Gold Leaf, Preston by Big Fil

We’ve been to a few of the Gold Leaf’s around town before and had noticed that they were all a bit different. Springvale’s is very family oriented and chaotic, Burwood was quite refined and while I haven’t tried the one in the Docklands Bureaucrat thought that it was kind of faux blingy. None of us had ever been to the Preston branch before, and a planned visit to the Preston Market was the spark that led to this first visit. Will there be a return visit? Hard to say but to be honest I did find the whole experience a little mediocre.

Compared to the other branches I’ve visited I was surprised at how quiet it was. The place was hardly empty, maybe three quarters full, but at 12 o’clock on a Saturday at Springvale you would be in for a long wait and at Burwood be told that they are fully booked out. I do like the way the dining area is set up, faux blingy but spacious and not over the top, well except possible for the rotating chandeliers which left me slightly hypnotised.



Trolleys were soon coming around full of the usual yum cha goodies, fried and steamed dumplings as well as more unusual offerings. With three yum cha veterans and two newbies it was fun to see who reached for the familiar and who was willing to stretch a little. The consequence was that it addition to the usual pork buns and spring rolls, we also got to sample the cold crispy pork with jelly fish, chickens feet (ok not so unusual) and beef tendons (a personal favourite).







As far as it goes I found most of the food ok but nothing stand out. The beef tendons and chickens feet were meaty and tender, the crispy pork a little fatty to be served cold. The prawn dumplings were ok and the steamed pork buns, which surprisingly we had to specially order, were typical of most restaurants around town. What does confuse me a little is how much the standard of the food seems to vary from Gold Leaf to Gold Leaf. When I’ve been to Burwood it has always been very good, Springvale quite disappointing and Preston was somewhere in between. I have no idea of the reason why, but it seemed I wasn't the only one to notice as Snooze also commented on this.





Something which didn’t come around on the trolley but which we specifically ordered was the lao sa bao. The normal custard steamed buns can be found at almost any yum cha session around town but these are far less common, as well as being more delicious. They have a salted egg custard filling, molten liquid gold that is like the normal custard filling on steroids.



Service was fairly efficient but the staff did seem to become a little frustrated with our slow ordering, a result of trying to match varying tastes and adventurousness in food. And price wise, pretty typical Melbourne standard, order to your heart’s content for around $25 per person.

Overall
No real issues with anything about this edition of Gold Leaf but nothing to really drag me back either. The food is decent, prices and service is reasonable and it’s a nice enough place to eat, but it’s not my favourite Gold Leaf with my heart belonging to Burwood.

Verdict
Food – 6.5
Ambience - 7.5
Service – 7
Price – 6.5

Address
419 High Street 1st Floor Shop 7
Preston VIC 3072
Tel: (03) 9470 2882