightly frozen which was a real shame — otherwise it would have become a favourite. The Egg custard tart (medium $4.20) was a favourite today with a really flakey and buttery base. The service was quite attentive and pretty friendly probably due to the fact there was hardly any customers. 2 hour free parking is available underneath for lunchtime diners if you get your ticket stamped by the restaurant. I'm not quite sure of the cost of each dish but I've tried to work it out from the bill so hopefully it's about right.

Note: Prices are now updated correctly from the previous estimates and the Salt and Pepper Calamari is only $7.70 instead of the $23.10 as I previously thought.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Free 2 hour parking with stamped ticket, Child friendly, No crowds means no waiting, Fairly attentive and friendly service, Tea pot filled regularly, Fish tank gazing

CONS: Dishes are a little bit pricey, Not many interesting choices, North Sydney is a bit of a ghost town on weekends

MUST TRY: Egg custard tarts, Mango pancakes, BBQ pork buns

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Chinese tea ($2 per person)

Pork dim sims (special $6.60)

Steamed vegetable dumplings (special $6.60)

Steamed prawn dumplings (special $6.60)

Steamed prawn and scallop dumplings (special $6.60)

Steamed prawn and vegetable dumplings (special $6.60)

BBQ pork buns (large $5.20)

Chicken wrapped in tofu (large $5.20)

Chinese vegetables with oyster sauce (open food $10)

Salt and pepper calamari (deluxe $7.70)

Spring rolls (large $5.20)

Stuffed green capsicum (deluxe $7.70)

Fried rice noodles (deluxe $7.70)

Mango pancake (special $6.60)

Egg custard tart (medium $4.20)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Bill $102.50 for 5 people

View of Greenwood Hotel

Dining area

Dining area through the fish tank

2 hours free parking with stamped ticket

Restaurant entrance

Street entrance

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