"We've given your table away," said the Maitre'D.

Admittedly Ange and I were running about 10 minutes late for lunch. But it did get me thinking, why did I give my phone number to them if they were just going to cancel my booking at the merest hint that we wouldn't show?

Though it wasn't a good start, the Maitre'D (if he can be called that) did give us another table. He was also kind enough to admonish us with a "Next time show up earlier" as we walked past him. Prick.

While we waited for Mike and Justine to show - victims of the dreaded Daylight Savings change - we had a chance to watch the restaurant in full swing. AY Teahouse is boutique yum cha for the western customer. Trolleys are replaced with trays that the waitresses carry by hand to each table, sacrificing efficiency for style.

The food itself was standard yum cha fare. Though the best thing they had there was only vaguely asian: deep fried chicken wings tossed with salt and spices. Along with the chicken wings, Ange and I tried a few other plates while we waited. The aforementioned wings, prawn dumplings, shark-fin dumplings and chinese broccoli with oyster sauce.
We took a break then, after realising we'd just blown about $40. $10 on the broccoli dish alone!

When Mike and Justine showed up we shared a plate of salty spiced squid while they grabbed prawn toast, some sort of greasy, rice noodle-wrapped dish and pork dumplings. Dessert, when the tray eventually came around, was jelly cubes and egg tarts.

The food was good I'll give it that, but ultimately not value for money. Any yum cha bill that creeps into three figures must be looked upon with a certain level of scorn, especially when there's only four people at the table.

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