Siana (71 Eagle Street, Brisbane, QLD)
At the risk of being crucified, I will admit it – I don’t like yumcha. My biggest gripe about it is that, half the time, I don’t know what I am eating and when I eventually find out that I have been chewing on tripe for the last ten minutes, the realisation makes my stomach turn. Then there is a lot of bad Chinese food out there, which is either encrusted in grease or so highly westernised that it no longer bears any semblance of food, let alone the Chinese cuisine. The bottom line is -it is a hard sell if you want to convince me to go to yumcha with you.
However, I will now need to modify my stance after experiencing Siana. Granted, the weather was perfect when I and my companion sat under the eaves to have a long lunch on a lazy Friday afternoon. Granted, the refreshing light breeze under the shade was a testament to our Queensland glory. Okay, granted it was not exactly yumcha but the food and service at Siana were exquisitely impeccable.
We started off with a bottle of wine and were pleasantly surprised by the reasonably comprehensive wine list. Since both I and my companion loved tapas because we enjoyed tasting different flavours and would both prefer quality over quantity, we opted for the Gold Platter. We were both impressed by the platter that was presented to us – there was a magnificent array of both hot and cold food sitting proudly but delicately on different parts of the huge glass plate. At one corner was a stack of steam baskets with lids that were screaming out for us to lift. From barbecue pork buns, prawn dumplings, rice paper rolls to fresh salmon sushi and peking duck wraps, every piece of morsel was carefully crafted and the flavours delicately balanced. There were three types of sauces available but I found myself bypassing them and went straight for the food because it was bursting with flavours in its own right.
After the scrumptious savoury dish, we opted for the dessert platter for the same reasons. What came out was heaven to a self-confessed sweet tooth. We started off with a shot of yoghurt that was filled with chopped melon bits, which completely refreshed our palates. I must make special mention to the sweet spring rolls – they were warm and crunchy like their savoury counterparts but were filled with fruit and custard. Thinking about them makes my mouth water. There there was the chocolate fondant that was still oozing liquid chocolate as we inhaled the whole thing within a minute. Perhaps the only (constructive) criticism was the blueberries and raspberries custard that was served in a cocktail glass – unless you and your companion do not mind swapping body fluids (or that is your ulterior motive anyway), it was impossible to share. Having said that, our waiter was both polite and obliging when we requested the custard be divided up, which was whizzed in and out in no time.
Over all, we spent a blissful three hours enjoying the best of what Siana had to offer. I was rather reluctant to leave if work was not awaiting my return.
Siana has truly mastered Australian/Asian infusion at its best.
Quick info…
Rating: 9/10
Website: www.siana.com.au
Date of experience: 28/8/2009