Parkland Chinese Restaurant

April always signals to me the coming of Ching Ming (also known as the Clear Bright or Tomb Sweeping Festival) which means a trip to Mt Gravatt to attend to my Father's grave site. You may assume that this would be a simple process of cleaning the tomb but also involves preparing ceremonial food (which may include a entire chicken with head and feet intact, fish, roast pork, vegetarian cuisine and rice), drink and paper offerings (including clothing and paper money). As the journey takes some time, the family often continues onto yum cha and during this year's journey we choose 'Parkland Chinese Restaurant.'

Parkland is a relatively new venue having opened a year ago and is a sister to Landmark. The restaurant's furnishings are clean and I was impressed to be quickly presented with a pot of tea and a large hot water thermos to ensure the tea remained free flowing. As you can see from the images the items we selected were of a more traditional nature and the family was extremely impressed by the Pig's Blood. It was fresh, silky smooth while maintaining its shape. The chef's inclination appears be towards chilli as the Tripe and Chicken Feet Rice were quite spicy which was a nice change towards the gentle nature of the Salted Pork and Preserved Egg Congee. As a child of a chef who specialised in yum cha, I admit to being an extremely hard marker but I was quite impressed with the taste and offering. I recommend taking a group of friends to fully enjoying this establishment.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Address: Sunny Park Shopping Centre, Cnr of Mains and McCullough Road, Sunnybank, QLD 4109.
Open: Seven Days a Week, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.

Phone: (07) 3345 4588.

Taste Gallery

If you have spoken to me about Chinese Restaurants for anything length of time you will know that I bemoan how backwards they are. With such fierce competition, it's time to get a website, engage with your client base, rework the 80's menu and let go of the vinyl table cloths! So Taste Gallery in Sunnybank's Market Square complex is an aesthetically pleasing addition with its slick dark wood interior, transparent display kitchen and lavish menus. However could this be a case of all style and no substance?

The first dish to arrive was the spicy shredded pork with bamboo shoots. This was delicious and we decided to enjoy them on thin savoury pancakes. The dish is ample but the serving of pancakes were scarce, so I would recommend purchasing two serves. Unfortunately the staff forgot our second set of pancakes and when they were reminded, brought out steamed bread pockets. These steamed bread pockets are designed to house something more robust like a piece of slow cooked pork belly and when I queried the staff member they insisted this was the correct accompaniment.

With a transparent show kitchen, it seemed only fitting that we ordered some Xiaolongbao. These Shanghainese dumplings are delicious and I was especially impressed with how neatly they lifted from their lined baskets so you could fully appreciate the burst of soup enclosed.

We decided to finish our meal with Pork and Vegetable Wonton and unfortunately this was the most disappointing dish. The wonton were beautifully presented and I really enjoyed the seaweed but the soup had zero flavour. It was as though the kitchen had simply poured boiling water onto these dumplings and served it. This wouldn't surprise me as we felt the front of house staff had checked out for the day. There were staff getting changed at the front counter, another was sleeping at a table in clear view. I found the whole experience disappointing as the cost of the meal totalled $50, which is well above what you can expect in the area. Taste Gallery is gorgeous creature but my curiosity was satisfied after one visit.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
Address: Market Square Shopping Centre, Shop 20B/341 McCullough Street, Sunnybank, QLD 4109.
Open: Monday - Sunday. Breafast, Lunch and Dinner.
Phone: (07) 3423 8483

Norm Mai Chi

My little brother and I have spent a greater part of our childhood in the kitchen as our parents owned a small Chinese takeaway business. Because we spent every moment being immersed in the culture and food, we generally prefer cooking anything but Cantonese Cuisine ... but the fact is my Mum's generation is not going to be around forever and I feel it is important to continue to carry on culinary traditions. My workplace is holding an international Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity for Mum to tutor me in the art of making Nor Mai Chi. Nor Mai Chi are custard filled sweets, enveloped in a glutinous rice flour pastry and finished with a dusting of coconut. Mum and I had lovely afternoon and I thought I would share with you a snippet of the conversation:

Mum: "We could put a piece of cherry on top of each one?"

Me: "I don't like my food looking like a boob."

Mum: "But it's the Cancer Fund and we could make two big ones."

Me: * Groan. * "It's Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, not Pink Ribbon Day."

My Mum's such a dork but I was a great bonding session. What have you learned to cook from your parent/s?