Yum Cha at Golden Sands

Sydney foodies know that it's often worth venturing a little way out of the city when in search of delicious eats. Sydney Scoop took a trip down the south line to Hurstville to taste test the latest in yum cha and modern Chinese - Golden Sands.

The restaurant, located upstairs in the Hurstville Times Plaza, offers a range of  Yum Cha, Chinese and Modern Australian signature dishes from three separate menus, and prides itself on providing revolutionary dining from two kitchens and two teams of chefs. 

By day, the large open-plan space fills with the hustle and bustle of yum cha trolleys, shouted orders and happy diners. Its popularity speaks for itself - by 11am on the Saturday morning we visit it's already packed with groups of all ages, mostly families, and within the next hour a solid queue forms outside the restaurant.

Scoop recommends starting with some dim sum classics - har gao (steamed prawn dumplings) and siu mai (dim sim). The prawn filling in the former is divine - plump and tasty king prawns that burst from their soft, sticky, translucent pastry that is just the right thickness. Our yum cha expert guest declares them some of the best har gao he has eaten in Sydney.

Steamed pork combination dumplings and prawn & English spinach dumplings (both $8.80) are equally stuffed full of plump, fresh filling and truly satisfying.

The steamed rice noodles with BBQ pork ($9.80) is also done well, though as usual the filling doesn't spread equally between the portions and there's a slightly overpowering fatty aftertaste to some pieces of the meat.

Yum cha expert says that the fried combination dumplings ($8.80) are "not quite as good as [his] grandmother's"... but admittedly this standard has yet to be met in any restaurant and he does agree that Golden Sands' come close.

Golden Sands stands its ground as being on par with Sydney's other favourite yum cha restaurants. One thing that sets this Hurstville institution apart is its homemade chili sauce - it is instantly recognised as more sophisticated than the standard red chili sauce served in most joints and certainly adds a divine hit of flavour to each of the dishes. More please. This was an excellent idea.

The menu and interiors were designed with both modern and traditional influences in mind, and while we're mostly focused on the delicious food, we do notice the fresh, spacious modern feeling they have achieved and how this adds a significant degree of comfort to a daytime dining experience that can sometimes seem noisy and chaotic elsewhere.

There's no leaving without dessert, and diners will be happy to see the dessert trolleys making regular rounds of the room throughout the yum cha service. Favourites are well represented including egg tarts, pastries and mango pancakes, there's sweet bean curd jelly, matcha cake and even sticky rice with durian for the brave.

At night the dinner menu takes over, with a strong seafood focus including lobster and mud crab (market price), plenty of BBQ options, and a long list of soup, noodle, meat and veg dishes. Vegetarians have options but are clearly not the target audience here.

On the shorter Western style evening menu are oysters, carpaccio ($20), more seafood and a Cape Grim Tasmanian Tomahawk steak ($98). 

Golden Sands have a range of options for private functions and events, including the restaurant space and private dining areas.

There's even a few karaoke rooms.