The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 46

JAN 16-22 2001 good living Good eating Eat out Matthew Evans Dizzy heights The thrill of yum cha brings back childhood memories. Ocean King House, Kogarah. 1420 via kw. Suddenly I'm 10 again. I'm sitting in a dingy restaurant scoffing the kind of food I've never even dreamt of eating, in the sort of place my parents have always told me to avoid.

But they've brought me here, out-of-towners in 1970s Chinatown, and we're the only non-Chinese in the room. We don't recognise the dish I'm eating at all. It looks like squid tentacles; it tastes brilliantly of black bean, of spiced soy and, most importantly, of chicken. And it isn't until I find the bones that we realise it's chicken feet. Here in Kogarah, a few decades and more than just a few poultry appendages later, I finally find the same taste.

A taste that thrusts me back to my childhood. The thrilling, mouth filling sensation, the sheer fabulousness I've craved since that very first fall into grace. Kogarah's Ocean King House occupies an almost imposing former hotel on the Princes Highway. Since opening the restaurant more than three years ago, Eleanor and Albert Chan (Albert once managed the Regal and Marigold restaurants) have established a good name for the King, providing southern Chinese food with a warm welcome. But it's the weekend yum cha that is wooing regulars.

So this Saturday we have come to yum the cha, to drink the tea, as it translates, to chew the fat in general and, in particular, to chew the braised pork knuckle with black vinegar discovered last visit. We're met, as we enter near the fish tanks, by the noise of a bustling mass of humanity. Scoresheet Stay home 0-9 Just passes 10-11 Fair 12 Decent but not exciting 13 Good, some excitement 14 Consistently very good 15 Really lovely 16 Kitchen alchemy 17 World class 18 Truly magical 19 Heaven 20 The score comprises 10 points for food, five for service and three for ambience, with an extra two points possible for a sprinkling of magic, whether it be the warmth of the welcome, the excitement on the plate, or a spectacular setting. The Address 247 Princes Highway, Kogarah. TEL: 9587 3511.

The Hours Lunch Mon-Fri 11am-3pm; Sat and Sun 10am-3pm; Dinner daily 5.30-1 1pm. The Food Cantonese (mostly). The Wine List Brief, with mostly big names and the occasional glimmer of excitement (Petaluma riesling). The Signature Dish Braised chicken feet with black bean and chilli. The Owners Albert and Eleanor Chan.

The Chef David Cheng. The Service Helpful, when pushed. The Crowd Mostly Chinese families. The Noise Bustling, but not deafening. The Access Wheelchair access downstairs.

The Cards All major. The Bill Entree main (more for seafood specials); dessert yum cha The Value Brilliant. The Summary Ocean King House is a comfortable, welcoming Cantonese restaurant and the yum cha lunch is not only very busy but, despite some language barriers, also very good. This floor is full, so we make our way upstairs and share the room with just five other groups. It's a comfortable space, pink walls adorned with tasteful Chinese prints and a few antiques in glass cases.

Pink-clothed tables are surrounded by high-backed, dragon-carved chairs, and there's a sweet fragrance in the air reminiscent of a smart restaurant in Hong Kong. But with a rickety banister on the stairs, and a dicky chair that makes me woozy as I first sit down, I can't help feeling the place is a little underloved. This must be the karaoke room, from the look of the PA, the red-curtained stage and that glitter ball. Thankfully for us, karaoke is only for special occasions and, even more thankfully for them, I'm completely sober (despite how the chair makes me feel), so instead we're left to chase the trolleys. Yum cha is everybody's chance to be a kid again, to gasp and giggle as dumpling trolleys roll by.

It's your chance to eat everybody else's dishes and to show off by ordering the pig's innards stewed with turnip (it's ngau jarp, if you must know, and no, I didn't order it). While the dim sum selection at Ocean King isn't particularly different from anywhere else, the quality is. Today's dishes provide a roller-coaster ride of dizzying highs and the occasional low. And although the braised knuckles from last visit aren't on (as it's summer), I don't miss them. Apart from those adorable chicken feet, a major highlight is fried beancurd skin filled with finely shredded vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoot, which cuddles into three crisp, wrinkled skins.

They taste as clean and clear as a mountain stream. Another stunner is the congee, a thinnish rice porridge, which eats like a lucky dip, with submerged highlights of lean pork and preserved egg. The top is garnished with wisps of delightfully crisp wonton wrapper used in place of the usual sliced yau char kwai (savoury doughnut). This is the kind of comfort food I covet gently sweet, satisfying and soothing all at once a serious contender for Sydney's best congee. By contrast, the woo gok (flaky yam pastry that usually encases indecently rich, sweet minced pork and preserved egg) tastes neither rich, nor interesting.

Thankfully, though, the pastry retains that characteristic thrill as it shatters in the mouth. Out there in yum cha land, the safest option is usually har gau (steamed prawn dumplings in an opaque pastry). Today they are not so good, the pastry soggy, the filling dull and lifeless. But a similar dumpling with snow pea tendrils, ginger and prawns is a virtual celebration of freshness. Our waiters, in true Sydney -Chinese restaurant form, are the floor equivalent of pop group Bardot: a lot of visibility, but not so much substance.

Unlike Bardot, they mostly give me what I want, although I have to push. It's partly a language barrier, but nonetheless a shame, especially when I can't get the lightly astringent oolong tea I ask for, despite finding out later it is available. Eleanor Chan explains that most Australians don't like other Chinese teas, "that's why we give them Now, forgive me if I'm wrong, but as yum cha means to "drink wouldn't it be great if our Chinese restaurants helped teach us about the noble brew? After all, it's only since my first visit to Chinatown in the mid '70s that many of us even learnt how good the food can be. Yum cha veterans will know that the meal is a great excuse not just to drink tea, but also to eat egg custard tarts. The King's lightly warm, flaky-based tarts are textbook perfect, but for once I'm more entranced elsewhere.

The individual steamed sponge cakes have a fairy light texture and an almost caramelly aroma from lotus seed paste, a flavour as gentle as a mother's touch. Yum cha always seems to bring out the child in me, though I've sat up straight, paid attention and paid homage to Ocean King as a cynical, worldly and critical adult. I must admit, however, that it's probably a good thing there isn't a sturdy banister nearby. Sw T' Top: Yum cha lunch. Above: Steamed dumplings and vegetables in bean curd.

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