So before visiting this Docklands restaurant I got mixed reviews from peers as well as interesting posts on Urbanspoon, most of which were dining on a typical weekend. The reviews for Yum Cha Dragon were good enough to warrant me trying out this place for the New Year's Eve '8 course' banquet.
Docklands is not exactly a place of ambience and atmosphere, but seeing as there were fireworks on the docks and a forecasted 40 degree day to counter the typical blistering cold winds of Docklands, I felt it would be a good night for a feast. We pre-paid the booking to 'secure' our table.
We opted for the early sitting of 5.30pm to 8.00pm. There were two choices, standard ($69) and superior ($99). The only difference I saw was the soft shell crab and barramundi instead of an anonymous "fish" fillets so I opted for the Standard Banquet option. On first glance, the menu was quite substantial.
I found it interesting that a whole dish dedicated to fried rice and that no other rice was included in the banquet. It makes no sense to me as I would think that more carbos = more full customers and therefore more satisfied. I say provide unlimited rice in banquets!
As soon as I arrived I was served a glass of champagne and greeted by first name (name of the booking). Unfortunately it was not as cold as I like it and quickly heated up because the air conditioning was not working too well, but I managed to finish the glass quite quickly :P
The next dish was Peking Duck (only one piece per person with separate sauce). This duck portion in the wrap was acceptable and was freshly wrapped so was not soggy. I love Peking Duck so two pieces would have been nice.
One thing I did notice throughout the night was that the floor manager was very quick with responding to things that wait staff forgot such as plating the Peking Duck dish before removing the soup bowls.
The sweet and sour prawns sauce not too sweet and very fresh from deep frier. Unfortunately the waiter learned too quickly from the previous plating and took the plate taken away as we ate. This time we still wanted sauce as it was the best thing out so far!
This was the time that we noticed that the dishes had no real ordering (I assumed the same order as the menu) and neither did the serving of tables. I could only spot one or two tables that had ordered the superior banquet; I could onlt tell when alternate dishes were being served from the from the kitchen at one time.
The wok-fried XO king prawns contained a hint of chilli and garlic and tasted very fresh. The fried rice went well with the sauce which was not salty at all. I was very surprised that most of the food was not as salty as I expected, an excellence change.
The rice itself was basic and the advertised "king prawns" tasted very much like the frozen prawns I buy from my local chinese supermarket. Of course it would have been great if the size was big enough for four people and was brought out with the first main so we could have it with sauce.
The fried beef fillets was very tasty and went very well with the sesame sauce. I finished off all of the sauce and was tempted to lick the plate! Sometimes you get the feeling that some chinese restaurant get their sauce from a bottle, but I believe this one was made in the kitchen.
The texture of the fillets did seem to be a little fabricated, most likely from bicarbonate soda to give it that 'soft' bite but I didn't mind. After this dish I was very thirsty and ordered a refreshing coke.
The texture of the fillets did seem to be a little fabricated, most likely from bicarbonate soda to give it that 'soft' bite but I didn't mind. After this dish I was very thirsty and ordered a refreshing coke.
After having my two pieces, I think it may have been quickly deep fried as it is medium rare and chewy in parts in the centre with a semi-crispy coating.
The next dish was the Kung Pao Szechwan chicken which was mild and came with only two seschuan chilies, I guess this level of hottness is good for most but I like it much hotter. I compared this directly to the chilli chicken from Peko Peko in South Melbourne. Peko Peko don't skimp on the chilli's and fry the chicken in the wok along with the chilli's to give it that nice charred flavour. This was quite bland in comparison.
The anonymous 'Fish Fillets' were very sticky on teeth and undercooked throughout. Firstly it came out luke warm and it was also plated up on a cold dish! The flavour was OK at best when soy sauce was added, we left most of the fish as it was just not enjoyable. Imagine this statement in a Gordon Ramsay voice with more swearing: "This should have never left the kitchen like this"
Main dishes came out in good time with 25 minutes between dishes maximum.
Eventually the pressure of a non-typical full house got to the wait staff, there was no longer any order to the serving of dishes and dessert went to tables that came in 1 to 1.5 hour after us. Tables were in and out within 1.5 hours as we sat there for the whole 3 hours. We were forced to wait 50 mins for our simple dessert of which we had to ask wtf was happening.
We had to ask to get our dessert for it to be served. What the most disappointing thing was that the dish was a basic mango pudding and cream that you get at yum cha already pre-made and ready in the fridge the day before. It was very sweet...the usual.
The bill for drinks were handed to us before dessert arrived and I got the feeling they wanted us out but this was not our fault that they didn't serve dessert! The staff didn't even ask if was wanted coffee or tea within the wait. I made sure I asked for coffee as soon as the dessert arrived so that I wouldn't be forgotton again.
The Cafe Latte was done strong, milk a little over-steamed but served at a good temperature. The milk overwhelmed the flavour and I couldn't finish it.
We got our coffees at 8.15, but session ended at 8. Lucky we left our coffees because the next session (8.30pm) was walking in and blocking the exit as we departed.
The mood lifted as soon as we left with the place full of a combination of clubbers in short dresses waiting for the clubs to open and families with their young kids flinging around lightsaber toys waiting for the fireworks to start.
The highlight of the whole night was a Woody Harrelson look-alike dancing to the DJ's dance music as fireworks exploded above my head to welcome 2011. Hopefully in the new year will bring my way restaurants with quality service and excellence on-par with Ezard and the like.
The main positive of the night was that I liked how the floor manager remembered the first name of each booked table, it was a nice touch. The floor manager did well remembering the bookings of each table and did her best to control what was a very pressured night.
I may try this place again, but on a typical Docklands day with no other people around and no pressure on the staff; maybe then I will get quality service and cuisine.
