Sea Bay Restaurant – Sydney
Clockwise L to R: Sea Bay restaurant sign; tasting Xiao Long Bao with chilli oil; the busy crowd inside restaurant in the evening
March has rather been an exciting month for those who love food – from the vineyard to the hyde park for NSW wine week; from 15 best restaurants in Sydney to Centennial Park for Taste of Sydney festival; and of course not to forget March into Merivale that is still going on until the end of the month. I am sure a lot of people will argue there is no such thing as “too much of a good thing”; but too much of a good thing does lead to a very thin empty pocket, especially in my case.
When Shez and I are deciding a venue for food, “cheap and cheerful” comes to my mind, or “moderately priced” as how Shez nicely put it. Obviously even the foodies are being hit hard by the economic crisis. After much consideration, Sea Bay chinese dumpling restaurant on Pitt Street is where we are heading to.
jellyfish salad - 9.80
Sea Bay restaurant has undergone a major renovation last year and the place now is humbly modernised with mirror walls on both sides to create the visual illusion of twice the space. The place is clean, bright and noisy with chatters and clink clank of china. People who come here would know what to expect – cheap, substantial Chinese food from the North-West region in China.
We first share a dish of Jellyfish salad. The jellyfish is cut in big chunky strips and served with shredded cabbage and fresh cucumber slices, then drizzled with soy sauce, sesame oil and green chilli for the extra kick. I rather enjoy the chewiness of the jellyfish in contrast with the crunchy cucumber and cabbage.
xiao long bao - 9.00
We simply can’t go past the dumplings since is one of the most popular food from the northwestern region. We order the Xiao Long Bao which arrives with 10 dumplings in two tier steamer baskets. I grab a Xiao Long Bao and put inside my bowl, poke with the chopsticks and expecting the hot broth gushing out like the ones I had at Din Tai Fung. To my dismay, there is no broth inside at all.
The skin of the dumpling is rather thick, and inside is filled with mince pork and garlic chives. It is tasty nevertheless, with conversion of heavy dipping into soy sauce and chilli oil which ended up with burning lips and snotty nose.
pan fried pork and chives pancakes - 9.00
The last dish we share is the pork pancakes. The pancakes are filled with pork mince and chives, then flattened and pan fried until golden brown. It is not as greasy as I would have imagined, with a nice crispy skin while the filling inside is moist and flavorsome.
Clockwise L to R: Pork mince and chives fillings inside pancakes; dinner with workmates after working hour; jellyfish salad; backlit Sea Bay restaurant neon sign
I was absolutely stuffed by the time we finished the meal. The damage for two comes to a mere $28.00, with the bottomless hot tea which is absolutely free of charge. The food is not very exciting but definitely best value for money. It is clearly why Sea Bay restaurant is always so busy after work hour.
Sea Bay Chinese Dumpling 372 Pitt St Sydney 2000 NSW Phone: (02) 9267 4855 Mon-Sat: 11.30am-10.30pm
In the mean time, please head to Helen’s blog and listening to what she has to say about foodblogging on ABC radio over the weekend with Simon Marnie. A Table for Two also got a little plug during the interview. (Thanks Helen!)
A Table For Two (ATFT) is Billy Law's food blog that features best eats in Sydney and around the world with drool-worthy food photography to salivate your appetite. I also throw in a smidgen of my food and travel photography for good measure. Billy Law also happened to be a contestant on MasterChef Australia 2011. 
Those pancakes look nice. Pity about the dumplings!
Y’s last blog post..Banoffee Teacake
ahhh! free tea! yeahyeahyeah!
i miss the pork pancakes. they were so good
shez’s last blog post..jimmy’s recipe malaysia
Can’t beat cheap and cheerful and Seabay is so good at that. As much as I love the Merivale offers on right now – your entire meal cost less (and fed more) than one Merivale dish. Have you tried the xiao long bao out at Ashfield? They’re much better there – lots of scaldingly hot juices inside their little bao
Forager’s last blog post..Hearty fare at North Bondi Italian
Hmmm I should visit again haven’t been in a while. Want some pancakey and lamb skewers!
FFichiban’s last blog post..Teppanyaki – Sydney CBD, Sydney
The buns from North China are different from Xiao Long Bao. They don’t come with broth inside. It is a little misleading to label those buns as Xiao Long Bao.
@Y: the pancakes are my fav among them all. And I won’t call those as Xiao Long Bao, is nothing like it.
I’ve heard about Ashfield, waiting for an op to be in the area so i can try it.
@shez: Next time we should go to the northern chinese kitchen at Haymarket.
@Forager: Well you get what you pay for I guess. The quality is no where close to what you got at Merivale
@FFichiban: Sure, when where?
@amanda: Thanks for clarifying it, it sure doesnt taste like a xiao long bao.
just had this tonight for a late night snack. always fills the belly for a cheap price.
simon
Simon Food Favourites’s last blog post – Sea Bay Chinese Dumpling (22 April 2009)