It has been 2 years since my first and last meet-up with other Sydney food bloggers so I was thrilled to receive the email invitation to a yum cha meet and greet at East Ocean.
Who was there? Suze from chocolatesuze, Helen from Grab Your Fork, Kathryn from Limes & Lycopene, Lisa from spicyicecream, Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella, Howard and Qing from eatshow&tell, Belle and William from Ooh, Look…, Reem from I Am Obsessed With Food and a big thank you goes out to Christie from Fig & Cherry for organising this lovely lunch.
I had such a great time… conversation flowed continuously from discovering that a few of us loved to treat on avocado with condensed milk, to learning that Vegemite made good stock. We also discussed our varied experiences with the sometimes negative response of restaurants, magazines and celebrity chefs, and of course swapped lists of our favourite places to dine and produce to buy.
Each dish made its way around the table, ensuring each of us had the opportunity to photograph the food before it was touched. We ooohed and aahed at the thousand layer cake which Suze had spent 10 years hunting for… and racked up a $220 bill which was not bad for a table of 12 hungry foodies!
All in all, I’ve been introduced to some fantastic new food blogs, which I have already become a fan of, and have been pleased to have had the opportunity of putting faces to some of the blogs that I’ve been reading for years. This time, I’ll have to make sure it isn’t a 2 year gap til my next meet-up.
Here are bits and pieces of what we munched down:

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - assorted plates of dim sims and dumplings

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - siu mai, pork dumpling

Siu mai (pork dumplings)

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - soup dumpling, xiu long bao

Xiu long bao (soup dumplings)

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - steamed rice noodles with prawns and soya sauce

Steamed rice noodles with prawns and soy sauce

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - Crescent Dumplings (Ham Sui Gok or footballs)

Ham sui gok (also known as crescent dumplings or footballs)

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - steamed gai larn, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce

Steamed gai larn (Chinese broccoli) with oyster sauce

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - food bloggers taking photos

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - trolley

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - pan-fried rice noodle rolls with peanut butter and hoisin sauce

Pan-fried shrimp rice noodle rolls, served with peanut butter and hoisin sauce

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - vegetable dumplings

Vegetable dumplings

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - prawn dumplings or har gow

Har gow (prawn dumplings)

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - pork ribs

Pork ribs

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - chicken feet

Chicken feet

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - table of assorted dishes

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - food bloggers in action

Food bloggers in action

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - custard and egg tarts

Egg tarts… mMmm… these were perfect. The pastry was still warm and flaky and the egg custard was the ideal proportion.

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - custard buns

Custard buns

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - mango pudding

Mango pudding
I’ve never had the thousand layer cake before. It was soft and sponge-like… the top layer was similar to the typical steamed bun but the layers beneath it were rich with lotus seed paste (the kind in moon cakes) and egg yolk.

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - thousand layer cake

Thousand layer cake

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - the bill

East Ocean Chinese Restaurant, Haymarket, Sydney (yum cha) - signage

Thanks for the wonderful company guys! Hope to see you soon… and in the meantime, happy photographing, blogging and eating.
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East Ocean Restaurant
421 – 429 Sussex St, Haymarket, Sydney
Web: www.eastocean.com.au

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Jennifer Lam
http://jenniferlam.com
Jennifer is the founding blogger of I Ate My Way Through (originally, Jenius.com.au). Growing up in the multicultural melting pot of Sydney’s Inner West as a second generation Australian (of Vietnamese refugee parents of Teochew Chinese ancestry), Jen has always had a deep curiosity about global cuisines, culinary heritage and the cultural assimilation of immigrants. For Jen and her family, food is always at the centre of all celebrations, life events and milestones. A lover of the finer things in life, as well as cheap eats, her blogging ethos is all about empowering and inspiring people to expand their culinary repertoire. When not running her two companies (she is also the Managing Director of The Bamboo Garden online marketing agency), Jen can be found exploring old-world charms at vintage markets and delving into local eats around the world. She has a weakness for fried chicken.

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  • Great photos, and yep, it had been far too long between foodblogger meet-ups!

  • woah yeah awesome photos dude! great to see ya again

  • Fantastic photos Jen! That avo and condensed milk conversation made my day! Be great to catch up with you again 🙂

  • Great photos Jen! It was lovely to meet you too and I hope we can do it again soon-before 2 year’s time of course 😉

  • Hi Jen, it was so nice to meet you, and great to chat to you on the train. Your photos are just wonderful, I’m so glad I found your blog! Hope to see you again soon.

  • hi Jen, Like everyone else, I’m blown away by your photos (so many, and so fab!). It was great to see you. Hope we can do it again soon.

  • Ditto, top photos! And it was great to see a fellow avocado and condensed milk eater. Everyone should try durian and custard apple milkshakes too.

  • D

    rolling trolley cart of goodies, yum! love your pictures Jen (and your blog too!)

  • Syrie

    What fun! It must be so good to eat and talk with people who all share a passion.