Kam Fook Chatswood
Shop 600, Westfield Shopping Centre
Chatswood, NSW 2067
$$$–
Kam Fook is often touted to offer the best Yum Cha in Sydney. If the number of diners is anything to go by, I’d be inclined to say this is true. Very typical of a yum cha joint, it’s busy, packed to the brim, and serves steaming hot dim sum. Mmmmm…. A refreshing change, however, is the pleasant staff. They’re not brusque, unfriendly or rushed.. but take the time to say hello and offered us a smile when we arrived. You don’t often get that in Hong Kong restaurant 😛
We entered at just over 10:30am for Brunch, and were shocked to see the place about 90% full with people merrily chowing down on their dim sum. It’s a great time for yum cha though, the earlier the better! We only selected 4 dishes since we didn’t want to stuff ourselves.. but all 4 dishes were delicious and really filled the spot.
First up was Century Egg & Mince Pork Congee. I honestly think Kam Fook does it THE BEST.. the congee is rich and sludgy and hot, and the mince pork is super tender. I normally never ate century egg but I did this time, it was yum! Loved the generous sprinkle of cracker-bits on top of the congee too. The dish was so good, I declared I would come back any day for just a bowl of that.
Next up was Mince Pork and Mushroom Balls. They actually have a proper Chinese name, but I can’t remember it 🙁 The mince pork and mushrooms are mild and creamy, and the exterior is this interesting chewy dough that’s lightly deep-fried. It’s completely scrumptious!!! A must-have for me at any yum cha place, but sometimes they don’t do it right and it’s just all-round squidgy and weird. Kam Fook’s version is lightly crisp on the outside and the chewiness is just-so, with a decent amount of filling.
Chris got some Yam Balls which is HIS must-have dish. I don’t particularly like it, but he likes the creamy yam on the inside and the really fluffy deep-fried pastry on the outside. Really unhealthy, guess why it tastes so good 😉
Capped it all off with some Mango Pudding, which I gawped when the stamped it as a “large” dish on our yum cha card (diners get a card that gets stamped appropriately whenever you order a particular dish off the trolleys wheeling around the food). It was just a cup of mango pudding, I would have thought it’d be a “small” dish! Such a rip off.. To be fair though, it at least had real mango chunks in it, which was nice. But will never get it again.
Century Egg & Mince Pork Congee
Mince Pork and Mushroom Balls
Yam Balls
Mango Pudding
I think the pork & mushroom ball thing is called “hum sui gok” (salty dumpling?) One of my favourites, but sooo oily and unhealthy. I can only eat a couple before I’m greased out, but it’s always worth it!
Whenever I go to yum cha, I always stuff myself silly. I don’t usually eat very much, but I make an exception for dim sum. People gawk and wonder how I can pack away so much food!
YES that’s it! I always forget the name :X And yeah, they’re so oily.. the most I’ve had is 4 fat ones and I felt a bit sick afterwards, blech.
yum cha’s terrible for anyone trying to eat less, hehe
Yum everything looks great!… except the yam balls 😛
the congee was my fave, it was SO GOOD *faints*
are yum =taro??
the ones i always have looks exactly the same but with taro instead! 🙂 so yummy!
Yep, that’s it.. I like Taro pearl milk tea but that’s about the only taro I really like!
arrhh..i love those yam balls! anything with taros are my fav!
Taro’s only so-so for me, but Chris likes it!
Yam Balls are definitely a must have of mine too at Yum Cha, just LOVE it 😀
Heh you’re like Chris then.. I find them a bit strange!
glub, drool….mince pork and mushroom balls – they’re a fave of mine too and I must always have them! I think they’re called jin dui? Or something like that, or is that the one with the red bean paste…gah, either way, I’m hungry again!
They’re SO good hey?! Wish they weren’t so unhealthy though 🙁
I think the pork & mushroom ball thing is called “hum sui gok” (salty dumpling?) One of my favourites, but sooo oily and unhealthy. I can only eat a couple before I’m greased out, but it’s always worth it!
Whenever I go to yum cha, I always stuff myself silly. I don’t usually eat very much, but I make an exception for dim sum. People gawk and wonder how I can pack away so much food!
YES that’s it! I always forget the name :X And yeah, they’re so oily.. the most I’ve had is 4 fat ones and I felt a bit sick afterwards, blech.
yum cha’s terrible for anyone trying to eat less, hehe
Awww..you ordered all my fav yum dishes. We loved to visit Kam Fook when we were in Sydney too though we always had to queue for ages for a table 🙂
Ya once it’s past 11:30 the queue becomes insane! Even at 10:30 when we were there, it was 90% full
Yum everything looks great!… except the yam balls 😛
the congee was my fave, it was SO GOOD *faints*
are yum =taro??
the ones i always have looks exactly the same but with taro instead! 🙂 so yummy!
Yep, that’s it.. I like Taro pearl milk tea but that’s about the only taro I really like!
arrhh..i love those yam balls! anything with taros are my fav!
Taro’s only so-so for me, but Chris likes it!
i can’t believe the immense self-discipline it must’ve taken to only order 4 dishes…last weekend, at dimsum, we had 9 dishes between two people…it always seems to work out that way!
haha I KNOW! To be honest we went “oooooooooo!” every time a trolley went past, and wanted to get almost every thing. But we were strict with ourselves as we insisted we would have a light meal
i never go to dim sum planning on a light meal, is prolly the problem!
Yam Balls are definitely a must have of mine too at Yum Cha, just LOVE it 😀
Heh you’re like Chris then.. I find them a bit strange!
mmm. the mango pudding looks sooooooooo good!!!!!!! 🙂
It was definitely a nice way to finish off the light meal.. but soo not worth it!
The mango pudding looks the most delectable. A shame that you didn’t the value.
I’m convinced the guy stamped it wrongly.. i’ve never been to a place where the mango pudding was ranked one of the more expensive dishes. Totally insane!
glub, drool….mince pork and mushroom balls – they’re a fave of mine too and I must always have them! I think they’re called jin dui? Or something like that, or is that the one with the red bean paste…gah, either way, I’m hungry again!
They’re SO good hey?! Wish they weren’t so unhealthy though 🙁
Wow, such restraint! I guess you were there for brunch though…
I don’t go for yum cha often (it’s not even close to as good in Canberra!!!) so when I do I like to indulge a little bit TOO much… 🙂
My favourite is chicken feet (which nearly all non-Chinese people and some Chinese people turn their noses up at!) because it’s one of the things that you just don’t get anywhere but yum cha!
Haha yeah.. we were still fairly hungry so it took a LOT Of wilpower not to order everything that went past 😉
I don’t like chicken feet either, but Chris will eat it. I can’t stand chicken skin (just squishy stuff in general) so it’s a no-go for me!
Kam Fook is one of our fave place for yum cha, although I do wish they have mango pancakes on the menu. Anyway you have to try their shishamo next time. It’s deep fried (with salt & pepper I think) and soooo yummy. Btw, if you like mango pudding I’ve got a pretty good recipe for it that I can email to you. It’s dead simple to make. 🙂
Me too, I asked for exactly that! The mango pancake is best @ Sky Phoenix IMHO.. so luscious. Would you mind emailing me the pudding recipe? I wouldn’t mind trying it out if it’s easy!
What’s shishamo? I don’t think I’ve heard of it before..
I think the English name for shishamo is capelin. These small fish that have a bellyful of roe, very yummy. I’ll dig out the mango pudding recipe and then email it to you. 🙂
Awww..you ordered all my fav yum dishes. We loved to visit Kam Fook when we were in Sydney too though we always had to queue for ages for a table 🙂
Ya once it’s past 11:30 the queue becomes insane! Even at 10:30 when we were there, it was 90% full
i can’t believe the immense self-discipline it must’ve taken to only order 4 dishes…last weekend, at dimsum, we had 9 dishes between two people…it always seems to work out that way!
haha I KNOW! To be honest we went “oooooooooo!” every time a trolley went past, and wanted to get almost every thing. But we were strict with ourselves as we insisted we would have a light meal
i never go to dim sum planning on a light meal, is prolly the problem!
mmm. the mango pudding looks sooooooooo good!!!!!!! 🙂
It was definitely a nice way to finish off the light meal.. but soo not worth it!
The mango pudding looks the most delectable. A shame that you didn’t the value.
I’m convinced the guy stamped it wrongly.. i’ve never been to a place where the mango pudding was ranked one of the more expensive dishes. Totally insane!
Wow, such restraint! I guess you were there for brunch though…
I don’t go for yum cha often (it’s not even close to as good in Canberra!!!) so when I do I like to indulge a little bit TOO much… 🙂
My favourite is chicken feet (which nearly all non-Chinese people and some Chinese people turn their noses up at!) because it’s one of the things that you just don’t get anywhere but yum cha!
Haha yeah.. we were still fairly hungry so it took a LOT Of wilpower not to order everything that went past 😉
I don’t like chicken feet either, but Chris will eat it. I can’t stand chicken skin (just squishy stuff in general) so it’s a no-go for me!
Kam Fook is one of our fave place for yum cha, although I do wish they have mango pancakes on the menu. Anyway you have to try their shishamo next time. It’s deep fried (with salt & pepper I think) and soooo yummy. Btw, if you like mango pudding I’ve got a pretty good recipe for it that I can email to you. It’s dead simple to make. 🙂
Me too, I asked for exactly that! The mango pancake is best @ Sky Phoenix IMHO.. so luscious. Would you mind emailing me the pudding recipe? I wouldn’t mind trying it out if it’s easy!
What’s shishamo? I don’t think I’ve heard of it before..
I think the English name for shishamo is capelin. These small fish that have a bellyful of roe, very yummy. I’ll dig out the mango pudding recipe and then email it to you. 🙂