Zilver, Haymarket Chinatown

Har gow prawn dumplings $5.20

"What number did she say? 61?" R asks me, in pleading despair as we enter our twentieth minute waiting for a yum cha table.

Despite my reassurances that no, she said 51, I'm sure she did, R strides confidently to the yum cha bouncer. The woman behind the podium, scribbling determinedly as her radio mic cackles, looks up with a stern face.

R is insistent, feigning a cheerful confident smile as she presents our ticket stub for brief inspection. The bouncer is not so easily fooled and with a curt snap of her head sends R back to us with an abrupt "Not ready yet. I call number soon".


Pan-fried rice noodles with peanut sauce $4.20

We make it eventually, although there is a brief interlude when attempts are made to seat us in the entrance corridor, far away from the traffic jam trolley action. After three minutes of growing isolation we abandon our table and plead for another. Sensing our resolute determination, Ms yumcha bouncer scores us another table, a prime location we note, to our gloating satisfaction.


Fried prawn rolls with sesame seeds $5.20

I'd eaten at Zilver before, but A and R had been keen to try it after Helen Greenwood's glowing review. The food, I'm pleased to note, is as good as it was last time. Steamed dumplings are thin and sticky, and the siu maai pork and har gow prawn dumpings are generous with large chunks of prawn.


Siu maai pork dumplings $4.20

I'm still easily impressed by their use of orange fish roe too - it doesn't taste of much, but their liberal scattering on the siu maai and scallop dumplings still make me oohhh with inner delight.


Scallop dumplings $5.20


Gao choi gow garlic chive dumplings $5.20

I'm happy as a pig in mud once I have a gao choi gow garlic chive dumpling in the grip of my chopsticks. And then a trolley with ham soi gok trundles past and my eyes fire up again, head nodding with greed-induced urgency.


Ham soi gok combination pork dumplings $4.20

I love these combination pork dumplings, mini footballs that behold a hidden mouthful of sweet and salty pork mince inside. Their magic is in their deep-fried packaging though, a crunchy exterior that shatters to a sticky starchy slightly sweet dough within.

This one is truly one of the best I've eaten. It's fully inflated, meaning it's just come out of the deep fryer, and it's a delicous dark golden hue that lends itself to extra crunch and tackiness.


Chow mein fried noodles $9.80

There's an assortment of fried bits and pieces, some pan-fried rice noodles and a huge dish of chow mein too. The noodles are a little on the oily side and I wish the whitebait had more salt and chilli, but the batter is light and crispy.


Fried squid $5.20


Fried whitebait $8.80

The damage for 3 is $66.70, but we have a little box of takeaway as evidence of our over-ordering gluttony.



We roll out the door with our bellies swollen, our blood sugar levels on a GI high. A slow start to our lunch, but some things are worth waiting for.



Zilver Restaurant
Level 1, 477 Pitt Street (corner of Hay Street)
Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9211 2232

Monday to Friday lunch: 10.00am-3.30pm
Monday to Friday dinner: 5.30pm-11.00pm
Saturday to Sunday lunch: 9.00am-3.30pm
Saturday to Sunday dinner: 5.30pm-11.00pm

Related GrabYourFork posts:
Chinatown--Dragon Star
Chinatown--East Ocean, August 2006
Chinatown--East Ocean, August 2005
Chinatown--East Ocean, October 2004
Chinatown--Zilver, February 2006
Marrickville--Hung Cheung