Taste Of The Orient

In 2007, Joe and I brought our two young sons from Hong Kong to the Castlemaine Steiner School for a short visit. We wanted our boys to have an alternative educational experience. The wonder of fresh air, clear skies, and wide-open spaces gave birth to a strong desire to move to Australia. Warm welcome and support from the community influenced our family to stay. Needing a way to financially survive in Australia, we were inspired by some food stallholders. In February 2008 Taste of The Orient was born as a small trial stall at Wesley Hill Market selling Hong Kong-style waffles, marinated eggs, sesame balls, sweet pumpkin dumplings, and Chinese savory pancakes. At this early stage, although there was no yum cha, it became obvious that the community was excited about this attempt at sharing Hong Kong food and culture. This one-month trial demonstrated to me and Joe that the venture would be viable. Joe and I realized there was a demand for good quality Chinese yum cha in Central Victoria. Joe returned to Hong Kong and quit his construction job in order to enable prepare himself to move to Australia and study the finer points of making authentic Cantonese yum cha. Between 2008 and 2010, we took over an existing take-away food outlet to start the yum cha business. In addition to selling fish and chips at our first store and roast chicken at the next, we began to sell take-away homemade dim sum.