V Rating: VVV
Where: 372 Pitt Street, Chinatown
When: Mon-Sat 11.30am-10.30pm
Tel: (02 )9267 4855
Price: Entrees: $8 - $9.80 Mains: $8 - 11.80.

Amazing how time flies when you’re having fun. Last Friday it was time for the next instalment of Book Grub (my Asian book club). This time around we were reading 10 000 Miles Without a Cloud. It’s the fascinating story of a lone Chinese woman who decides to retrace a Seventh century Monk’s pilgrimage from China to India.

It turns out that the Monk, XuangZang (not so faithfully represented as Tripitaka in TV show Monkey. Yes, that Monk!) was wise, brave and quite the notetaker. He’s fondly remembered along the Silk Road trade route because his meticulous record of his journey became a critical historical document for the countries he travelled through.

His record was particularly important for Buddhism in India because it played a large part in 19th century attempts to track down (or as archaeologists prefer, excavate) significant Buddhist sites. Sadly, I had only reached Pakistan by the time Book Grub came around so was feeling the heavy weight of slacker bookclub guilt when I trudged through the door.

But back to the restaurant. Sea Bay has had a fairly recent refurbishment. It’s got a sparkling white floor, and chocolate-coloured feature wall. I turned up a six and felt stupid for telling the staff that a table of seven was turning up in half an hour because there were only two people in the restaurant at the time. However, when I came back at 6.30 the restaurant was packed.

I guess the reason for this is the food, which is both tasty and cheap. There are a healthy ten vegetarian mains, plus lovely carrot and ginger steamed dumplings and fresh hand-made noodles (both house specialities). Another highlight is the spring pancakes. These have a filling like Vietnamese rice paper rolls, but are wrapped in a light pancake and are huge.

We gave 10 000 Miles Without a Cloud 7.5/10 and Sea Bay a VVV / 8.

…

Share This