My friend and I had been wanting to try yumcha at Spicy Ginger in Acton for a while, so we finally managed to go there on a Sunday. I’ve only ever been there once a few years ago, and living up to its name, most of the dishes we ordered were very spicy.
Yumcha is $22 per person, and you can basically have anything you want from the trolleys or from the dishes the wait staff bring around. The Chinese greens were crunchy and doused in oyster sauce.
Fried chicken wings and drumsticks – didn’t really like the batter on this. But I do like the red and black bowls, plates and tableware.
Siu mai – these were pretty tasty!
Chive and bamboo dumplings – my friend didn’t like these but I like chives. These tasted fresh and were served steaming.
Har gow – yummy and heaps better than what was served at Mr Wei’s.
Deep fried squid – the batter was much too soft, almost soggy, that I removed it and just ate the squid on its own. It was a big serve for just the two of us.
The xiao long bao were average with just the right amount of broth inside. Not as good as Din Tai Fung in Sydney.
The pan-fried pork dumplings were stuffed with grated carrots – pretty tasty and I love how the bottom is just slightly burnt. Made it tastier 🙂
Steamed prawn and pumpkin dumpling – love this combination (Dickson Dumpling House also have this on the menu). I couldn’t taste any prawn because there was a lot more pumpkin than prawn.
Pan-fried pork and vegetable dumplings – probably my favourite dumplings of the day. Really yummy pork with grated veggies and chives in a perfectly pan-fried dumpling. Surprisingly yummy!
BBQ Pork buns – I left these until the end but was too full and didn’t end up trying it.
At only $22, yumcha here is reasonably priced and you can eat whatever you want until you’re full. The wait staff come around with plates of dumplings and other food, asking how many you’d like, so you could go to town here and have as many dumplings and other dishes as you want. I thought the food was average but decent. I noticed there weren’t any desserts (atleast during the time I was there).
I found service was attentive and friendly. Our tea and cold tap water was served very quickly after we had arrived. The restaurant is clean with all tables wiped down and clean bowls and cutlery. The main front dining area was half full of diners so noise levels were low. You can have a decent conversation with your dining companions without having to raise your voice. We noticed what seemed like a tour bus full of people (about 40) heading into the back dining room for lunch. Thankfully, this didn’t seem to impact the number of dishes coming out to us.
I still prefer yumcha at The Scholar or Noble Palace, but for the price, Spicy Ginger offer a pretty decent alternative.
Foodgasm 6.5/10
