A Meal in Brief: VR Dim Sum (國慶點心)

We came here because fellow tweep Mira had called the dim sum "one of the best I've had!"

VR Dim Sum seems to be same business as VR Baker's Restaurant, with Vietnamese cuisine.

The menu was full of coloured pictures but nothing else - no descriptions, no prices. I tried asking what the black ticks on some items meant, but didn't understand the answer. Maybe they show which items cost more, or maybe a previous diner had simply marked the dishes they wanted?

Full colour pictorial menu.

The setting was unusual: ornate wooden chairs encircled covered tables in the dining part of the restaurant, while the other half of the room was a simple bakery, complete with fridges of soft drinks. It felt like we were in a different country; a ceiling fan would not have gone amiss.

Dining on one side, bakery on the other.

The service was everything we expected. Customers were greeted in Mandarin, then Cantonese, then English, until it was clear which language they preferred. Our teapot was topped up with hot water without prompting. When our dim sum was brought out, we were told that we could help ourselves to the condiments at a side table. The lady asked if we wanted our taro dumplings cut before halving them with a pair of scissors.

What we ate included:

• taro dumplings - this came out quickly and tasted fine, but was sadly only lukewarm, as is frequently the case with fried dumplings. The net-like crispy taro coating was more pronounced than usual, adding height and volume.

Taro dumplings.

• congee - this had a high ratio of meat to rice and was served with fried strips rather the dough sticks we are used to.

Congee and fried bits.

• shrimp dumpings and rice sheet rolls - the shrimp rice roll was delicious: hot and soft and fresh, served with a sweetened soy sauce. The har gow, despite also being made with shrimps and a wrapper, did not taste quite how we expected. The spinach version of the dumpling was enjoyable.

Shrimp dumplings and rice sheet rolls.

• siu mai - these were again hot and fresh, but not quite the flavour we are used to at Cantonese dim sum places.

Siu mai.

The egg tarts were not yet available when we ordered, and by the time they were ready, we were too full to sample them. They looked paler in colour than usual, which might be because other places use food colouring.

Overall, this meal was good value, with everything coming to just over $24. The food did not have exactly the same flavours we have come to expect from dim sum, but perhaps it corresponds faithfully to the Vietnamese versions of the dishes. We would come back to try the bánh mì next time, of which there were nearly 30 filling options.

Restaurant Details

VR Dim Sum (國慶點心)
15 Rangitoto Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland
(09) 2770003

Review: Sun World Chinese Restaurant (新世界海鲜酒家)

According to the Cuisine Magazine, Sun World was one of the first places in Auckland to offer yum cha. It is certainly still very popular, with queues going out the door during the busy weekend yum cha rush. As a Chinese seafood restaurant, it also has an excellent a la carte menu, and plenty of live seafood for you to look at while you wait, from lobsters to paua (abalone) to geoduck to clams.

Kids checking out the lobsters by the front door.

The restaurant's Chinese name 新世界 actually translates to "new world", but the word "new" in Cantonese is pronounced "sun", and presumably they didn't want to call themselves "New World" to avoid confusion with the supermarket chain. It has apparently been in Newmarket since 2000, and every time I go I wonder what used to be there before that, because the Roman gladiators on the side glass doors don't seem entirely in theme.

Roman gladiators on the side doors.

Yum Cha

The restaurant's website says that they have been offering yum cha since 2007 (fellow blogger Her Worldly Pleasures has documented some dishes from this time). Perhaps that is true for their Newmarket location, but friends remember having yum cha at Sun World when it was still in town, and yum cha has been available in Auckland for at least 25 years, if memories serve correctly.

At Sun World, as with most restaurants of this type in Auckland, yum cha is still offered in the traditional way, with someone pushing trolleys or carrying trays around, although you can, of course, also order a dish rather than waiting for it to appear.

Trolleys with a variety of dishes, from dumplings to spare ribs.

We found the options at Sun World to be varied and plentiful, so it was easy to select different dishes without waiting a long time for what you want. All the usual delicacies were available, including the various steamed dumplings, congee, ricesheet rolls, pork spare ribs, turnip/taro cake, and BBQ pork buns. For dessert, there was also plenty to choose from, such as egg tarts, jin deui (fried sesame balls), various buns and bak tong gou (steamed "white sugar cake").

Yum cha favourites including siu mai, pork spare ribs, chicken feet, and chicken tail buns.

The food was fresh and tasty, and even when we picked the special (more expensive) dishes like deep fried crab or vegetables in oyster sauce, the bill came to a surprisingly small number. Sun World definitely offers one of the best yum cha experiences in Auckland!

Steamed things, fried things, baked pastries - all are available and delicious.

The only reason we don't eat here as often as we would like is that the place is almost too popular. The crush of people and the long queues can be off-putting. Sometimes the waiters are so rushed that they forget to bring your tea, or you find that you have to wait for some time before you get all your crockery. But hey, it is all part of the fun, and did I mention that the food is good?

Dinner

Dinner at Sun World is less frantic than the lunchtime yum cha sessions, so you will have better service and a more relaxing atmosphere to go with the excellent cooking.

Free range chicken with garlic ginger paste.

As with all Chinese restaurants that are not cheapie eateries, you should go with a group and order a variety of dishes so that you can share a balanced meal. (It sounds ridiculous saying this, but one knowledgeable person should do the ordering. I have seen customers unfamiliar with the cuisine attempt to get each person to pick something they like, and it always ends in disaster, even if there are no duplicate dishes, e.g. no one orders vegetables. In case of doubt, ask the waiter for advice.)

Stuffed tofu.

The menu is large, but everything we tried was of a high standard, both well-presented as well as having great authentic flavours.

Steamed fish and roast meat.

Sun World is a popular institution in Auckland with good reason!

Restaurant Details

Sun World Chinese Restaurant (新世界海鲜酒家)
2A York Street, Newmarket, Auckland
(09) 520 3218

Opening hours:
Mondays to Fridays 11am - 2:30pm, 5:30 - 10pm
Saturdays to Sundays 10:30am - 2:30pm, 5:30 - 10pm

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Review: Yum Cha @ Crown Chinese Restaurant (皇冠酒樓)

Our favourite yum cha restaurant in Auckland at the moment is not a place you might accidentally wander into.  Even if you happened to be in the Otahuhu/Papatoetoe area, you would never have noticed the faded exterior of Crown Restaurant, the peeling paint, the narrow doorway leading to a set of uninviting stairs.

And if you had seen it, you would have dismissed it instantly.  It has all the wrong vibes: a dirty mat at the front door behind a sandwich board proclaiming "BUFFET ALL YOU CAN EAT!!  EVERY Sun. & Mon. evening...," no way of seeing who (if anyone) was eating inside, no mouth-watering menu on display which you could have used to entice your sceptical friends.  It's a place that looks like it has remained unchanged for many decades, from the days when Asians in New Zealand were a novelty and rice cost a fortune and had to be supplemented with white bread.

Your fears might grow as you force yourself up those old, rickety steps, take one last look out the grimy window at the top, and follow the corridor around the corner, past the kitchen and towards a roadblock: people waiting to pay on one side, children in front of crayfish tanks on the other, and waitresses trying to push trolleys in between them.  Once the chaos clears though, you will see a large hall in front of you, surprisingly full of customers, including some sitting on the stage area at the far end, next to a historic-looking Chinese wall painting.  It feels like an RSA crossed with an old school theatre, a place at once incongruous with a thriving restaurant and reassuringly without pretensions.

Old but perfectly acceptable dining room, popular with young and old.

What brings us out here is the food. That, and the fact that you can just turn up without booking.  There is a good variety of dishes to choose from, pushed around in metal trolleys, and it comes out quickly, so you don't need to sit around for hours waiting for something you like the look of.  Spare ribs, chicken feet, tripe and tero-tero (intestines) project an authentic image, although there are also friendlier options for the less adventurous.

The steamed dumplings are hot, fresh and tasty, and we particularly enjoyed the open prawn and coriander dumplings which looked beautiful with a few golden vermicelli strands placed on top.

Special prawn and coriander dumplings.

Crown Restaurant also has excellent congee, which they top with fried breadstick and spring onion slices when you order it.  [Added 8 December 2012: They now also offer deep-fried fish skins!] I've always shied away from eating foods at restaurants which are made from cheap ingredients, which I could easily cook myself at home.  Trouble is, I have never made a successful congee at home, even though it is in essence just rice boiled in water with a bit of oil and salt.  This place makes up for all my past failures with just the right flavour and texture in their rice porridge.  They offer multiple types of congee, including the classic lean pork and preserved egg version (皮蛋瘦肉粥), which is the one which came around in a trolley on our last visit.

Simple but delicious bowl of congee.

Another dish we were excited to find here are the baked BBQ pork buns, char siu bao (叉燒包/叉烧包) of the smooth, glazed variety, although the more common steamed buns with the cracked top are also available.  The fried items such as the taro dumplings are more of a gamble, as they are prone to being only lukewarm.

Baked BBQ pork buns and deep-fried taro dumplings.

Those with a sweet tooth will be pleased with the dessert selection, which includes egg tarts (both the Hong Kong and Portuguese styles), fried sesame balls filled with lotus seed paste (煎堆, jin deui), pancakes filled with red bean paste (豆沙鍋餅, dou sa wo beng), mango pudding (芒果布丁, mong gwo bou ding) optionally served with Carnation condensed milk, the flat crumpet-like steamed "white sugar cake" (白糖糕, bak tong gou), and more.  [Added 8 December 2012: The selection today included tofu jelly (豆花, dou fah) and durian icecream balls (榴槤糯米糍, lou lin no mai ci).]

Trolley with dessert options, including egg tarts, mango pudding and filled glutinous rice balls.

Crown Restaurant may not be the type of place you would take your in-laws to, but look past its exterior and it offers you cheap and varied options for filling up on your favourite dim sum dishes.

Panda Recommends

[Added 8 Dec 2012: Crown Restaurant currently has a D grade rating, but New Flavour used to have an E and it was always full.  I've never let a rating put me off good food.]
Go for steamed dumplings and congee.
Avoid the fried things on offer, as these can be cold and unappetising.

Vegie Pandas
As with yum cha in general, to avoid eating only desserts, you may need to order something off the menu to supplement the few vegetarian items on the trolley (delicious as they are, steamed ricesheet rolls served with sesame and sweet sauce hardly make for a balanced meal).

Restaurant Details

Crown Restaurant
1/F, 12 East Tamaki Road, Papatoetoe, Auckland
(09) 279 8398

Opening hours:
Yum char Mondays to Sundays 10am - 2:30pm

Never judge a book by its cover.

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