For the first time yesterday, I did not enjoy my yum cha session. The Chinese restaurant Silver Spring served lousy dimsum. My friend and I decided to go for the buffet which costs $14.90/person as we usually end up paying that amount in other restaurants. So, buffet just meant that we could grab as much food as we wanted from the carts which went by.
The only reason why we went to this restaurant was because it was recommended by my dining companion’s friend. My dining companion was a Singaporean girl and her friend who recommended Silver Spring was a gay Singaporean male. And so we were thinking, this place should be good ‘cos gay men , coupled with the fact that he’s Singaporean, are supposed to have very good taste in food and the finer things in life.
Unfortunately, this restaurant did not pass the palate test of these two particular Singaporean ladies. The variety was pathetic, the kitchen wasn’t fast with popular items like Char Siew Bao and Egg Tarts, service was bad, the congee was bad, the desserts didn’t taste good either. Generally the food didn’t taste as good as what I’ve had in other restaurants. I also overheard some people complaining about the absence of those popular food items.
Next time, my friend and I will do the Singapoean thing and only go to a restaurant where everyone flocks too. I mean, the place was quite packed, but not as much as restaurants like East Ocean, Marigold and Kam Fook where the queues are endless. Silver Spring’s good to go to only if you’re a big eater, which I’m not. I felt like I had wasted my calories.
Note to self: Trust the crowd in future when it comes to food.
To all my readers in Sydney: Don’t go to Silver Spring for yumcha unless you really don’t have a choice.
After lunch, my friend and I took a bus to Balmain to check out the weekend market there. Both of us are big fans of these weekend markets as there are many hand- and homemade ware. All the handicraft, clothes and artwork are so individualistic and unique. Love all these sort of stuff. I bought a handsewn bag with Japanese prints.
A lone busker also entertained with lovely tunes from his fiddle – this fiddler was a mere boy of 8 or 9 years old. His cherubic face, sandy blond hair, coupled with the intense look on his face when he played, touched the hearts of many people. Coins fluttered into his small violin case (a child-sized one) placed at his feet every other second. I dropped a coin in too….how could one not do so???
Around the vicinity of the market there were many fashion boutiques, lifestyle shops and cafes which lined the main street. The place reminded me of London’s Notting Hill and Portebello market. There was a very nice feel to it, plus the weather was gorgeous. The good thing also was that there were no tourists, unlike the famous Paddington market.
My friend and I felt that this place was such a find! We found out about this place through some research on the Net for markets to go to. This one sounded good and so we decided to check it out. The whole area was such a delight. We checked out the boutiques which were stocked with unique clothes by local designers. We popped into a cafe to grab a drink. I love the cafe culture here. Everyone’s sitting alfresco and soaking in the sun.
After our drink, we headed back to the city and went to watch the film ‘Intolerable Cruelty’ starring George Clooney & Cahterine Zeta-Jones. It was a funny and light-hearted movie befitting the mood of the day, and a nice way to end the day as well. 🙂