Yum cha is hands down one of our favourite things to feast on, as there’s nothing more we love than eating a little bit of everything. We had the honour of attending our first-ever Lunar New Year banquet at The Panda Yum Cha, and while Lunar New Year celebrations aren’t year-round, the delicious yum cha at this lovely restaurant is.
Right by Macquarie shopping centre, The Panda Yum Cha is a huge, decadently decorated restaurant with tanks of live fish and plenty of big, round tables for you and your friends to gather at. The menu is extensive and covers everything from lobster to duck, ensuring there’s something for everyone on the menu.
We were lucky enough to feast on a range of different dishes at the Lunar New Year banquet, and there were definitely some standouts we’ll be heading back for soon.
The steamed scallops with XO sauce and vermicelli were flavoursome and juicy, plus we loved the presentation of the tasty vermicelli noodles in the scallop shell.
Stir-fried lobster with garlic butter and vermicelli was a crowd favourite, both for how impressive it was visually and the rich, creamy flavour of the dish which had us scraping the plate for every last morsel.
While lobster would usually be our favourite dish of the evening, we were totally blown away by a dish we’d never had before: fruit sweet and sour pork. Taking the typical sweet and sour pork dish but giving it an upgrade, The Panda Yum Cha traded battered and fried pork for tender chunks of pork meat tossed in a sticky sauce with chunks of fruit. We’ll be dreaming about this dish for dinners to come, it’s an absolute must when you visit here.
If you’re keen to check out The Panda Yum Cha, you can pop past for a banquet dinner like we did, an a la carte dinner or for yum cha morning tea, where you can dine on yummy dumplings, buns and other steamed goodies.
