Crystal seafood restaurant, Strathfield, Sydney

Guest blogger edition

When I was a child, my parents used to take me to yum cha all the time. We’d sit there for an hour or two playing with my siblings, looking at the fish tanks and chowing down on dim sums whilst my parents sipped on tea and read the paper.

Now that I’m older, I feel our roles have reversed somewhat as I seem to be the one taking them out for yum cha on the occasional weekend. This time we visited Crystal seafood restaurant located in Strathfield. We arrived early (11am ish) as my parents hate waiting for a table. This was a wise decision as the restaurant definitely got busy as the day progressed.

We made our tea choice (poh lai) and watched the trolleys go bye, waiting for the dim sums that were our favourites.

Siu mai (pork dumpling)

Black pepper beef ribs

Vegetable and pork dumpling

Scallop and vegetable dumpling

Scallop dumpling

Savoury fried dumpling (not exactly sure what this is called in English) but the pastry has a slight sweet sticky taste to it whilst the filling is savoury – def recommend trying this if you haven’t before

Beef balls with bean curd – another family favourite

Prawn dumpling

Vegetarian bean curd rolls + Friend rice rolls

Tofu pudding – the quintessential yum cha dessert – smooth and silky tofu and not too sweet

Egg tart – yum cha is just not complete with egg tarts and these were fresh out of the oven – yummmm

The damage for 6 people? Only $86 (includes a few more dishes which were devoured before I had a chance to take a photo >_<)

Overall, Crystal seafood restaurant does a commendable job of providing yum cha cuisine but old habits die hard and I think our local yum cha joints in Rockdale and Hurstville is still preferred by my parents.