Bamboo Dumpling Bar, Surry Hills

A few months back, a bunch of us bought the deal vouchers off Spreets where we can dine to the value of $20 for just $10 at Bamboo Dumpling Bar.

We kept postponing the dinner until the last days before the vouchers will expire :P

Getting 7 girls to agree on a same day and time is not an easy task.

My plan was to go here during lunch time on the weekends because I know how dark the place is at dinner, but it's much easier to get us together at dinner time.

As I was paying the bill at the end of the night, the co-owner / manager / waiter , Michael, asked whether I managed to get good shots ?

I just crossed my fingers >__<  With very little light is available, I can only hope that my hands were stable enough and hope for the best :P
It was not until the last food photo that I remembered I had brought a small torch in my bag *doh*

Red cupboard by the entrance ; Dumplings slogans framed on the wall

As we stepped in, it feels like we are in an old antique shop, I love it ! Especially that red cupboard by the entrance. There are birdcages hanging down from the ceiling, but instead of birds, there's Astro Boy, puffer fish, etc in them.

Unfortunately because it is too dark, I didn't manage to get many good shots of the decors *sad*

Menu ; 3 Dipping sauces to go with the dumplings

Beside the a la carte menu, there are 2 banquet style menu, a $20 pp or the $27.50 pp. Being the gluttons  we are, we opted for the $27.50 :D

Michael then asked whether any of us have allergies to anything since we are having the banquets.

One of the girls doesn't eat prawns for the oddest reason ever - she doesn't eat anything that has more than 4 legs -__-;. So her share of dumplings with prawns will be swopped with something else.

It is nice to see that they do they care about their customer needs even though it is just a dumpling bar.

With the banquet, we got 9 Entrees and 3 Mains served with steamed rice, needless to say, we are stuffed by the end of the night lol

So, let the dumpling feast begin ! \^o^/

Peking Duck Pancakes w/ Hoi Sin Sauce

The wrap was served warm, the duck itself was juicy and meaty. There was just the right amount of hoisin sauce to go with it. It is as good as what you'd find in a Chinese restaurant.

Vegetable Spring Roll

The spring rolls were served with a citrusy sweet dipping sauce and arrived hot from the deep fryer *hot*hot*

Crunchy and filled with loads of veggies *crunch*crunch*

Coconut Chicken & Peanut Skewer

The minced chicken is wrapped around a sugar cane skewer and then grilled. It was delicious !

The chicken is full of flavour from various spices used to marinate it, and chewing on the sugarcane at the end is a bonus. 

There was silence on the table as we were gnawing on the sugarcanes hahahahahaa.

BBQ Pork Buns

Can't beat hot steaming bbq buns , the buns were soft and light :)

Pork & Prawn Siu Mai

Pork & Chive Dumplings

I found that the dumpling skin is too thick, but the pork & chive filling inside was juicy so it counter balanced it :)

Har Gow

The har gow was plump and big filled with crunchy prawns.

Vegetarian Gow Gee

I know it's just filled with veggies, but I quite like it  :) If the skin was it thinner it would have been perfect.

Chicken Dumplings

The chicken dumpling would have to be the least favourite of the night. The chicken mince filling was too soft for our liking. 

The previous dumplings we had so far had much more textures and flavours.

As suggested, we took a 10minutes break before the mains were served. To be honest, we thought we couldn't fit anymore food after the stream of dumplings we just had.

Salt & Pepper Squid with Thai Chili Sauce

The salt and pepper squid was good, perhaps a tad too salty but we didn't mind it much since we were eating it with steamed rice.

It was crispy and tender, I think they have used Szechuan pepper on the batter as it did tasted quite different from your regular salt & pepper squid.

Steamed Asian Greens with Oyster Sauce

We need greens to balance out the deep fried squid, simply steamed and drizzled with oyster sauce, topped with a generous sprinkle of fried shallots.

BBQ Pork w/ Sesame Soy Sauce

This bbq pork is very good ! It was tender and slightly caramelized on the outside. We wanted more !!

(So much for us being full already, ey ? :P)

Salt & Pepper Tofu with Lemon

Just when we thought that was all the dishes for the banquet, Michael returned with a plate of salt & pepper tofu. To which he received a puzzled look from all 7 of us  LOL

It was complimentary of the house for us to try - YAY ! \^o^/

The salt & pepper tofu was as yummy as the squid, the tofu was soft on the inside with crispy crumb coatings and served with a side of mayonnaise.

Chocolate Dumplings

"Can you still fit desserts ?" asked Michael as he was clearing our table. 

Another puzzled look from us, what sort of dessert would a dumpling bar have ? Plus, we do not recall seeing dessert mentioned in the menu.

When he said chocolate dumplings, we all smiled and nodded :P

Although we are full to the brim, we cannot pass on the chance on trying out chocolate dumplings can we ?

The dessert took a while to come out, my guess would be that they had to make the skin from scratch and upon tasting it, I imagine it would be quite tricky to make it. 

It is definitely worth the wait !!  The skin is made from 100% cocoa powder with a little bit of sea salt, then filled with gooey hazelnut chocolate ganache and drizzled with Asian spiced orange sauce.

One tip on eating it, you must eat it by the mouthful to get the full effect ! 

This tiny morsels just burst in your mouth with creamy, dark, hazelnut goo  >___<

A must order if you are eating here, if it's not on the menu ask for it.

We would have happily paid for the scrumptious dessert, but too my surprise, it was complimentary as well.

The foods were delicious, although we found that the dumpling skins were too thick for our liking. 

The service was friendly and attentive. Even without the special deal vouchers, the foods are very reasonably priced and always arrived piping hot on the table. 

Special thanks to Michael who had been helpful from when I made the booking (back and forth email changing dates and numbers, sorry :P) and for great service we had that night. All of us really enjoyed our meal there and we shall be back for more dumplings ..oh and the chocolate dumplings too :D

Bamboo Dumpling Bar is now also open in Balmain and their Potts Point branch is under renovation at the moment.

For the other locations, please visit their website.