Golden Century Restaurant, Sydney

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Golden Century's popular dim sum. — *Golden Century’s dim sum continues to woo diners.*

Sydney’s Golden Century restaurant is an institution, much loved by diners for more than 30 years. When it announced the closure of its Haymarket location in 2021, there was much lamenting at the end of an era.

But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Cantonese diner has found a new home at Crown Sydney, marking a new era for owners, the Wong family, who are continuing to serve up all the signature dishes that Sydney folk have come to love.

Not surprisingly, given its location at Barangaroo, the new Golden Century is rather glamorous with swish furnishings and harbour views. The 150-seat restaurant also has a 10-metre-long wall of live seafood tanks.

*The wafer seafood roll appetizer: a favourite till the end.*

Located on level 3 of Crown, it continues to offer its popular yum cha, along with an expansive menu of traditional Cantonese dishes including signature dishes such as XO pippies, abalone steamboat, and Peking duck.

What a treat it was to experience some of these dishes at an intimate banquet hosted by Destination NSW, a state that is truly blessed with some of the country’s finest restaurants. Golden Century is certainly up there with the best.

The first dish of the evening, a Wafer Seafood Roll appetizer, remained my favourite dish till the very end – although the dessert (which we’ll get to shortly) came a close second. The seafood roll was wrapped in a delicate crisp-fried wrapper and served with a dollop of kewpie mayo.

It was followed by a bamboo steamer of dim sum, including Prawn Har Gow (crystal prawn dumplings) and Siu Mai (steamed dumplings with pork filling). Next up, Peking duck pancake, the duck a juicy, generously sized portion with crispy skin.

*Peking duck pancake: a juicy, generously sized portion.*

Onwards through courses of Duck San Choy Bow, Stir-fried Pipis with house-made XO sauce, and stir-fried greens, till we got to the scrumptious dessert: Custard Liquid Lava Centre Buns. As the name implies, these fluffy buns are filled with a molten “lava” of salted egg yolk custard filling. They are seriously, seriously good.

The wines on offer were NSW labels with a mid-range price tag: Tyrrell’s Hunter Valley Semillon, an absolute classic and a lovely match with the starters; and a vibrant Collector red that paired nicely with the duck. Both top wines that stand proudly amongst Australia’s best.