Yum cha at Zilver, a new favourite

This is just a quick update on a Sunday lunch and the fact that I've found my new favourite yum cha place!

We hadn't been to Zilver for ages, mainly due to its traditionally massive queues and waiting times. Because, if you don't get there before 11.30am on a weekend, then you are in for a wait, and there's nothing I hate more than waiting for food when I'm HUNGRY (I get grumpy and manky and you don't want to know me).

So we made the effort yesterday and got to Zilver Chinese Restaurant (at Central, opposite the Capitol Theatre) around 10.50am. We waltzed right in and were seated straight away. The food is excellent, with old faves such as sui mai and steamed meatballs having a certain piquancy and flavour that is missing from other high-volume yum cha palaces in the Chinatown and CBD areas.

Zilver also has some dishes that are hard to find in other places, such as the rolls of black sesame jelly, that here are so light and fragrant.

And it's pretty good value, too. We had 9 dishes all up (with tea), and the bill came to just over $50.

We ate (clockwise from top left): the best sui mai; gorgeous chicken spring rolls and nori prawn cutlets;

oh-so-light black sesame jelly rolls; very tender and tasty white tripe

There was a slight gap in the floor service (for about 2 minutes but felt like 2 hours) when there were absolutely no trolleys on the floor at all. See if you can spot the customers (at neighbouring tables, in the photo below) who collapsed as a result...

And apologies for the quality of the photos - they were taken with my new camera phone and I don't know all the settings yet.

But this pic of Tabitha cat turned out okay - she and I were sunning ourselves on the upstairs landing. Looks like she has a giraffe neck, for some reason...