Gold Leaf

It's disturbing news, but some say that the rattle of the yum cha cart as it edges between tightly packed tables is doomed. Already in Hong Kong there's talk of customers demanding their food fresher, piping hot straight from the kitchen.

My first reaction to this is cynicism; that culinary "advances" are all too often PR spin; with changes more about advancing profits by reducing costs.

My second worry is that surely this can't happen here. But then I'm not so sure. There have already been seismic shifts in Melbourne's yum cha scene with the stalwart Shark Fin Burwood reopening as part of the Gold Leaf chain.

Now I've nothing against this Springvale mob - they serve good traditional dim sum with a rugged edge and some notable dishes such as fried taro dumplings - but the Shark Fin Burwood was an old favourite.

"Thank god they've kept the trolleys," is my first reaction, the second is to appreciate how they've glitzed up the dining room.

As I'm as much a recidivist as a reactionary, I plump for familiar dishes. Folds of rice noodle doused with a sweet soy dressing and filled with prawns; a tangle of fried spicy whitebait mild enough for my two-year-old to devour and crisp enough to divert me; soft white-bready buns filled with a mash of darkly sweet barbecue pork that has an almost alcoholic headiness.

There are also bowls of tripe, steamed eel and an interesting-looking braise of mussels that does the rounds after we are defeated.

We've already filled up on a procession of pleasant steamed dumplings that were generally quite meaty and with a dough covering that has both elasticity and that slight stickiness that some Hong Kongers like. The prawn purses with the oomph of lots of garlic chives and the translucent half moons filled with an exotically fragrant mix of various mushrooms, water chestnut and carrot, are most notable.

While prawn with fish eggs is one of the more unusual steamed dumplings on offer, in the fried department this title should go to a plate of three golden prawn dumplings matched to an equal number of yoghurty, creamy-centred croquettes.

Slightly more disturbing - just - are the desserts. Vivid technicolours we expect but some here are shaped and coloured to resemble squid, goldfish or chicks. But let's face it, if you still have room for something sweet at the end of yum cha you aren't really trying. Give in to impulse buying and remember that the good stuff never comes around again.

While the service couldn't be faulted, limiting the middle Sunday sitting to 60 minutes is cutting it a little too fine.

In the evening the menu flits from suburban classics (beef black bean, lemon chicken) to crocodile and deer dishes. Now while I've nothing against "a la carte" dining, I'm far more interested in the other cart, or carts.