Bigger Not Better

I know it was more than 4 months ago that we were in Melbourne, but I want to show you some of the dimsum we ate in Melbourne. One of our CDs doesn't read so I'll just have to go with what I have. Somebody promised to upload the missing photos for me but never got around to it.

New Royal Garden (NRG) at High Rd and Blackburn St, about half an hour out of Melbourne city impressed me 4 years ago when I had a 9-course banquet dinner fit for a queen (thanks to Simon and Margaret), and the most yumtious dimsum lunch (thanks, Serena!) there. The dim sum was excellent in NRG, far better than any dim sum in KK and I always told anyone who was going to Melbourne to not miss NRG . When Thomas and Betty invited us to spend the whole day with them at their house near Dandenong, I was thrilled when they took us to NRG for dim sum (thanks Thomas & Betty, who were wonderful hosts, taking us to lunch, made us excellent ais kacang, then to the veg n flowers farm and the mall and most of all opening their home to us).

NRG was fully packed as usual so the dim sum trolleys were slow and there wasn't much variety. Although still very good, I thought that it wasn't as good as the first time (that first time thing?) I ate there. I think Hong Kong's to blame. I kept comparing it to Hong Kong. I am now of the opinion that despite what people say about all the best HK chefs having left HK and gone to England, US, Canada and Oz, the very best dim sum is still found in HK. Even Guangzhou's dim sum didn't impress me, but then again maybe I didn't go to the right place.

As far as taste is concerned, many dim sum items were very good and some were as good as HK's. I ate dim sum 3 times on this Oz trip and we lived next door to Dragon Boat in Docklands (famous dim sum place which I also was very impressed with years ago), and yet not once did I yearn to go next door to eat. Okay, frankly it was because we usually got up late. But still, on this trip, I realised my love for dim sum in western countries is over. However, just in case anyone wants to treat me to dimsum when I'm in Oz, I would jump at that offer because I don't eat KK dim sum.

The thing about dim sum in western countries is that not only is the portion huge (which I don't mind), the individual items are big (which I do mind). A ha gow or siu mai is easily 2 times bigger than those in Asian countries, beef tripes are so big it can choke you, and chicken feet is not just the four digits but the digits and the whole length of the foot. I suppose the cheaper prices of meat and availability of stuff that westerners don't eat like pig stomach and tripe and the fact that western mouths (and stomachs) being bigger on the average mean dim sum have to be proportionately bigger (McD now offers an even bigger burger, Mega Mac. Btw, I did the McD Chant at Centrepoint yesterday and was clocked at 2.5 secs. Got my free Big Mac!) But that's not how dim sum should be. Dim sum (meaning "point at the heart") are small delicate snacks to be enjoyed slowly with a good Chinese tea while reading a stack of newspapers or chatting with friends. For a lot of Hong Kongers, it is eaten everyday, usually for breakfast and extending until lunch, and they don't tire of it because there are so many to choose from. Because of their daintiness, you can eat many different HK dim sum varieties without feeling full. Dim sum in western countries though tasty, are chunky, coarse and very filling. The Japanese know that very well that too much of a good thing will cheapen it so they always give you a dainty portion that makes you want more. Hub thinks I have nothing else to complain about. I guess for a lot of guys "the bigger the better" applies to food too. Am I the only old-fashioned dim sum eater here? Or do you think dim sum should go the Mega Mac way, the bigger the better?

The following photos were taken at NRG and Fu Long (942 Whitehourse Rd, Boxhill), another popular dim sum restaurant in Melbourne which I found was better in terms of taste and variety. Thanks to L & V (LV!) and their 3 wonderful kids for the best barbie ever, plus the dim sum lunch at Fu Long. Will return your treat in December!


Siu mai, King of dim sum, is an all-time favorite for most people. Me, I prefer ha gow, the queen. All siu mai used to be topped with crab roe but these days carrots or prawn roe or even colored sago pearls are used.


Prawn paste wrapped in bean curd sheets.


Battered and deep-fried white baits.


Roasted suckling pig.


Cold cuts of cuttlefish and jellyfish which are fun to eat if you, like me, love chewy and crunchy food.


Battered and deep-fried squid tentacles. Too oily.


Another oil absorber, deep-fried prawn paste nori rolls. In the past, most dim sum were steamed but now for convenience many are deep-fried.


Crullers wrapped in cheong fun.


Pipis in bean paste. The pipis were fresh, sweet and chewy and the beans sauce absolutely delicious.



Ma lai go. Good but not as good as Tai Wing Wah Village Restaurant in Hong Kong. In fact, nobody does it like Tai Wing Wah Village Res.


Mango pudding and jellies.