Mr Chao Seafood Restaurant - Hurstville

After a fairly early morning airport pick up (10am is early on a weekend alright!?), we decided to swing by Hurstville to take our guest for a bout of Yum Cha at Mr Chao Seafood Restaurant.

My dad started panicking about how we're not going to get a table even though its only 11am, so he dumps us in front of the restaurant whilst he finds parking. I thought it was a bit over the top, but by 11am, there were only 2 free tables left.

Steamed beef rice noodle (Ngau Cheung)

Prawn Dumplings (Har Gau)

These were super full of chunky bursty prawns. Definitely hit the spot.

Dim Sim topped with baby abalone (Siw Mai)

This is my must have every time I go yum cha. I always prefer the standard traditional ones. Unfortunately, they said they only have the abalone topped ones today. It wasn't bad, I gave the abalone to my mum, but it also meant we got 3 instead of 4 :(

Shortcrust bbq pork triangles

Uber flakey and full of bbq pork goodness!

Beef tendon in black bean sauce

Done very well. The worst is undercooked chewy rubber ones. These ones melt in your mouth and had a lovely gelatinous stickiness to it.

Black bean pork ribs and salted fish rice

My dad's must have. He prefers the traditional one with black bean pork ribs with the chicken feet though. Luckily he loves salted fish, so it was still good.

Black bean chicken feet

Malaysian steamed cake

Lava buns

OMG! These are one of my favourite dishes that are rarely served at yum cha places. So when I heard they were on the menu, I had to get a steamer for myself! What's so special about them? On the outside, they look like an ordinary steamed bun. But its what is inside that matters....

Innards

The centre of the bun is a sweet and salty custard that oozes out like lava. Its made from salted egg yolks and sugar and turned into a custard like filling. I wish more yum cha places served this because its incredibly moreish!

I probably only go yum cha 2-3 times a year, so I can't tell you if its good value or not. My dad actually goes yumcha every week with the oldies and apparently this is one of the better ones in Sydney in terms of quality of food, taste and cost. I guess it must be good coming from a bunch of retirees! hehe I did find the quality of food pretty good though!

Mr Chao Seafood Restaurant
127 Forest Rd
Hurstville NSW 2220
Ph: (02) 9580 8003


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