London: Yum Cha Silks & Spice

Six days to go! Yippee!

One of my favourite things to eat is dim sum. Seriously, one of the first things I did once I got myself properly sorted in London was to inquire about the state of dim sum and bubble tea. For the record, bubble tea in London is a lost cause. Hulu Cat and Momo Tea are miles ahead of anything in London. 

Yum Cha Silks & Spice

27-28 Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8A (Closest tube: Chalk Farm or Camden Town)

So in my efforts to find the best dim sum around in London, I googled around and asked people for advice. My brother, I think, recommended this place to me as well. I trekked over to Chalk Farm with three other lovely ladies and I think they were rather suspect about the fact that I was taking them to the middle of nowhere. Okay it wasn't exactly the middle of nowhere, but dim sum outside of Chinatown or Queensway? Kinda funny. They even told me that they had doubted me in the beginning at the end of our meal! (For the record, I'm rarely wrong. Sure you might not be wowed by a place like I am, but you definitely won't dislike it). Let me tell you, I went to a few other dim sum places throughout my twelve month journey and I still deem this place to be the best of the dim sum restaurants I went to. I don't want to make the generalization that it's the best in London, even though it wouldn't surprise if it was. Speaking of this matter, it has become my own personal mission to convince my partner about the brilliance of eating dim sum....even after one failed attempt at Ping Pong (sigh, I refuse to review that place...just don't go). He'll like it eventually, I just know he will!!

Anyway, the way that the ordering process goes is a bit different to what they do in New Zealand. Usually here in Auckland, dishes are usually carted around and go around to all the tables with all the different dishes they have, where you can pick and choose what dishes you want to take and how many of them you want. At Yum Cha, you're given a "menu/order form" and if you want a particular dish, you indicate how many of that dish you want on the order form and return it to the waiters. In hindsight, I never realised how much we ordered...

In no particular order, we ordered the minced pork shanghai dumplings (also known as xiao long bao, £2.80). In English, they're also known as soup dumplings and are usually served alongside a black vinegar with ginger-type dipping sauce. Yum yum. These kind of dumplings have become one of my favourite dishes to eat, thanks to my awesome friend who introduced them to me a few years back for his birthday! You get the flavours of the broth inside, the black vinegar, and the meat inside the steamed dumpling. I was itching to eat one (I guess one of my friends was too) so I totally forgot to take a photo at the beginning, hence why there's only two left in the photo on the right :-)

We also ordered the baked mini egg tarts (£2.60), fried taro croquettes with chicken, roast pork, and prawn (£2.60), and crispy prawn rolls (£3.20). Is it sacrilege to not be a huge fan of egg tarts? I usually don't like egg tarts – ironically I find them too eggy, but these ones are the exception to the rule. They're also seriously cute looking too, dontcha think? The crispy prawn rolls stayed true to its name, and the taro croquettes were delightful to eat. One of my friends (Birthday Girl from the previous post) tried the taro croquettes for the first time and wasn't a fan of the taste. I must admit that they take some time getting used to...I used to think they tasted odd once upon a time...The crispy exterior complements the texture of the soft filling of taro and the mix of proteins.

Birthday Girl is a major fan of gyoza (this, which I realised after countless of times of hanging out with her), so we ordered the pan fried vegetarian gyoza (£2.60) which were really good. I like both the pan fried and regular steamed versions of gyoza, but the pan fried ones are always nicer (though unhealthier obviously) for a bit of texture.

Another dish I'm actually not a huge fan of is char siu bao (otherwise termed as a honey roast pork bun, £2.60). Usually if someone orders it for the table, I tend to rip off and eat the steamed bun/dough only. I usually find the filling to be rather sweet, but the roast pork filling inside here had the right amount of sweetness. If all char siu bao was like Yum Cha Silks & Spice's, I would actually be a fan!! It was a major hit at our table. 

I can usually tell how decent a yum cha restaurant is by its its pork and prawn shu mai dumpling (£2.60) and its har gow (crystal bamboo shoot prawn dumpling, £2.60) respectively. Those two dumplings are my standard measure. These did not disappoint. The pork and prawn filling for the shu mai and the prawn filling for the har gow were both succulent and the har gow dumpling skin was translucent and appropriately not too thick nor too thin.

We also ordered the steamed lotus leaf rice with chicken, pork and shrimp (£3.60), honey roast pork cheong fun (rice noodle roll with roast pork, £3.20), and the turnip cake with wind dried meat and shrimp (£2.60). I actually didn't eat the turnip cake since I was incredibly full by the time it arrived (I was assured by my friends that it was good), but in terms of the lotus leaf rice dish, it had been one of my least liked dishes of the day as it lacked a bit of flavour (or oomph as my brother would say). Lastly, the cheong fun did not disappoint! It was good since the rice noodle wasn't too overly thick. Sometimes I find that the rice noodle is too thick at some dim sum restaurants and you're only eating rice noodles, but here, you get the right amount of both noodles and filling.

I went back for Round #2 with another friend of mine 7-8 months later and it was just as good, if not better than the first time. The second time I went there, my friend and I ordered a pot of chrysanthemum flower tea and it was incredibly soothing. My friend even asked the waitress where we could get it because the tea was pretty darn good, but she couldn't tell us since only the manager/owner/can't-remember-who-she-was-referring-to knew (apparently).

Don't be fooled by the exterior of this restaurant. While it's not exactly in a prime location, it probably works best that way. The food is good, the service is efficient, and the prices are on par with other dim sum restaurants in London.

Bonus: On Monday to Wednesdays after 5pm, they offer 50% off on their dim sum menu, although my friends tell me that it is more limited compared to the lunch menu... no egg tarts for example! Hate to quote Charlie Sheen here, but dare I say it.....winning?!

Next post: Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (otherwise known as the only time I really splurged while I was in London)