Sky Phoenix Returns

7:42pm Sunday 31 October 2010 Sydney (gmt+10)

A few days ago Sheila and I briefly explored the new Westfield Mall at the corner of Pitt and Market Street. Then we came back yesterday for lunch, but on our way there I saw this huge Ad for Energy Australia. I've seen it before on a magazine, but not at this scale. It's about a cook named Marvin. In Sydney the name 'Marvin' is very rare, so it's quite eerie that they thought of someone with the same name who is also into cooking. What a weird coincidence!

Westfield Sydney is quite new. It used to be Pitt Street Mall and Skygarden. It took I think about almost 2 years to finish and I honestly think that they should've at least spent another month or so sorting out the place. A lot of the shops are still closed. The signs are very confusing. There's hardly any decoration. It still looks a bit plain. The only thing I like is that they have huge sofas and chairs. Cool!

We went up to the 6th floor to have Yum Cha at Sky Phoenix. The whole level is empty, except for the restaurant. A lot of sections are still closed off and the restaurant is not very well lit, and smells like paint. To be fair, they were probably rushed into opening ahead of schedule. And I know what that is like! So give it a few weeks and Sky Phoenix should be perfect.

The last time we went to Sky Phoenix was in June 2008. So Sheila and I were excited! And as expected on a Saturday the restaurant was full. The floor plan of the restaurant was a bit funny, with the table we're sitting in clustered away from the main area even though it was an open space without any partition, which meant that the Yum Cha trolleys hardly reached us. But nonetheless the food was good.

We had the usual favorites, like the Siomai, Squid Legs, Roast Duck, Honey Pork and Seafood Dumplings. What we got was not at par with the food that we got before. My guess is that maybe they have new equipment in the kitchen, or maybe it's a new lineup of chefs doing the Yum Cha. Anyway, it's good that they're back and I'll surely visit them again in a few weeks time. :)