Taipan

Taipan Restaurant

237-239 Blackburn Rd, Doncaster East

(Ph) 9841 9977

We went to Doncaster to get our personalised "Share a Cokes" (which we lined up an hour for o_Oa!) and since we were in the area, P wanted yumcha for lunch even though we weren't that hungry after brunch at Tango Charlie. We decided to just order a few dishes and go somewhere not as expensive as Plume ><

Taipan was just a 2 minute drive from Doncaster Shopping Centre so we decided to go there.

Taipan is more like a "normal" yumcha restaurant, not as high class and Western as Plume makes itself so we figured that'd mean cheaper food =)

They didn't have any 壽眉 "sau mei" tea so I decided to get some 普洱 "pu er" and see why my brother loves it so much. And yup I've confirmed my dislike for pu er - it's too strong and bitter =/ We should have asked for a pot of hot water too so we could dilute our tea ourselves lol. Or we should have ordered 香片 "xiang pian" instead - which is more like a Jasmine tea - ah well next time!

While P was in the bathroom, I ordered a few dishes that I like myself - woops =P

Ox Tongue Puff

牛脷酥 (uw lai so) - "ox tongue puff"! P had never tried one before and I told him it's like the sweet version of 油炸鬼 (yao tsa gwai - "deep fried ghosts") which he doesn't like very much but he liked this! =) It's more like a dessert with it's sweet strip in the middle and it feels really oily - well yes it is deep fried =P

I also got a "Mexican Taro Bun" - yay taro <3

Mexican Taro Bun

Mexican bun is kinda like a "Pineapple bun" but the top crunchy layer is slightly different and not as sweet - the top layer is not actually made from pineapple at all - it's called pineapple bun because the pattern is meant to look like a pineapple with the criss-cross (it generally doesn't =P). I normally like "pineapple buns" better the top layer is more crunchy and sweeter =)

Pineapple Bun

I don't know why Mexican bun is called that - what part of it is Mexican?! But the taro paste inside this bun was tasty =) <3 taro!

Of course we had to order 排骨 (pai gu) - spareribs =)

Spareribs

Why is ours never as tasty and our sauce is always really liquid from the condensation while steaming =( They put a few carrot bits in it instead of taro - the carrot had absorbed all the juices so was very sweet =) Not as good as some other ones but still settled our craving for it =)

Of course P had to order 蝦餃 (har gao) prawn dumpling and  燒賣 (siu mai) pork dumpling.

Prawn Dumplings

Wow the prawn dumplings were so big and chubby! P said they were very tasty and juicy inside with thin pastry =) I wonder why they give 4 prawn dumplings but only 3 pork dumplings - you'd think prawn is more expensive and they'd give fewer =P but then again, because it's more expensive, it's a "deluxe" item as opposed to the pork dumplings being "small".

Pork Dumplings

These don't look very good at all =/ So irregular shaped  and toppling over =/ was alright nothing too spesh about it - pretty sure they used minced pork instead of cutting their own pork bits which apparently is what traditional 燒賣 is meant to be so you have some texture to bite into instead of it being like a meatball, but most restaurants in Australia use minced pork 'cause it's easier.

P said he didn't feel like 叉燒包 (cha siu bao) - BBQ pork bun but I said if he didn't get one I know he'll regret it 'cause it's normally his favourite yumcha dish =P

BBQ Pork Bun

They looked slightly disappointing to be honest - looked quite small (generally they're bigger with only 2 in each basket) and the buns were split revealing the not-so-juicy BBQ pork inside =(

I always think the BBQ pork should be red and juicy which this one wasn't =( the bun was quite soft though but what's a BBQ pork bun without good BBQ pork!

I saw they had 千層糕 (tsin tsun gao) - thousand layer cake here as well and I was reminiscing the delicious one at Wealth Garden.

Thousand Layer Cake

It wasn't as tasty as the one at Wealth Garden =( The cake was a little overcooked - would have liked it if it was softer and more moist, and the salty egg layers didn't taste like salty egg at all =/ like they couldn't afford salty egg and had to mix other ingredients in it as well or something - disappointing =(

Yay they have 流沙包 (luw sa bao) runny sand bun here! <3 I ALWAYS order it whenever they have it =) you have to order them - they never bring them out in the carts. I guess it's 'cause they don't taste good if they're left cold - the "sand" won't be runny anymore =P

Runny Sand Bun

Hmm it's not as yellow as I would have imagined - and one cracked!

Very disappointing! The "sand" was not runny at all and there was barely any inside! There was more bun than "sand" and the "sand" is not even regularly placed in the bun, it was popping out at one end while the other end was full of bun. Man they really don't like to give us much salty egg here - so stingy! Was not very nice and definitely doesn't compare with the Shark Fin House one - definitely is the best I've ever tasted! *craving*

Bill was about $45 for 8 dishes - so a lot cheaper than Plume which was $60 for 9 dishes, but Wealth Garden was by far the cheapest being ~$15 per person - all within 2 minutes drive of each other.

Food~
5/10 - can't be bothered rating each separately, but none of the dishes here really stood out as "oh this is delicious!" I guess the Ox Tongue Puff and the Mexican Taro Bun were pretty good, and P liked the Prawn Dumplings.

Service~
4/10 - pretty good, the waiters were very good with refilling our teapot and taking away our dishes.

Atmosphere~
3/10 - normal yumcha atmosphere - I miss it and yes it's rowdy but it's very comfortable =)

C.
xo