Cafe Opium - Yum Cha

Cafe Opium
67-69 George Street
Oxford
OX1 2BQ
01865 248680



A cold Monday saw us craving that which used to be frequent, but in which we hadn't indulged for far too long: yum cha.


The sign from the now-defunct Opium Den.

Back to Cafe Opium for lunch on Monday, and we were surprised by the peace and tranquility. Only three tables of two were occupied.





The restaurant is actually quite capacious, and well presented. It's a shame that business is so slow at this time of year.



The requisite cups of Jasmin tea came in big mugs, which is highly unusual for Chinese restaurants. This meant that the water cooled more slowly, making it difficult to drink. It also lacked the finesse of small gulps of hot tea, and somehow detracts from the delicacy of eating dim sum. Surprisingly, with refills, they brought out hot water in traditional tea pots. Go figure.



Lovely, lovely chilli oil dipping sauce. Filled with shallots, dried shrimp, and spicy goodness.



Starting with the usual suspects: the har gau (虾饺 - miniature prawn dumplings wrapped in wheat starch wrappers) were incredibly fresh. In fact, the 15-20 minute wait on the kitchen, which had me worried about making it back to work on time, must have been spent assembling the dishes from scratch, instead of the usual pre-frozen or long-refrigerated stock. These were definitely not left over from the weekend, as the prawns had a delicate sweetness and bounce to the bite, and the wrappers were suitably thin but chewy, and flavoured from the juices of the filling.



The handiwork was not as delicate as some places can be, but I've found that Opium Den can be inconsistent. Perhaps in pushing this order out, they went for a rougher, larger plait.



The siu mai (烧卖 - a pork and prawn filled dumpling that uses an ultra-thin wonton like pasta wrapper made from wheat and egg) had the nice bounce and chew of a well made Chinese meatball. Topped with a wolf berry (or goji berry, if you are looking for it in a poncy 'health food' store), these were larger than the average dumpling in most restaurants. One often finds crab roe as the colour contrast on these dumplings, so the goji berries were a bit of a cheat, but added a faint sweetness. The filling is usually made by roughly chopping pork by hand, and mixing in a little chopped prawn to add flavour and texture contrast. The mixture is beaten with water and a little starch to make it juicy when steamed. The chopped pork has a tender, but bouncy texture, very different from minced or ground meat.



The feng zhao (鳳爪 - chicken feet, often in a bbq-esque sauce) were very nice. Gelatinous, but with enough bite not to run off the bone, these were well flavoured with the sweet sauce that is usually described as 'BBQ', but is in fact a mixture of oyster, hoisin and soy sauces. Not the best that I've ever had, but no complaints for this yum cha must-have.



The pan fried turnip paste (萝卜糕 - a paste made from starch and grated Chinese white turnip, flavoured with Chinese sausage, dried shrimp, Chinese mushrooms, and other dried umami-enhancers, steamed until solidified, sliced and then pan-fried) was very well done. Because of the delicacy of the paste, many places will douse it with oil before frying, to ensure that it does not stick. This was crispy without a hint of grease, and the specs of dried meat and shrimp added bursts of flavour without overwhelming the paste itself. The crispy coat was the perfect foil to the soft unctuousness both in the paste itself, and the other dim sum items.



The pork ribs, which is not an item I tend to order, was well flavoured and had that little bit of chewiness that rib-meat tends to retain, which makes the bursts of flavour more intense when chewing.



The prawn cheung fun (肠粉 - a thick but very light sheet pasta made from steamed wheat starch, usually rolled around a filling of prawn, pork or beef, and doused in a sweet soy-based sauce) was the weakest link. The cheung fun itself was slightly thicker than I would prefer it, meaning the sauce that clung to the surface wasn't quite able to add enough flavour to the starch. The starch itself is all about texture, and has little flavour other than a slightly floury note. The prawns in the filling tasted old, which is surprising given how nice the prawn dumplings were.



The final dish that came was the nuo mi ji (糯米鸡 - literally glutinous rice chicken, is a parcel of sticky rice with a meat filling (usually chicken, Chinese bacon and sausage, Chinese mushrooms) doused in a sweet-savoury sauce, wrapped in lotus leaves and then steamed. The lotus leaf adds considerable flavour to the rice). The portions were small, and so the rice-to-filling ratio was difficult to judge. The filling should not spill out of the rice, nor should it be non-existent; in this case, it was ample by ratio to the rice, but anaemic by most standards. One of the best incarnations I have eaten used pieces of wing in the filling; the bone adding robust chicken flavours, which just goes to show that it's not the price of the ingredient, but use thereof, that counts.

All in all, a very nice lunch for two. Cafe Opium is one of the better yum cha places in Oxford, and although can be inefficient, noisy and with that floor-staff attitude: that customers are an exasperating nuisance, unique to Chinese restaurants, the food is still worth the visit.



Lunch for two. The damage: £26.50 including a 10% service charge. Not bad at all.