August 27, 2013

Imperial Treasure Chinese Restaurant, Hurstville

In the ‘burbs, you can be spoilt for choice in terms of yum cha. In particular, Hurstville has quite a few options and this is one of the newest – Imperial Treasure Chinese Restaurant.

It is perched high on Level 3 of Club Central which is located opposite the Hurstville Westfield (closet exits from the Westfield are on the Crofts Avenue side ie. near Adams Apple on the ground level and Subway on the higher level).

Since it’s in a club, rules apply for entry. We were there with a member so just signed the attendance books while the staff hovered dutifully to check we were filling in the entry slips correctly. As a funny aside – they asked if I was over 18! I was quite chuffed at this evidence of my youthful good looks and replied with a big smile ‘yes I am’. Then the pleasure turned to annoyance as they asked to check my drivers license. But hey, I’m 26 and still got it! *fingersnap*

The difference between Imperial Treasure Chinese Restaurant and the other yum cha places in Hurstville is that everything inside is very new (chairs, cutlery etc) and to one side of the restaurant, there are large glass windows offering a ‘million dollar view’.

It might not seem like much, but compared to the dingy darkness of some other yum cha places – this view and sunshine is positively palatial!

Head up the escalators and you’ll see the entry into the restaurant.

We had arrived early to snag a good spot and noticed that queues for a table began from around 11am on the Sunday. It seemed like the restaurant was slightly understaffed too as our teapots were not topped up with hot water frequently enough for our liking.

The dim sums all tasted very fresh and were decent in size. I didn’t like how their flat rice noodles were wide and fat instead of long and slimmer.