Luckily for the restaurant owners at Yummy Seafood Chinese Restaurant, I’ve been here several times and have always enjoyed the food. So even when our table of ten are still unseated by 7:50pm (we had a 7pm reservation), we don’t storm out. Besides, we were here to celebrate my Dad’s birthday!
But what I hate most though, is their approach. If they had been honest at the start instead of repeatedly telling me it’ll only be a few minutes and then trying their best to avoid me, we would’ve waited patiently.
Lesson of the day: Those who persevere are rewarded with food, glorious food!
Eventually, after an hour of staring at the live tanks and drooling over what the tables near the front of house were eating, we were finally taken to our table!
My siblings and I decide to go all out and shout my Dad a magnificent feast. This is one of the enjoyments of having three working adult children.
It was indisputable that we order the mud crab. The waiter cheekily smiles as I take a snapshot while he shows us the live mud crabs and coral trout.
While our order is placed, we are served the complimentary house soup. The pork broth tastes exactly like Mum’s slow-cooked homemade ones and it does a great job at soothing our hungry bellies.
The first dish to arrive is of course our Singaporean chilli-style mud crab which is a whooping $77.60 per kilo! We order two crabs which total to 2.8kg ($217.28). Gorgeous ribbons of egg interlace the rich tomato-based sauce. The hint of spicyness from the chilli and the fragrance of the belacan, onion and garlic won us over instantly. The only thing missing was some fried mantou (Chinese buns) to mop up the sauce. We didn’t want to fill up too quickly though, so don’t top up our order.
The serving of the other dishes are well timed, allowing us significant time to polish off the mud crab.
Rather typically, we have the family favourite – fried duck stuffed with taro ($25.80). I can’t think of a better way to eat duck, maybe with the exception of Peking duck. Succulent pieces of duck are topped with mashed taro and fried until golden and crisp. The layers work in perfect unison and with a coating of the thick sauce, it is simply irresistible.
I’ve also always loved this stir-fried beef with wasabi mayo ($22.80). The cubes of beef are impossibly tender and the sauce is really the perfect marriage of creamy mayonnaise with Japanese horseradish. The kids (consisting of my kid bro and Zen’s nephews who tagged along) totally loved this dish!
The Fujian fried rice ($19.80) is a luxurious combination of scallops, prawns, asparagus, mushrooms and chicken in a delicious gravy which sits on top of a bed of egg fried rice.
Lovers of mushrooms will love the next dish – stewed vegetables with mixed mushrooms ($24.80). Featuring the full cast of Asian mushrooms, the baby bok choy is served with sauteed shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms and shimeji mushrooms.
The whole coral trout ($128) is steamed traditionally with shallots, coriander, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil and peanut oil. We pause and watch the waitress meticulously remove the fish skeleton before digging in. The flesh is so delicate it is just divine.
Even better is the soft shell crab in salted egg yolk ($28.80) which you will only find on the Chinese menu! These are still smoking hot, served straight out of the deep-fryer. The fine texture of the batter just gently coats each piece of soft shell crab. Delish!
And we finish off the feast with complimentary sweets – a fresh fruit platter of oranges, watermelon and honey dew and a refreshing mung bean sweet soup.
So if you’re wondering if the restaurant lives up to its name – the answer is yes, this was every bit yummy.
P.S. Happy Australia Day! I’m off to start up the BBQ now 🙂
Yummy Seafood Chinese Restaurant
503-505 King Georges Rd, Beverly Hills NSW
Phone: (02) 9580 0788
