Cicchetti Wine Bar Restaurant, QVB, CBD Sydney (13 Sept 2016)

Level 2, QVB, 455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.cicchettiwinebar.com.au

Sugar hit in the QVB

I love the QVB. Such a grand old building and Cicchetti takes advantage of the high ceiling view and is located around the Great Australian Clock. I noticed they have a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu but they seem to focus and promote their high tea menu and cakes on display. Hot chocolate ($5) was a little pricey but it's very large in size and pretty chocolatey. Opera cake ($8) is quite nice with a richly flavoured top layer of very dark looking chocolate that sticks to your spoon as you eat it. Young service lady was friendly, polite and welcoming. The colourful desserts on display are bought in and look quite rich and decadent. There's no descriptions or prices in view which would be helpful to know.

QVB Gourmet Seafood, CBD Sydney (8 Sept 2016)

Shop 83, 455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
https://www.facebook.com/Qvbgourmetseafood

Quick and easy fish and chips

Located between QVB and Town Hall Station this takeaway only shop caters well for those in need of a simple grilled fish, chips and salad. I've had it many times. Seems to be one of my comfort foods for lunch. There's no seating so you have to venture upstairs to around Town Hall or my preference has always been to sit on level 2 of the QVB. Grilled fish, chips and Greek salad ($9.50) has a light dressing and decent size fillet of fish. Squeeze of lemon a must. You have to be lucky with the timing of the hot chips. If they've just cooked a batch they'll be hot and crispy as preferred. They've been around for years and tell me they're planning a renovation in the coming months

Fat Buddha: Chinese Yum Cha, CBD Sydney (27 Feb 2012, 6 Feb 2013)

Queen Victoria Building
Level 2, 455 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.fatbuddha.com.au

Snaking back to yum cha

Time flies when you're eating out and it's been nearly a year since I first visited Fat Buddha but never had the chance to post my review. I remember service was above average, the decor was nice and the atmosphere fairly relaxed. Thanks to Lené Ferris from One Green Bean I'm invited back to sample the yum cha and learn more about Fat Buddha's free cooking demonstration on 15 February to celebrate Chinese New Year at the QVB. Unfortunately I'll be on a cruise around NZ with the family but it sounds like a good chance to learn how to make some popular dim sum and I'm assuming also try them too. My favourite dim sum today was the Taro Pie with Seafood ($9.50) which also seems to be called woo gok, wu gok or wu kok. The light crispy outer shell is a delight to eat. Dim sims with mushrooms ($7.50) are always a popular choice for me at any yum cha. This time around they seem to have scallop and prawn included which makes them extra special. 

The first thing I do when I sit down at yum cha is to always order the Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce ($12.80) because it can take a while to prepare and you hardly see a trolley come around with them to order from. The flavour and freshness is good but I'm never a fan of big stalks in the mix. Too hard to handle with chopsticks let alone try and eat them. Salt & Pepper Calamari ($15.90) is another dish I order straight off the bat. The calamari was fairly tender as hoped although today's version was heavy handed on the salt and could have more balance with the pepper and a bit more heat of some chilli throughout for my liking. Ended up being more a Salt & Salt Calamari. Mango pancakes ($9.50) wrapped in plastic have received some review attention. I haven't really come across another place that does this although if they do I think they tend to take the plastic off before serving it to you at the table. I assume it's to keep the pancakes from drying out. Last time I ordered these the mango was still slightly icy from the fridge but this time around is much better and on both accounts there's been a decent amount of mango to enjoy with the cream. One things for sure it's so hard to find a yum cha teapot that doesn't dribble and today was no exception.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Central location, Nice decor, Better than average service for yum cha, Seems to have all the usual dim sum suspects

CONS: Teapots always dribble, Thick stalks in Chinese broccoli, Pricing seems a bit more than average although I guess the rent must be high for the location

MUST TRY: Taro pie with seafood, Dim sim with mushroom, BBQ pork bun, Mango pancake

VERDICT: Handy location for CBD workers and business meetings. I spotted a high chair so must be kid friendly too.

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I love the sight of yum cha — so many choices

Deep fried combination ($7.50)

Chicken spring roll ($7.50)

Taro pie with seafood ($9.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Dim sims with mushroom ($7.50) — also seemed to have scallop and prawn

Steamed rice noodles with prawns ($9.50)

Prawn dumplings ($9.50)

Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce ($12.80)

I'm never a fan of the big stalks — too hard to eat

Pan fried rice noodles with shrimps ($7.50)

Egg tarts ($6.50)

Mango pancake ($9.50)
WORTH TRYING :-)

Salt & Pepper Calamari ($15.90)

Dim sum cooking class Friday 15 February 11 am & 1 pm — I believe it's a free demonstration

Chinese New Year decorations are up

27 Feb 2012 visit (paid)

Dribble free teapots in yum cha are very hard to come by — this one is no exception

Dim sims with mushroom ($7.50)
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

King prawn fillet in seaweeds roll ($9.50)

Dumplings — would have loved more broth inside them

BBQ Pork Bun ($5.50)
WORTH TRYING :-)

Fat Buddha meets Little High Chair so must be kid friendly

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