scrambledmindsMixed up thoughts on the web world, photography and life.

I know that the regular readers of scrambledminds.com have been wondering when the next Yum Cha Challenge was going to convene. You’re right, it has been some time since the last one. We’ve had babies, we’ve had weddings, we’ve had honeymoons, we’ve had christmas, we’ve had new years, we’ve had milestone birthdays. I think you get the idea.

So, it was with great gusto that the club responded to the call of Che to try out Manly Phoenix as the next Yum Cha Challenge venue. And what a venue it was. The score clearly shows that this was the most appreciated venue to date. You can see from the picture that this was definitely the case. Luckily there was a view to take the focus off bagging Che out for not making it to the challenge the she organised!

Needless to say, we dug into the food without Che. A pity really as Yum Cha is the best hangover food. Nothing better than tripe, chicken feet and a whole world of indescribable treats being pushed around by pushier trolley ladies. To make up for Che’s absence we alsohad a few newbies (Jay and Hayley).

To sum it all up, there was a lot of raving about the venue. A lot of lobbying by a couple of unnamed individuals (Neil and Julie). However it was adisappointingscore overall. Strange really because I think that the food and location were great!

The Good

• Stunning venue
• The large crowd
• Pretty high standard of Mango Pancakes
• Ruby

The Bad

• Che
• Lack of Lazy Susan!
• Poor overall performance

The Ugly

• Julie trying to hold back from ordering while as everyone was a little late. Not a pretty sight.

Inspiring vision.

Engaging leadership.

Neither of these two things have happened recently with the Yum Cha Challenge.

Dissent in the ranks.

That’s what you get if you don’t keep your team focused.

To stop a coup within the ranks of the Yum Cha Challenge it was necessary to get back out and into the fray that is a weekend Yum Cha Challenge. For better or worse, Zilver was the lucky venue this time around. This place was great, even if we did have to wait for it. You know what they say – Good things come to those who wait. I don’t know who said that but we waited and good things came so they definitely were right! Zilver has has taken the lead in the Yum Cha Challenge with a score of 4.2. For the benefit of all you avid readers of the Yum Cha Challenge (you both know who you are), let me recap the sores to date:

• Marigold Citymark in July 06 – 3.3
• The Regal in July 06 – 3.7
• Kam Fook in Jan 07 – 3.2
• Golden Jade Seafood Restaurant in March 07 – 3.6
• Palace Restaurant in May 07 – 4.1
• East Ocean Restaurant in May 07 – 3.9

The Good

• The great food, including variety. This place is the first one to get a perfect score for Quality.
• The Mango pancakes were the best going around!
• Getting to see a Chinese Dragon dance (I think that’s what it’s called). This was for Chinese New Year apparently.

The Bad

• The wait – a good 45 minutes to an hour. We managed to head off for some refreshments and came back. Maybe the Chinese New Year thing would explain the wait for a table!
• The unhappy staff

The Ugly

• The quotes (see below)
• Jason cleaning Neil’s blackberry nipple

Quotes

“The steam stuff is all exceptional quality” – Michelle after gobbling some steamed dumplings.

“I got a look at Ernest Chan and he’s quite a good looking man” – Che after seeing Enest and wishing she was his numero uno.

“My ball is clean” – Neil after realising he just likes saying ball and clean in the same sentence.

“The only reason I’m sticking with 4 on variety is that it took us to the end of the meal to get BBQ pork buns” – Che voicing her discontent with the time taken to getting pork buns and subsequently marking Zilver down in the wrong category (personally I think it should have been a frequency mark down).

“A lot more ‘high end’ items which we appreciated, like duck pancakes and soft shell crab. Very impressive” – Jody getting excited over the snazzy plates, most of which we didn’t order.

The East Ocean Restaurant was floated at the last minute by Craigy. The Yum Cha Challenge doesn’t typically accept submissions on the day. In this case however, The Challenge was willing to make an exception as we were all bored and had nothing better to do other than stuff our faces full of tasty fare. ……

It’s scary stepping outside of your comform zone, but that’s just what the Yum Cha Club did this time around. There were rumours of a great Yum Cha place in Eastwood in Sydney, ……

So after a bit of a hiatus, the Yum Cha Challenge Team returns for the new year. The new year brought new pastures and the team headed out of the centre of Sydney to Chatswood to visit Kam Fook.  ……

It was with a little trepidation that the Yum Cha Challenge team approached the sister resturant of our previous Yum Cha Challenge (Marigold Citymark) in the The Regal. ……

So for the inaugural (and sister challenge of the Laksa Challenge) Yum Cha challenge, the team headed to the Marigold Citymark on George street in Sydney. ……

So the Laksa Challenge has actually lasted more than one sitting. For the next challenge our intrepid “Best Laksa” seekers ventured to Castlereagh street for the Chinese Malay. ……