Sunday, August 8, 2010

Eating Out: Crown Palace and Templestowe Hotel

Prior warning there will be no photos in this post. And I think this will turn into a rant instead of a review.
Last weekend I went to Han Palace in Vermont South for yum cha with my uncle and aunty whom I have not seen in quite a while. My uncle kindly helped Dad buy the Canon 550D in Hong Kong and the Chinese way is to treat someone who has done you a favour to a meal. A lot of Chinese traditions/customs I have yet to learn.

Back to the restaurant, service was pretty poor. Unenthusiastic waiters/waitresses who talked back to customers. They placed us right next to the hot water urn which I felt was a little dangerous.Worst was when one of the waitresses was stamping the numbers on the docket/bill/ordering form thing she decided to tell off the other waitress (who was placing food down on our table) for something she did the day before. Now there's nothing wrong about telling a collegue off if they have done something wrong but you definitely don't do it across a customers table.

Food wise it wasn't too bad. Most of it wasn't as hot as expected when it arrived on the table but there was quite a variety of dishes. The quality was quite good and consistent. Can't really fault there food, except there weren't enough steamed dim sum/dumplings coming out which is what should be served at yum cha...

Last night I went to Templestowe Hotel for a buffet dinner for a friend's birthday. I realise why this place isn't really heard of. The food ain't bad but it's not exactly outstanding. Also there is a lack of variety. However for around $25, you really can't ask for much more.

My best buffet experience? Having a $5 buffet!!! Pretty long story but it involves ebay. And yes this included all you can eat oysters, prawns and various seafood. Probably the most worth it meal I've ever had, exceptttttttttttt I was vegetarian at the time =.=" Did I mention that this time last year I was vegetarian? Some chinese/buddhist thing that when a family member passes away you become vegetarian for 7 weeks or something like that. I guess I did it for that reason and I wanted to test myself, test my determination. No one really believed that I could do an entire 7 weeks as I'm normally a meat eating freak. But in the end I managed to do it with a few exceptions like accidentally eating shrimp crackers and mum refusing to stop using oyster and fish sauce in her food.

That is all for now, haven't been cooking much lately. But I'm planning on making a macaron tower soon.

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