Emperors Garden
96-100 Hay St
Chinatown, Sydney
We heard the term “Chinese tapas” used to describe yum cha and it seemed quite appropriate. It really sums up what yum cha involves to a more Australian/European mind set. We love it though. It’s such a great way to sample a variety of small dishes at lunch time. Emperors Garden are at the end of Dixon St on the intersection with Hay St in Chinatown and have been churning out yum cha for quite a while now. We were there for a quick lunch and yum cha is perfect when you’re in a rush.
We started with some lovely rice noodle rolls with prawns. These looked spectacular with the white flat noodles encasing plump juicy prawns. They tasted just as good too.
Then on to some dumplings - almost the mainstay for yum cha. We grabbed two of our favs - prawn and prawn and garlic chives. Both varieties are regular orders for us whenever we dine this way. They are perfect when dipped in the ever present garlic chilli sauce on the table.
We then moved on to a plate of crispy fried calamari. While there is an abundance of steamed dishes drifting by there are also lots of fried ones too. It’s hard to resist having some of each, but the beauty of yum cha is that you can have the lot.
Dessert time and we headed for the tarts - the baked egg custard tarts to be precise. These were still warm and the flaky pastry filled with rich custard was a perfect way to end the meal.
Whilst Emperors Garden does yum cha at lunch time they do offer more traditional Chinese dishes then and in the evening too. To be honest though, we’ve only ever had yum cha here so we must check out their other food some time!