There’s a joke in the beloved but ill-fated Netflix series “The Brothers Sun”, where they talk about going to the “Number 1 Seafood Restaurant in Alhambra,” only to find that this was merely the name of the restaurant and not a reflection at all about the restaurant’s quality.
This is similar to what happened to me, as I fell victim to a puff piece by 7NEWS Australia, and ended up at “Sydney Best Dim Sim” in Eastwood, purchasing a selection of frozen disappointments to steam at home.
While I don’t have photos of every individual thing, I do have a representative sample. I had the scallop dumpling 带子饺 (8 for $9)
, which was unenjoyable. It was difficult to ascertain the presence of scallop, and the texture of the filling was very homogenous, pasty, and sticky – nowhere near the quality of a yum cha restaurant or one of my preferred frozen dim sum suppliers in Sydney. You’re simply not meant to be able to squeeze filling through the tines of a fork like that.
I faced a similar problem with the gow choi gow / prawn and chives dumpling (韭菜饺) (6 for $7.80), again with filling that was a sticky clumped mess, minimal evidence of actual seafood, and this time with not much chive flavour either.
Overall
I am somewhat doubtful that the ones spruiking this place have even tried the dim sum on offer. They are demonstrably inferior to options from Lai Shing Dim Sim Factory, as well as Ho’s Dim Sim Kitchen, both in Marrickville, and both of which provide truly restaurant grade frozen dim sum for the same price.
At the end of the day it’s my own fault for trusting traditional commercial media, when I don’t even trust food influencers who may even take a free meal.
All meals on this blog are paid for independently. Many, like this one, with regret.
Sydney Best Dim Sim
Shop 23/185 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122
