Young’s Pancake Talk

I really like this place! It has a cool, quirky, authentic feel. They obviously have a fan base as every time I have gone in it is crowded with people looking very familar and at ease with their surrounding and staff. The crowd seemed to consist mostly of young people in couples or a group.
The service has been friendly each time — although we are always the outsiders in terms of culture — our entrance tends to draw attention, and it is not because we are fabulous;)
I have also eaten the most spicy dish in my life here, and survived to tell the tale! The chef did look surprised when I didn’t want to take home my leftovers though — there is only so much I can handle, and I drank copious amounts of table water to help get me through! This is a great place for a weekday meal that is easy on the bank balance.

This little place next to the Deaf Society in Balmoral has had three or four incarnations in the past few years, the latest being Young’s Pancake Talk. Apparently there’s over 100 branches in China with an interesting story behind it (read it on the poster in the window).
We popped in for early dinner around 5.45 a few days after opening and while we were there it filled up with Chinese families obviously in the know. It has a huge glossy menu with a lot of pictures including quite a few varieties of filled savoury pancakes. We tried the Beef Pancake which was quite a lot like a softer coil-​shaped meat pie, along with my favourite the Spring Onion. We also ordered Sweet & Sour Pork which the blokes said was amazing, along with a Chicken Noodle Soup and Stirfried Eggplant, Capsicum & Potatoes which came in a delicious thick, dark savoury sauce.
The food was excellent and while the service was a bit all over the show, they were clearly still finding their feet. There’s a lot of spicy Sichuan dishes and yes we even saw a shredded tofu salad go past heralding Young’s Pancake Talk as the new New Flavour.
ALL the food here looks so fresh and yummy and a nearby table even had their own cooker on the table and were ordering meats and vegetables to cook themselves. My only beef was that the teapot was filthy and so was the waterjug which isn’t really acceptable and you don’t get your own condiments on the table — you have to borrow and return the chilli oil, vinegar and soy sauce as there’s not enough to go around.
The ambience is entirely missing as is to be expected from a restaurant like this although they do have an outdoor table under a marquee. Just go for the food — it cost us less than $ 50 and tasted so good.