Zilver, Haymarket

Zilver, a popular chinese and yum cha restaurant is situated on level 1 of 477 Pitt St which is predominantly a commercial business building.  It's a modern looking, decked out restaurant with splashes of red which is beautiful.

Come early around 11am or be prepared to queue at lunch time, much like most other popular Yum Cha Eateries in Chinatown. The dumplings are freshly steamed, generously proportioned and full of fresh seafood. I tried the prawn dumpling (har gow) below and the snowpea prawn dumplings (above).  Both were delicious with a dab of chili sauce.

A particularly strange looking dish was offered up so I jumped at the chance to try the prawn meat and avocado wrapped in tofu dish. This dish was accompanied with a wasabi mayonnaise. It was nice and something different but not sure if I would order this one again.

I would also give the mango pancakes a miss until mango is back in season. The mango tasted tangy and was small in portion. I'm certain I've had delicious mango pancakes from Zilver but in mango season.   The cream and pancake casing was beautiful as always but it's the mango that makes all the ingredients come together.

Prices - About 4 dishes was $30 including tea for two

Location: Level 1, 477 Pitt St, Haymarket, 2000

It's a little more dear than Marigold and The Eight but I would certainly argue that their portions, particularly in their dumplings are larger than your norm. I would probably say it's on par with Sky Phoenix in price and cheaper than Fat Buddha.

I used to work above Zilver so this was a regular lunch venue but it was hard to compete with all the other chinese restaurants with high quality yum cha in China Town and CBD, in particular Marigold, The Eight and Sky Phoenix (Westfield). I come back here for something different and the atmosphere.