Me, enjoying the view from Prague Castle
So we stayed a few weeks in Rome and Alex had to visit his family in Capua, which is a town near Naples. After he was trying to tell me in the lead up to our trip, how bored I would be and how I wasn’t allowed to go to Naples I decided on the morning he was leaving, to take a solo side trip of my own. I wanted to either go to Prague or Budapest and looked for the cheapest flight out of Rome. Flights to Prague were the cheapest so I booked my flights that morning and I was up and away flying by the afternoon.
Vltava River
I arrived in Prague and waited for my shuttle to my hostel. I met two English girls, Sophie and Rachel in the shuttle and we exchanged numbers so we could do a pub crawl together. I settled into my hostel the Czech Inn and took a walk around Prague for the rest of the afternoon. I marvelled at the old world beauty of this city which was highlighted by dimming light of the summer sunset.
Charles Bridge
I woke up the next day and had the breakfast at the hostel cafe and set off to explore Prague. I took the tram in the city centre and decided to walk along the river and walk across Charles Bridge up to Prague Castle. It was a beautiful and sunny day, perfect for a nice stroll. On the way to Castle I stopped for lunch at a cafe at which I decided to try the Goulash and Dumplings, which probably wasn’t the best decision in 34 degree weather but I wanted to try some traditional fare. I washed it down with the Czech beer Krušovice which ended up being my favourite Czech beer. I sat in the beer garden and just chilled out drinking beer and chatting to the waiter, it was a perfect start to my afternoon.
Restaurant's Beer Garden
Krušovice Beer and Goulash with Dumplings
After quite a steep walk uphill, I finally made it to Prague Castle and I was rewarded with the most spectacular views of the city. I took a tour of St Vitus Cathedral and the Castle grounds learning about all the history of the buildings, some of which dates back to the 9th century.
Entry into the Prague Castle
St Vitus Cathedral
Inside St Vitus Cathedral
That night I was to meet the girls for a pub crawl, something which Prague is renowned for. There many different companies running the pub crawls, all of which meet in the Old Town Square which causes a lot of confusion! Thankfully I found Sophie and Rachel and some other people from their hostel, Sir Toby’s. For around AUD$15 we went to about 4 or 5 (details got hazy after the third place) clubs around Prague.
Underground Bar
We had unlimited shots and beer at the first place where a lot of drinking games were played. We walked in a huge group from club to club and had free shots as we entered, I don’t know how we managed to stay on track and with our group. The last place we went to was a 5 level extravaganza where each floor had a different type of music; one politically incorrect example was the ‘Black Music Floor’.
More of bar
I left quite late in the night intending to catch the tram back to my hostel; unfortunately as I walked to the tram stop the streetlights of Prague had other intentions. Just before I reached the stop all the lights flickered and went out, I was plunged into darkness. Being by myself, I freaked out and hailed the first cab I saw and managed to get to my hostel safe and sound.
In my first Breakfast Chronicles I said a bad breakfast can ruin your day, well Yum Cha can also ruin your day with overindulgence. Well ruin is a bit of an over-exaggeration, it will ensure you cannot move for the rest of the day and therefore cannot do anything. But it is oh so worth it!
A few years ago my friends Janice and Jeremy introduced me to the wonder of Yum Cha. We would scour Chinatown in Melbourne trying to find the best. We found a few that were good but then we found something great. On the recommendation of my work mate Ben I discovered a Yum Cha Banquet at Shark Fin Inn. For $36 you could eat as much dim sum as you wanted! Sounded like a dream come true, as we could sample and taste all the dumplings and dishes you wanted without the cost being added to do your bill. We found this great as we could try a bit of everything and find our favourites and be introduced to things we normally would never try.
If you have never had a Yum Cha experience before, it can be a bit daunting. It is noisy and chaotic but everything seems to run smoothly and is a lot of fun. Yum Cha actually translates to drink ‘Drink Tea’ which is what you traditionally drink with the Dim Sum, which is what all the small dishes to accompany the drinking of the tea are called. I definitely recommend ordering the tea as it helps with digestion when you have overindulged.
Chinese Tea, trust me you'll need it as it helps with digestion
Once seated waitresses will come around with carts or platters piled with dishes from which you can order as much as you want. Once they give you your selection they write how many quantities you have taken on a piece of paper which they will use later to calculate your bill. They will keep circulating with different dishes until they bring out the dessert carts and then the service is finished.
As I have now been here countless times I will run through a few tried and true favourites of mine.
Pork Shumai (Pork Dumpling) are almost standard at any yum cha fare. I like mine dipped into a bit of chilli and soy sauce.
Pork siu mai
The pork spare ribs are cooked in a soy sauce, black bean and bit of chilli. If you order them from a waiter they will come straight from the kitchen steaming hot.
Pork spare ribs
Crab and Corn Dumplings
Prawn and Chives Dumplings
As I mentioned before, I can’t go past a nice dessert to end a meal. Even if I am full to the brim, there’s always another part of my stomach reserved for something sweet. Shark Fin has a great egg custard tart, which if you get it fresh enough, will be warm, flaky and will practically melt in your mouth. The custard filled donuts dusted with icing sugar are also great when they are fresh and warm.
Egg custard tarts
Custard donuts
Shark Fin and the place is full of people, great food and a lively atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon which I think is part of the fun of a Yum Cha experience. Service is always fast, with staff coming around and clearing plates and refilling your drinks throughout your meal.
The place is always packed out on a Sunday and bookings are absolutely essential unless you would like to wait in the line stretched out the door. I don’t you can really go wrong with a place that has me daydreaming about dumplings, always coming back and has both floors teeming with people all weekend long.
Personal Tip: If you are booking, request an upstairs table as the food comes around more frequently and there is a greater variety of food.
Yum Cha sessions run daily at 11.30am and 1pm.
Shark Fin Inn
50 Little Bourke St
Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9662 2681
