Cheap and Good Dim Sum

It’s time for yum cha again! The previous yum cha we had was in Sea Treasure, which was, to me, a little on the posh side. This time, we drove all the way to Cabramatta in the West, for some good old Vietnamese Chinese dim sum. Vinh Phat is a restaurant opened by Vietnamese Chinese who speak mostly in Cantonese. We felt right at home! Finding a parking on a Saturday morning was quite a nightmare, but we managed to get one after about 20 minutes of circling around. The restaurant was also fully packed with a constant queue in front. We had to wait for about 20-30 minutes before we finally managed to get a table for the 3 of us.

Har kao

Har Kao / Shrimp dumplings

Of course, with any dim sum session, the mainstay is usually the Har Kao or shrimp dumplings. We’re delighted to see that the har kao here was huge and stuffed to the brim with succulent shrimps, and had thin, translucent skin. It was indeed har kao at its best. Granted, it was also probably the most expensive dim sum on the table, but I’d say it’s well worth it.

Siew Mai

Siew Mai / Pork dumplings

There were several versions of Siew Mai or Pork Dumplings available here, mainly differed by the toppings. There was one variety with fish roe on top, and another with pork sausage / lap cheong. There’s no question which version that I opted for! The siew mai was also generously portioned with tender and juicy pork amidst slivers of succulent shrimps. The sausage on top just lent it a mild savoury twist that kept our appetite up. We wanted more!

Kow Choy Kau

Kow Choi Kao / Chives dumpling

Saucer being the health-conscious one, chose a green type of dim sum – the Kow Choi Kao or Chives dumpling. This was way too ‘green’ for my liking so I didn’t quite enjoy it. But you love chives, you’d love this!

Pork ribs

Pai Kuat / Pork Ribs

Another dish that we enjoyed was the Pai Kuat / Pork Ribs, which were steamed to perfection. Each piece was soft and silky smooth, full of flavour and juices. It helped that there was not much fatty bits in it, unlike some other restaurants. No, this had real, solid meat and pretty good ones too.

Loh Mai Pau

Lor Mai Pao / Glutinous Rice Wrap

The Lor Mai Pao / Glutinous Rice Wrap was something I started eating after moving to Sydney. It seemed to be one of the local favourites and I’d started to grow a liking towards them. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite find the Lor Mai Pao up to par. The rice within was a tad too dry and bland. I’d expect glutinous rice to be sticky and soft, with plenty of gravy or grease within but this was a total opposite.

Crab claws

Stuffed Crab Claws

The Stuffed Crab Claws was something that our friend ordered, and something that I wouldn’t have ordered usually. Only because I knew that there wouldn’t be much real crab meat inside. And I was right. The crab claw was stuffed with mostly fish paste that was deep fried and coated with sweet chilli sauce. Yes it was tasty, but it certainly was far from being crab meat.

Char Siew Pao

Char Siew Pao / BBQ Pork dumplings

Apart from the Har Kao, another mainstay in my dim sum session is the Char Siew Pao. A dim sum session simply would not be complete with it! We had to wait for them since they were out and we had to wait for fresh ones to be steamed. But boy were we glad to have done that! The freshly steamed pao was filled with tasty BBQ meat with minimal fatty bits (which I love). The BBQ sauce was flavourful and tasted just like the ones back home. I had a second helping of this because it was just too familiar.

Char siew pao

Tasty BBQ pork within

Last but not least, we finished our yum cha with some Egg Tarts, fresh off the oven. The pastry was flaky and crispy, and the egg custard was bouncy and fragrant. The only minor setback was we found the custard to be a tad too sweet. Otherwise, it was perfect.

Egg tart

Egg Tarts

Overall we found the dim sum here to be above average, if you don’t mind the parking and the queuing. There was a constant stream of people queuing in front from the moment we started our breakfast right until the moment we left, I kid you not. And after trying it out, we’re not surprised why this was the case. Also, it did help that the bill came to a reasonable AUD13 per person for everything that we had, which kept us full substantially. If it were not that far away, I wouldn’t mind coming here more often.

Vinh Phat restaurant