Piccadilly Tower, Level 1, 133-145 Castlereagh St
Lunch Sunday 7 September 2008.
This visit confirms my feeling that Palace is just too unreliable to justify. Their price is significantly above other places - which is fine when the food is at its best. When fresh from the steamer, I think the food is the equal of any place in Sydney - but it isn't consistent at all. You could get some dumplings that have been out too long and are gluggy, then a piping hot one, then ones that have been on the steamer too long and are falling to pieces.
Our guest reviewer Christophe
The mixed vege/dumpling dish. As these are boiled to order - they were very fresh... but it was $12.80
The tripe was not good. Sounds funny to write, but I think it was poor quality offal - bad texture. (or I may just still be gun-shy from my stupid attempt to cook tripe)
Pork buns were quite nice - came from a fresh batch.
The prawn dumplings were not fresh or hot when we got them - disapointing.
The prawn and snowpea sprout dumplings were the best of the day - we had two serves and both were fresh. Luck of the draw it seems. (above and below)
The chickens feet were good, no complaints at all.
Over steamed and not fresh - the dumplings above were falling apart and had lost their moisture.
Overall - I think Palace is let down by its design and popularity. Recalling the best Cha Lau's I have visited in Sydney and overseas, they tend to be a large square room with tables organised in rows so trolleys can easily navigated between tables - off-loading their bounty before it cools or over steams. Palace is full of corners and nooks and crannys that mean by the time you get a trolley the food may be no good. Whilst yum cha isn't known for courteous service - the service here really sucks. A lot of places will assume westerners will take what is suggested, but at least they wait for a response! One waitress here just dumped a plate on our table saying it is nice, stamped the ticket and walked away - and the dish looked crap!
Christophe's ratings:
Food: 15 out of 20 (food was good, especially the snowpeas dumplings, the chicken feet, the vegies and the sui mai. However the last dumplings seemed much fresher than the first ones.
Service & Setting: 2.5 out of 5 (first waitress charged us some dumplings we did not want, thanks Kate for the arguing with the manager, and I don’t know if it's because we were in a corner at the end of the restaurant or what, but I felt that half-way through the meal that was nobody going around with food for a while)
Value: 1 out of 5. (nearly $100 for 3 people, that's pretty expensive for yum-cha).
TOTAL: 18.5 from 30
Food: 15 out of 20 (food was good, especially the snowpeas dumplings, the chicken feet, the vegies and the sui mai. However the last dumplings seemed much fresher than the first ones.
Service & Setting: 2.5 out of 5 (first waitress charged us some dumplings we did not want, thanks Kate for the arguing with the manager, and I don’t know if it's because we were in a corner at the end of the restaurant or what, but I felt that half-way through the meal that was nobody going around with food for a while)
Value: 1 out of 5. (nearly $100 for 3 people, that's pretty expensive for yum-cha).
TOTAL: 18.5 from 30
Matt's ratings:
Food: 10 out of 20 - unreliable
Service & Setting : 1.5 out of 5 (see comments above)
Value: 1 out of 5. ($93 for 3 people - the most I have paid in a group ever).
TOTAL: 12.5 from 30 - at this price, palace needs to be consistently better than the competition in terms of variety, freshness and service. And they are not by a long shot.
Service & Setting : 1.5 out of 5 (see comments above)
Value: 1 out of 5. ($93 for 3 people - the most I have paid in a group ever).
TOTAL: 12.5 from 30 - at this price, palace needs to be consistently better than the competition in terms of variety, freshness and service. And they are not by a long shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment