Emperor’s Choice
20 Bond St
Sydney, NSW 2000
$$$–
Yum Cha’s always best with a big group of people – you get to order an endless assortment of goodies, served in bite-sized morsels, and it’s fun sampling it all. We had 8 in our party and cleverly made a reservation , a smart move since the restaurant was totally packed during the lunch hour. My favourite part of yum cha is eating TONS of little bits of food, it’s my favourite way to eat 🙂 And yum cha is really affordable too. That is, it usually is. This particular place has a reputation for giving ‘dodgy bills’, and it’s true. It worked out to ~$30pp once we divided up the bill, which is unbelievable for yum cha – $15pp is usually the norm. We didn’t really order very expensive dishes either, so even now I’m suspicious and wondering how much they overcharged us by. Also, we had 8 at the table but were charged $2 x 10 people for tea. Naughty, naughty… they need to learn not to sneakily raise the prices in the bill.
Otherwise, food was great. Very fresh, tasty and satisfying. I haven’t had yum cha in ages, so it was definitely a welcome change. I did miss some of my favourite dishes like Cheong Fun and Congee and whatever, but was still happy with what was on offer. Nice, fun, and bustling. Just remember to check over your bill carefully!
Emperor’s Choice
Assorted dishes
Roast Duck
Forgot the name.. but it’s chewy on the outside and has mince on the inside.
One of my all-time faves 🙂
BBQ Pork
Chicken Feet
A bit scary!
Neeeeer! I like to make stupid faces.
BBQ Pork bun
Some kinda dumpling
Deep-Fried Chicken with Chilli and Peanuts – divine!
Mango & Cream Crepe
Custard Tarts
Mmm, you’ve got me craving dimsum! The fried dumplings are “ham suey gok” (haha, I hope you understood that!)
YES that’s it! I can recognise the name if someone says it but find it sooo hard to remember/say it myself :X
i just had dimsum buffet on friday too! 🙂
is that ‘crystal pau’?
I really like mango crepes and custard tarts!
Err I have no idea! I’m bad with yumcha food names unless i LOVE the food, then I remember the name 😛
We went to yum cha on Friday for lunch as well!! 😀 There was 4 of us and it worked out to be about $17 each, which I thought was pretty good. It was even better because I got to eat the entire lot of chicken feet because nobody else would eat it!! MWAHAHA 😀
If it’s only 4 people and $17 each, then I’d reckon 8 people should be $15 absolute max, cos it gets cheaper as you have more people! Plus we didn’t even eat that much. grrrrr.
Hehe not many wanted the chicken feet at our table either, it’s kind scary 😛
Mmm, you’ve got me craving dimsum! The fried dumplings are “ham suey gok” (haha, I hope you understood that!)
YES that’s it! I can recognise the name if someone says it but find it sooo hard to remember/say it myself :X
Reminds me when one time, some waitress that was bitchy use to stamp us an extra stamp :(. I think Iron chef is the best yum cha in sydney 😉
Ahhh it’s so awful how some restaurants are likethat. I mean, c’mon, do you really need money THAT badly to cheat your customers 😉
Other than the mango item which looks to die for, we have the rest of this in the USA. It’s called dim sum and they charge you by the size of the plate. Most places have 3 sizes ranging from $2 a plate to $5 a plate. Some cities have this only on weekends, some daily, and it’s a good way to get very stuffed very quickly. We get 3 of the pork buns for $2, and 3 of the custard tarts for $2 as well, to give you an idea of how the prices compare. Overcharging isn’t common here but you can wait up to 90 minutes in some places on a Saturday to get seated at all. In Philadelphia only one or two places have this, but in Phoenix we have 4. One of them holds 500-1000 ppl at a time so for the first time ever I can always get in without a wait and am typically out in under 20 minutes stuffed and with a doggie bag of things to reheat later. My favorites are the shrimp in a thin noodle (also comes with pork and beef like this), a shrimp dumpling, the pork buns and the spareribs in garlic sauce. Harder to find is the shrimp paste in a green pepper. I haven’t tried the custard tarts in the 27 years I have been eating dim sum but now will next time I go based on your recommendations. 🙂
Yep, that’s exactly it. But for some reason it was far more expensive than I’d ever experienced, even though the food was no different. Grrrrr! Yet they’re always packed, I guess it’s just really popular with Aussies 🙂
i just had dimsum buffet on friday too! 🙂
is that ‘crystal pau’?
I really like mango crepes and custard tarts!
Err I have no idea! I’m bad with yumcha food names unless i LOVE the food, then I remember the name 😛
mango n cream crepe looks yummy!!! this tim sum really looks like tim sum back in singapore!
That crepe’s one of my fave Asian desserts, it’s so good! :)~`
We went to yum cha on Friday for lunch as well!! 😀 There was 4 of us and it worked out to be about $17 each, which I thought was pretty good. It was even better because I got to eat the entire lot of chicken feet because nobody else would eat it!! MWAHAHA 😀
If it’s only 4 people and $17 each, then I’d reckon 8 people should be $15 absolute max, cos it gets cheaper as you have more people! Plus we didn’t even eat that much. grrrrr.
Hehe not many wanted the chicken feet at our table either, it’s kind scary 😛
Shame about the rip-off, but YUM!!! I’ve not had Yum Cha for yonks!
Is the chewy one jin dui? One of my absolute faves too. I MUST have it every time I go! Won’t touch chicken’s feet though, I did once and eek. I love everything else there though…the mango and cream crepes and custard tarts look delish!
I don’t dare to eat chicken feet, not because I find it gross, but because I don’t like chicken skin.. esp when it’s squishy. EEK!!
think of it as jelly fish shreds 🙂
I love custard tarts! The tartshell looks so flaky and buttery. I miss going to yum cha too.
I hadn’t had it for ages, so was reaaaally craving it. It’s fun going in a big group:)
Reminds me when one time, some waitress that was bitchy use to stamp us an extra stamp :(. I think Iron chef is the best yum cha in sydney 😉
Ahhh it’s so awful how some restaurants are likethat. I mean, c’mon, do you really need money THAT badly to cheat your customers 😉
Other than the mango item which looks to die for, we have the rest of this in the USA. It’s called dim sum and they charge you by the size of the plate. Most places have 3 sizes ranging from $2 a plate to $5 a plate. Some cities have this only on weekends, some daily, and it’s a good way to get very stuffed very quickly. We get 3 of the pork buns for $2, and 3 of the custard tarts for $2 as well, to give you an idea of how the prices compare. Overcharging isn’t common here but you can wait up to 90 minutes in some places on a Saturday to get seated at all. In Philadelphia only one or two places have this, but in Phoenix we have 4. One of them holds 500-1000 ppl at a time so for the first time ever I can always get in without a wait and am typically out in under 20 minutes stuffed and with a doggie bag of things to reheat later. My favorites are the shrimp in a thin noodle (also comes with pork and beef like this), a shrimp dumpling, the pork buns and the spareribs in garlic sauce. Harder to find is the shrimp paste in a green pepper. I haven’t tried the custard tarts in the 27 years I have been eating dim sum but now will next time I go based on your recommendations. 🙂
Yep, that’s exactly it. But for some reason it was far more expensive than I’d ever experienced, even though the food was no different. Grrrrr! Yet they’re always packed, I guess it’s just really popular with Aussies 🙂
mango n cream crepe looks yummy!!! this tim sum really looks like tim sum back in singapore!
That crepe’s one of my fave Asian desserts, it’s so good! :)~`
Shame about the rip-off, but YUM!!! I’ve not had Yum Cha for yonks!
Is the chewy one jin dui? One of my absolute faves too. I MUST have it every time I go! Won’t touch chicken’s feet though, I did once and eek. I love everything else there though…the mango and cream crepes and custard tarts look delish!
I don’t dare to eat chicken feet, not because I find it gross, but because I don’t like chicken skin.. esp when it’s squishy. EEK!!
think of it as jelly fish shreds 🙂
I love custard tarts! The tartshell looks so flaky and buttery. I miss going to yum cha too.
I hadn’t had it for ages, so was reaaaally craving it. It’s fun going in a big group:)