Ever since Queens Wharf opened last year, I had observed their restaurant openings and closures from afar. Perhaps I am biased but restaurants located in casinos or hotels have never stood out to me in Australia (in contrast to Asia where a lot of premier restaurants are located in casinos or hotels). To me, there appears to be a lack of genuine effort on those venues here, where a lot of their clientele dine there by necessity more than by choice. As such, I hadn't really made too much of an effort to dine at those establishments. Hua was no exception. With it's weak reviews and dubious offerings, I wasn't shocked to see it close so soon. In its place, opened Pavilion, apparently run by the group responsible for LongTime and Yum Cha cuisine.
From the offset, I wasn't all that excited to try it out, noting the logistical challenges to find parking in the city, but after seeing the below promotion on the Chinese newspaper, citing ALL dimsim were to be $8.80 for the month of September for lunch, and complimentary parking was available, I made plans to visit after seeing how much variety was on offer online, as reflected in the menu above.
Unfortunately, upon arrival, it turned out that Pavilion Dining's definition of "all" was incompatible with that of the general understanding of the word and there were only less than twenty dishes available at the $8.80, most of which were low value items.
As I was walking in, I also spied on the counter that there was a 10% weekend surcharge, conveniently also omitted in the ad.
Given how popular it was, perhaps a lot of people had seen the ad and wanted to take advantage of the deal while it lasted. Walking in, I noted that there was essentially no change to the layout compared to when it was Hua, and the dining area was more spacious than expected, but decidedly fusion. Service was friendly and fast. Upon being seated, we were offered still or sparkling water. As a curiosity I asked why whether they had Chinese Tea and I was then told that it was $7 per head. For that price, I would rather go to get bubble tea for a little bit more. So of course, we all drank tap water that lunch.
Anyway, as you would expect from a well run yumcha chain like yum cha cuisine, the food came out very quickly. We tried to keep to the $8.80 menu but still ventured to regular retail price for a couple items, including the prawn dumplings. These were very expensive but fairly well executed with a thin skin and plump fresh prawns inside. Our sesame balls were also fresh and had a generous amount of smooth black sesame paste inside. Both were good but not outstanding.
The siu mai was also served hot, but was fairly middle of the road in terms of taste.
Even though they were on the $8.80, the satay chicken came in two skewers which was a bit disappointing for portion sizes and if it was at full price, I would be outraged. The mala dumplings were a bit odd and not on the main menu. They were a bit like the chilli oil wantons you'd get at shanghai restaurants but not quite. The skin was fairly thick and the fillings weren't overly generous. It basically tastes like a worse version of supermarket dumplings but topped with copious amounts of chilli oil.
Steamed bean curd wraps were the highlight of my day. These weren't on the specials, so we paid full price, making them approximately $5 a piece which is fairly steep. They were delicious though, with a plump and generous filling, rich with prawn meat. I loved the seasoned tofu skin and thick gelatinous sauce.
Beef balls were an odd one. They are usually filled with crunchy water chestnut. I actually hate that weird crunchy texture in my beef balls but cannot deny that it is the traditional way. Much to my surprise, this iteration had no water chestnut in it, which lead to a fair bit of disappointment from the rest of the table but I liked it a lot more. We also had a serve of deep fried crab claws. These were the same as you would get frozen from supermarkets and I've had it many times across Chinese and Japanese restaurants.
Glutinous rice balls were also fairly average, a bit small and had your usual pork and veggie mince. I didn't love it but didn't hate it.
Of the discounted menu, the bbq pork rice paper rolls were a stand out. The skin was moderately thin and translucent with succulent honey sweet barbecue pork inside. It would be a bit of a rip off at regular retail price of more than $20 though.
Rounding off our meal, we had a serve of stir fried noodles. Portions were small and after picking around for a bit, I was able to ascertain that there was in fact no protein in the dish. For $8.80, it wasn't good value and even less so for full price.
Overall, no regrets in trying out Pavilion Dining. I was glad to satisfy my curiosity while it was on sale, but the value proposition was poor, the misleading advertising was deceptive and the quality was no better than landmark or parklands. I will stick with Ruyi in the future.
Price Range: $35 - $45pp
Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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