Super Six - Coopers Plains

Readers may remember that I am often disappointed by the quality of yumcha in Brisbane. Sometimes when I complain to foodie friends about this, they tell me to try out Super Six at Coopers Plains because it is considerably better than the other options available locally. With that in mind, I went with my family for a weekend lunch to try them out.

Going on a weekend lunch is always difficult, so I made sure to phone up and make a reservation. Our meal started off on a not so good note when the staff somehow managed to lose our reservation. As an act of saving grace though, there was one spare table which we had to commit to returning after one hour so they could serve other customers. We took what we could. Menus were soon provided, for a yumcha venue, all the usual suspects were available. We made our selections via the marker and quickly handed it to the waiter.

Although we put our food order in at 12.32pm, our first round of food didn't arrive until almost 1pm at which point we were fairly famished.

Whilst it was a long wait for our food, judging by the temperature, the food also waited a long time before it was served to us. The food itself was undeniably cool, with all dishes being lukewarm at best. Starting off with the beancurd pork and prawn rolls, these are always a must order for me at yumcha. I found thee taste to be good and the filling to be generous and fresh but the temperature was a letdown for me.

Next we had a dish of steamed beef balls with bean curd and vinegar. Again it was cool but the flavours were delicious, the beef was fresh and I enjoyed the sharpness of the sauce. The portion size was generous for what it was too.

This was the deep fried calamari, a favourite of my sister. The portion provided was fairly large, the tempura batter was light and the calamari wasn't too chewy. This is probably the best iteration I've had in Brisbane lately but again the temperature was a let down.

Ever since Haoke closed down, I have particularly missed a good beef offal. The iteration at Super six was adequate. There could have been a bigger portion but it was enough. There was a good selection of offal, including my favourite tripe with some fairly tender turnip that had absorbed the soup. 

The prawn dumpling was executed very well (other than being cold) the skin was thin and the prawns were fresh and plump. The whole table appreciated it.

The same can be said about the shiu mai, the pork was fresh and juicy whilst the skin was thin. Again, one of the best I've had in Brisbane but let down by the temperature.

One of the dishes that didn't stand out for the day would have been the turnip cake. It tasted fairly standard and not different at all from any of the others I've had at other yumcha places. It could definitely have been improved with more turnip.

At about 1.20pm, 10 minutes before our scheduled departure time, a small selection of our remaining dishes arrived. This was the bbq pork pastry. It was also not hot and was surprisingly dull instead of glazed. I don't consider this as a stand out compared to the other offerings in Brisbane.

The coconut jelly was largely the same as anywhere else so I don't have too much to say about it. 

Our final dish of the day was the BBQ pork rice noodle roll. I found this to be very delicious with a soft translucent noodle and generous serves of bbq pork, the execution was so good, I would probably return for this alone. 

Overall we had a very hit and miss experience at Super Six. From missing our reservation, slow but cold dishes, having to cancel a number of dishes because it wasn't served on time and then rushing off to return our table, the service was quite abhorrent. On the other hand, the food in theory was executed to a high standard and I found the bad service to have really reduced our enjoyment. I probably would go back again on a more quiet day to give them a second chance to see if this can be redeemed.

Price Range: $30 - $50pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7/10
Service: 4/10

Environment: 7/10 

Yum Cha Cuisine - Indooroopilly

For some reason the worse the economy gets, the more all you can eat restaurants pop up. I'm not sure why but I am always keen to try some out, provided the quality of food provided isn't too bad. I had recently noticed a couple yum cha cuisines offer buffet options but with different price points and different menus. The Mt Gravatt branch was $39pp with a far limited menu, so we tried out the Indooroopilly branch at $49 with a group of friends after a long days' painting.

As with most all you can eat restaurants, there was a time limit, being 90 minutes. Ordinarily this would be fine, however there were also limits for ordering (5 dishes per 15 minutes, which we managed to negotiate to 8 dishes given our large group) meaning we could only order at most six dishes per person for the session. It didn't help that they were overwhelmingly understaffed that evening and it took far longer than 15 minutes for us to flag staff down and food took a long time to arrive, meaning we were famished for the bulk of the meal.

Perhaps we were starving from the slow service, but the food that we did get served was of a very high standard for yumcha in Brisbane (which is inherently of a low standard). The prawn dumplings that showed up were freshly steamed with a thin skin and tasty plump prawns inside.

Beef tripe was also fresh, flavoursome and tender with a delicious chewy texture.

Bean curd rolls were steaming hot with generous fillings and a delicious gelatinous sauce.

Fried foods were very popular that evening and also good for sharing. This was the salt and pepper calamari with a super light and crispy batter. The whole serve was polished off in no time.

Taro dumplings were less popular and served lukewarm at best. The taro coating wasn't too thick and it was filled with a flavoursome pork and veggie mix.

One of my favourites for the night were the salt and pepper quail, definitely a higher value dish on the menu. These were juicy and plump with a crispy salt and pepper skin. I would go back for this dish alone.

We also had a crab and corn soup to share, there was a great deal of corn but hardly any crab. It was tasty but could have had a lot more by way of seafood to live up to its name.

Other steamed dishes we had included the siu mai and black been pork ribs, these were again freshly steamed and I have no complaints about them, already making them one of the better options in Brisbane.

Again with the high value picks, this was a serve of steamed scallops with vermicelli and garlic. We had ordered more but they ran out, but this was delicious and a value pick for sure.

More on the value picks, the salt and pepper king prawns were also juicy and plump, battered with the same light tempura, if I wasn't quick I wouldn't have been able to get any.

Roast meats were also on the metaphorical and literal table. These were the weaker link for dinner with the roast duck being lukewarm and not particularly well marinated.

The same could be said about the roast pork which had a chewy skin rather than crispy skin. It also was lukewarm with a thick layer of fat under the skin. Would not recommend this.

Although I wouldn't recommend ordering buns at a buffet, some companions did. This was the bbq pork buns and it was executed well. Light and fluffy with a sweet meaty interior, it met the standard for yumcha.

The custard bun was the same, although I would say it tasted no different to what I could get from supermarkets.

Onto the dessert round, we had some sesame balls with red bean paste, this was served at room temperature with a chewy exterior and a not too sweet filling.

 

Some of our table had ice cream, the deep fried ice cream wasn't well received but the banana fritter definitely was. 

I rounded off my meal with some coconut pudding, this was fresh and light. 

Overall I would say that despite my gripes with Yumcha cuisine, we had a pleasant experience. There is value for the price that we paid although service could definitely be smoother. The food was overall of a high standard despite a few let downs and I would not hesitate to revisit it at a later date.

Price Range: $49pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 4/10

Environment: 7/10

King Palace - Broadbeach

These days, when people ask me where I recommend for Yum Cha in Brisbane, I can only offer a despondent 'nowhere is particularly good'. It is quite a sad affair to see that prices have gone up exponentially while the quality has correspondingly dropped. Gone are the days when my parents could take me out for a casual family lunch on the weekend and we could get delicious hot dimsim for a fair price, nowadays it costs a moderate to high price for dumplings with thick skin or deep fried items which are served to you cold. As such, my search for a good quality yumcha continued, and we decided to venture down to the Gold Coast in search of hope. This is why we ended up at King Palace, after doing some reviews, it seemed promising and we went with a few friends.

I didn't know if there would be much of a crowd, so we made a reservation. Arriving at the opening time of 11.30, there was only one table other than ourselves. Service was efficient and a bit loud, reminding me of the yum cha places from back in the 90s. The menu covered everything you could want except for congee and offal. There were no trolleys but we gave our order to the friendly waiter.

Fresh Tieguanyin tea was served, it was strong and fragrant. They definitely didn't skimp on the tea leaves. 

It didn't take long before our table was filled with baskets upon baskets of steamed dim sim 

Starting off with the signature har gow and siu mai, these were freshly steamed to order. I like that the dumpling skin wasn't too thick. The prawns weren't overcooked, retaining a plump and moist texture. The same could be said for the siu mai. I liked how they topped it off with some flying fish roe as well.

My favourite steamed bean curd roll was done exceptionally well. There was a good ratio of meat to prawn in the filling, the bean curd was fresh and the sauce was flavoursome and light. This was undoubtedly the highlight of my meal. The beef tripe was done well and very tender. It was a shame they didn't have braised beef offal on the menu too, I would have enjoyed that. The BBQ pork bun was fairly standard though and didn't taste very different from the usual.

  

We also had turnip cake and BBQ pork rice paper rolls. Both were done well. There was ample turnip in the turnip cake but I would have preferred the rice paper rolls if they were a bit thinner. 

Although a tad thick, the rice paper rolls were undoubtedly fresh and fairly soft. They complimented the crispy deep fried bread sticks they were served with and are undoubtedly better than the other options we have in Brisbane right now.

I didn't get much from the deep fried options, noting that my favourite deep fried taro balls were not on the menu. We did however have a serve of baked bbq pork puff. The pastry was light and flakey with a sweet meaty filling that we all enjoyed.  

 Just like the BBQ pork puff, the egg tart was equally flakey. Although not served straight out of the oven (as evidenced by the fact the centre has dipped a bit and pulled away from the shell), it was still warm when we had it and the layers were unbelievable. It made for a perfectly buttery finish to our delicious meal.

I can't say that I've had such a good yumcha since I last went to Sydney, or even further back when I was last in Hong Kong. King Palace is definitely heads and shoulders above the current Brisbane offerings and even the drive down becomes worth it, given the prices are notably cheaper than Brisbane too. I will definitely make time to come back.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 8.5/10

Environment: 8/10

Ruyi Dim Sum - Calamvale

Readers might remember that my local favourite for yumcha is Haoke, which has been closed since the start of the year. Ever since, I have been on the hunt for second best in town, to no luck. So of course my interest gets piqued when RuYi Dim Sim opened across the road at Calamvale Central at their new foodie laneway. Having held back long enough to see some preliminary mixed reviews, I jumped at the chance to visit with Brisvegustation and family last weekend.

 

Service was a bit of a hit and miss, like most places, they appeared to be fairly short staffed. We weren't shown to a table and there appeared to be people queueing to order, so we found a booth and sat down. There was a QR code on the table to allow for ordering, so in hindsight, counter ordering is probably for those who are not as tech savvy. The selections on the menu didn't have as much variety as other places and the prices were definitely steep, especially when portions weren't big.

Tea was $2.50 per person, it was adequate, not too weak but not particularly strong either.

First to arrive was the BBQ pork puffs. For $6 a dish, these were definitely a disappointment. The pieces were small, but worst of all they were served cold. In hindsight I probably should have waived down a waiter to ask that they be reheated, but staff were so hard to get a hold of, it would have been hard to do so. The pastry itself was flaky and the char siu was flavoursome, but no one likes a stale pastry.

Next up was the pork and century egg congee. This was served steaming hot, a marked improvement on our last dish. Again it was expensive and the serving wasn't too big. The rice texture was a little underdone in my opinion, and I could do better at home. On the upside, the deep fried dough sticks were crunchy and fresh.

Some fresh steamed dishes came next, my favourite steamed bean curd rolls and the yumcha crowd pleaser siu mai. Both were really hot. Again portions were small, each dish having one less piece than the standards at other restaurants. I liked how saucy the bean curd rolls were but found the mince filling to be fairly ordinary. The same can be said for the siu mai, whilst fresh, it wasn't out of the ordinary and was definitely not worth $7 for three.

We also had some custard buns, these were black and had gold spots on them just for appearance, they tasted largely the same as the standard white ones. The bun was fluffy and the filling was not very sweet but not runny either.

Given the price of the dim sims, we also had a larger dish to share, this was the stir fried beef with flat rice noodles. It was done quite well and the price was reasonable for what you got. The beef was fairly tender and the ratio with noodles was quite fair, my only criticism was that it was extremely oily, otherwise it was done fairly well.

I find it hard to have yumcha without some rice noodle rolls. This time we had it with deep fried dough sticks, which is always a crowd pleaser. Unfortunately this one was really quite disappointing. Portion size was of course an issue, but this was minor compared to the fact that the dough sticks were soggy and stale, which was quite surprising given the ones we had in the congee were fine. 

 

Our last dish was the deep fried glutinous dumplings. Ordinarily they would come shaped a bit like a football but these looked like pears and were fairly adorable. Freshly fried, the dough was crispy outside and chewy inside with a flavoursome meaty mince filling. It was probably the best executed of the dishes we had, but still not worth the price.

Overall we had a decent time at Ru Yi, if nothing but to satisfy our curiosity. The dishes weren't bad, but honestly they were nothing special. The prices were expensive, but that seems to be the case for most yumchas in Brisbane these days. Unless they change their menu a bit, I don't think I will have any rush to go back.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 6/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 8/10