Melbourne Day 2: Dinner at Yum Cha Cafe

Yum Cha Cafe
http://yumchacafe.com.au/



We had plans for Saturday night. We rested in the afternoon (by rest I mean that Kat lay in bed fully clothed with her eyes closed and I was bouncing around taking ridiculous photos of myself in the hotel room) and prepared to have a big night out.



The idea was to purchase a couple bottles of wine for consumption in the hotel and then head out for a cocktail crawl.

But first, a meal.


I had a whole list of places I wanted to go but somehow, when confronted with the choice then and there, nothing seemed appropriate. I originally wanted to go to Yu-u but decided that a $30 minimum spend, per head, was more than I wanted for Japanese food. Gingerboy was another choice for me so I picked that and ran with it.

It was a straight walk away from where we were staying so we got dressed and headed down. Along the way, we found a bottleshop and purchased our wine.


After a long, painful (women and our love for heels...) walk to Gingerboy, we were waved away by extremely rude staff. Yes we know they're hip and busy but excuse us for even daring to enter the premise without a booking. For the record, when I rang them earlier, they said there were no tables but that we were welcome to eat at the bar. What nonsense... we weren't made to feel welcome to do ANYTHING.

Angry, we walked out and scanned for alternatives. At the intersection, we saw a restaurant called Yum Cha Cafe. Kat LOVES yum cha. It seemed perfect so we hopped on in.

Cute sauce pot

The decor is just lovely. Very trendy with an oriental touch but nothing that seems pretentious or intimidating. You can request yum cha items, order from a menu, or grab dishes off the waitstaff who walk around with a selection.

We chose a few things to share.

Taro crispy puffs

Inside of taro puff

Prawn dumplings

Peking duck wraps

BBQ pork buns

Inside of BBQ pork buns

The food was quite good - better than the generic yum cha offerings in Brisbane but also a bit pricier.

Aside from the food, we decided to start our partying with some cocktails. The Grasshopper was delicious.

Grasshopper and Sex on the Beach

Pina colada (right) and something that I've forgotten

We had a great time at the Yum Cha Cafe. The staff were lovely and service was fast. We liked the cosy interior with the cute decorations. It definitely made up for the dismissal we got from Gingerboy.