by Juliet Rogers
If you like your Yum Cha then you’re going to love Open Kitchen. My family and I went for an early lunch one recent Saturday and were really impressed.
The restaurant is located on the outside of the Macquarie Centre (Level 3), facing Talavera Road. You can get to it from parking level 3 via a walkway (there are signs from the shopping centre near H&M). It’s not the trolley service type of yum Cha but, as a result, the food is super fresh.
The ambience is clean and rustic at the same time – brightly coloured patterned tiles combined with the wooden panelling decor (even extending to the individual toilet cubicles) – create an almost street food type environment.
We ordered a variety of dishes, including our family favourite of Char Sui buns, plus some rice with asparagus and peas. We also tried one of the restaurants specialties – snowball buns – absolutely delicious!
All the dishes were beautifully cooked, the meat free from fat and tasted so fresh. Despite having ‘green things’ in it, my kids absolutely devoured the rice, as did my hubby and I!
As its name suggests, the kitchen is open and visible to the seating area. There are 3 different food preparation and cooking stations to observe (which my kids loved) and the staff are part of the entertainment. It was also great to see the quality and cut of the meats being prepared, clearly emphasising the freshness.
Whilst it did cost a little more than your standard Yum Cha, I would certainly say it was well worth the money for the quality and atmosphere.
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