All About Food

Category: Chinese

One of the most common food in the world, but it can be ultra perfect. Chinese can also be considered one of the cheapest restaurants you can get in a suburb.

  • Beijing Impression

    Beijing Impression

    Beijing Impression Review:

    Beijing Impression is a relatively new restaurant in Ashfield. In the last few months, you wouldn’t be able to get a seat at the restaurant without queuing for hours or booking it a month in advance. They built up a reputation on their Peking duck. They put on a bit of show when serving the duck.

    Unfortunately, on this occasion, we did not try their Peking duck as there was only our family dining in. There are quite a lot of unusual items on the menu. They are not your typical Chinese dishes found in Chinese restaurants.

    z99 Beijing Impression Menu

    Fried Beef and Crispy Mushroom – $16.80

    I am quite pleased with the fried beef and crispy mushroom. It was probably the most ‘normal’ dish on the night.

    Special Fried Rice in Honeycomb Briquette Look – $12.80

    I thought we ordered fried rice. Apparently, it was a black sticky rice dessert with fruits. They also lit the fried rice up like a bonfire.

    Three Delicacies (Blood, Palm and Gizzard) of Duck in Hot Chilli Oil – $18.80

    Skip this if you don’t eat chilli. This dish was very hot with quite a lot of chilli oil, chilli pieces and Szechuan peppercorns. If the heat doesn’t put you off, then the duck’s inner parts might. They have blood jelly, duck feet (palm) and gizzard.

    I actually quite enjoyed it despite the heat.

    Peking Style Cheese – $5.80

    Again we made a mistake ordering this thinking it was a savoury dish. It turned out to be a sweet cheese with jam. It reminded me of Indonesian tapai (fermented cassava) with slight alcoholic flavour.

    Creamy Fried Cake – $9.80

    This is the actual dessert that came out as a dessert. Unfortunately, the little one loved it so much that we were only given a tiny portion.

    Crispy Prawns – $12.80

    Considering that we actually ordered three desserts on this occasion (somebody was really happy about that), we had to order an extra main dish. It was a very nice and crispy prawn with a hint of sweet and spicy sauce.

    Steamed pork with rice flour – $12.80

    It tasted like the sticky rice in lotus leaf but without the lotus leaf and with a lot more meat. As if you are still lacking carbs, they also throw in a few buns for free. You could technically eat just this and be really full.

    The final verdict for Beijing Impression

    Despite our inabilities to choose the right dishes, we enjoyed our dinner at the restaurant.

    Do you think I should go?

    If you do not have to experience the queue at this restaurant, the food is actually pretty decent. Obviously, you should be aiming to get their Peking Duck.

    Rating for Beijing Impression:

     

    7.0 / 10

    Taste: 7.0 / 10

    Price: $90 for 3 people (without the Peking Duck)

    Place: 7.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    11-13 Hercules St, Ashfield 2131

    +61 2 9798 5288

    Beijing Impression Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

  • Nu Bambu

    Nu Bambu

    Nu Bambu Review:

    I saw a few pictures of food at Nu Bambu in Sydney Food Bloggers facebook group. Considering that the restaurant is quite close to where I live, we decided to give it a go one day.

    The restaurant is located in Canterbury and Hurlstone Park RSL. The menu is quite a fusion of all things Asians, from the Thai salad to Indonesian Nasi Goreng. However, I think it is probably one of the pricier RSL food in Sydney. Is the price justified by the taste?

    Beef Tartare – $16 – Cape Grim grass-fed, raw Steak with lemongrass, lime leaf, quail yolk, sesame crackers

    It is quite an interesting display of beef tartare. I have never seen it served with sesame crackers and fried shallots. I love the extra crunchy dimension to the dish.

    Thai Salmon Ceviche – $15 – Raw salmon, fresh coconut, coriander, mint, red nahm jim

    The ceviche’s combo is also something you don’t see very often. This Asian version of ceviche came with fresh coconut and spicy Thai dipping sauce.

    From these two dishes, we got a sense that it was going to be quite an exciting dinner.

    Beef Short Rib – $24 – Twice-coocked with sweet fish sauce, cucumber relish

    I won’t tell you anything but this: You must order the beef short rib.

    Grilled Champagne Lobsters – $39 – Cooked over coconut charcoal with confit sambal butter

    Due to my lack of knowledge of what ‘Champagne Lobster‘ is, I was kinda surprised when it came out as 2 small-ish lobsters. The lobsters were full of flavour. Don’t worry about the sambal butter, I am sure most people would be able to handle the heat.

    z5 Lobster from Nu Bambu

    Whole Crispy Fried Fish – $30 – Green mango, coriander, sweet chilli, tamarind

    This dish might look a little bit challenging. It was a whole fish after all. The sweet, spicy and sour taste was in line with a mild Thai green salad. I love whole fish as I could eat pretty much everything but the bones.

    Asian Greens – $8

    You know they make a good bowl of vegetables when your kids couldn’t stop eating it. That’s exactly what happened with this Asian Greens dish.

    Thai Tea Fondant – $15 – Ginger & cacao sorbet

    Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake for this dish: I did not take a picture when the yummy, gooey Thai tea seeped out of the cake. It was also interesting to know that the ginger sorbet worked perfectly with the cake.

    Crispy Choux (4) – $14 – served with pandan custard or lychee lemongrass

    Again another rookie mistake… no gooey pictures… but this time it’s because I wasn’t fast enough to stop people from devouring them!

    Sorbet – $12 – charcoal coconut, mango lychee, yuzu passionfruit, strawberry & raspberry

    There were four different choices for the sorbet, but since the majority would want to try mango lychee, we had two scoops of them. The other one was yuzu passionfruit.

    Trung Nguyen Cold Drip Coffee – $6 – condensed milk over ice

    Considering that Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk was usually super sweet, that giant ice sphere actually dumbed down the sweetness considerably.

    The final verdict for Nu Bambu

    Nu Bambu might be one of the most expensive RSL restaurants in Sydney. However, the price was justified by the quality of food they served.

    Do you think I should go?
    Definitely! However, please be prepared that if you expect your usual Asian dishes, you will be disappointed.

    Rating for Nu Bambu:

     

    8.5 / 10

    Taste: 8.5 / 10

    Price: $200 with drinks for four people

    Place: 8.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL
    20-26 Canterbury Road, Hurlstone Park 2193

    +61 2 9559 0088

    https://nubambu.com.au/

    Nu Bambu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
     

  • Hung Cheung

    Hung Cheung

    Hung Cheung Review:

    For daily commuter around Marrickville Road, there is a Chinese restaurant right in front of the Marrickville Town Hall. It stood out quite a bit as it is the last restaurant in the shopping strip in between two roads. The restaurant is called Hung Cheung and that’s our focus for this week.

    Just like quite a lot of Chinese restaurants, they serve Yumcha in the morning and Chinese ‘fine dining’ in the evening with the likes of abalone and fresh seafood. We went there

    Steamed Baby Abalone – MP – Ginger and Shallot

    Considered as one of the finest ingredients in Chinese cuisine, well-established restaurants usually offer this on the menu. I like it to be cooked with ginger and shallot as it provides me with quite a fresh start to my dinner.

    For that day, we paid around $10 for the baby abalone.

    Baby Abalone from Hung Cheung

    BBQ Duck (Half) – $21.80

    In a new restaurant, we always come back to what we are most accustomed to. In a Chinese restaurant, BBQ duck would be one of them. Their BBQ duck was quite nice with the plum sauce on the side.

    Fried E-Fu Noodles – $15.80

    My son was expecting this to be the crispy version of E-fu noodles and so did I. Luckily he still wanted to eat it. The E-fu noodles portion was quite big.

    Complimentary Desserts

    It is always nice to receive a complimentary dessert from a restaurant. In well-established Chinese restaurants, you could always expect complimentary desserts of some sort.

    The final verdict for Hung Cheung

    Hung Cheung Chinese restaurant provided us with restaurant-quality Chinese food with decent options and complimentary desserts.

    Do you think I should go?

    Hung Cheung is quite an established business for people around the Marrickville area. There are not many (if any) Chinese restaurants with a similar offering in the area.

    Rating for Hung Cheung:

     

    7.0 / 10

    Taste: 7.0 / 10

    Price: $59.40 for three dishes

    Place: 7.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    338 Marrickville Road, Marrickville 2204

    +61 2 9560 4681

     

    Hung Cheung Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

     

  • New Shanghai Ashfield

    New Shanghai Ashfield

    New Shanghai Ashfield Review:

    Early days of my blogging, I wrote about New Shanghai in Chatswood. To say the least, the experience was not memorable. We went past New Shanghai Ashfield a few times and it is usually extremely busy with people lining up outside the restaurant at dinner time.

    As per the other New Shanghai restaurants, they put a slightly premium price compared to the other Chinese restaurants around the area.

    New Shanghai Ashfield Menu

    Roast duck with plum sauce – $26.6

    I love a good roast duck. Unfortunately in this restaurant is just literally a small plate of roast duck with plum sauce served on the side.

    Crispy tofu with salted egg yolk – $17.8

    In theory the soft tofu with the tasty salted egg yolk would be perfect. Although the tofu was soft and fluffy, the egg yolk wasn’t salty enough.

    Spring Onion Pancakes – $7.2

    We ordered this because we saw this flying to tables around us. I love its extra crispy texture and flavorsome taste. It was probably the best dish we had for the evening.

    Deep fried ice cream

    The deep fried ice cream was super doughy. Some people might like it that way, but I like more ice cream and crispier and thinner coating.

    The final verdict for New Shanghai Ashfield

    Service at New Shanghai Ashfield is definitely better than the one in Chatswood, but still quite low when compared to the Australian dining standard. The food is also better than the other venue.

    Did you know?

    New Shanghai is famous for its Pan Fried Bun and Xiao Long Bao. We did not order that this time around to see what else they have.

    Rating for New Shanghai Ashfield:

    6.5 / 10
     
    Taste: 7.0 / 10

    Price: $35 pp

    Place: 7.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    273 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

    +61 2 9797 7284

    http://www.newshanghai.com.au/

    New Shanghai Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

     

  • 兰州 Chinese Noodle Bar Burwood

    兰州 Chinese Noodle Bar Burwood

    兰州 Chinese Noodle Bar Review:

    We went to this restaurant last week because one of us wanted to eat in a Halal Chinese restaurant. Chinese Noodle Bar is the name of the restaurant in English. I think in Chinese it’s called ‘Lanzhou La Mien‘ or Noodles from Lanzhou.

    Being a noodle bar, I think it comes as no surprise that their menu predominantly features noodles in any shapes and kinds.

    Crispy jellyfish and cucumber in sauce – $8.00

    Jellyfish is one of my favourite cold dishes in a Chinese restaurant. It is kind of a safe bet as most restaurants would serve this nicely.

    Tofu with preserved egg – $9.80

    The price might seem a bit much for a cold dish in a Chinese restaurant. However, if you see the portion, it was actually quite big for a cold dish. Lots of tofu, that’s for sure!

    House Specialty Beef Noodle Soup – $10.80

    Our first noodles dish is the soup one. The kids truly enjoyed this dish so much that they ordered an extra serving of noodles.

    Stir-fried noodle with Mix Seafood & Veg – $14.80

    The portion for this stir-fried noodles was quite massive.

    BBQ Lamb Skewer – 1 for $3 / 4 for $11.00

    The skewers were well presented but I don’t think it can match the ones I have had before.

    Pan fried dumplings (Beef/Chinese chives and egg) – $12.00 – 12 pieces

    $12 for 12 pieces of pan fried dumplings? Don’t you think it’s a very good deal?

    Personally, I think this is the best value and best overall dish in the restaurant. Also, it is particularly hard to find halal pan fried dumplings in Sydney.

    Shallot Pancake – $8.00

    The pancake was quite soggy and lacking the taste.

    Main Noodles Dish – flat rice noodles with potatoes and chicken

    Apologies, I could not find the name of this dish. It is the first signature dish on the menu.

    The dish came in three sizes (S, M, L). We ordered the medium one and they said it was perfect for 2-3 people. We believe it’s more for 4-5 people!

    The dish was quite spicy and we believe there was not enough sauce.

    z6 Giant Noodles from Chinese Noodle Bar Burwood

    Mapo Tofu

    The final verdict for 兰州 Chinese Noodle Bar Burwood

    Chinese noodle bar was quite okay if you live around the area. It is also a good place if you are looking for dishes with massive portion. One thing to note tho, the pan fried dumplings are a must!

    Rating for 兰州 Chinese Noodle Bar Burwood:

     

    6.5 / 10

    Taste: 6.5 / 10

    Price: $15 – $20 per person

    Place: 6.5 / 10

     

    Details:

    183 Burwood Road, Burwood 2134

    +61 2 9744 6680

     

    Chinese Noodle Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

     

  • Chefs Gallery Macquarie

    Chefs Gallery Macquarie

    Chefs Gallery Macquarie Review:

    Three years ago, we were lucky enough to be invited to Chefs Gallery Feng Shui Blessing opening party for Chefs Gallery Macquarie Park. I went back to the restaurant recently because we had something to do around the area.

    They have quite a different menu from when I first reviewed them in Town Hall.

    Prawn and squid shu mai – $11.90 – topped with avocado and fish roe paste (4 pieces)

    When you go to a yumcha restaurant, shu mai is considered one of the mainstays. Chefs Gallery managed to make it ‘gourmet’ by adding avocado and fish roe paste to the dish.

    Ox tail slow cooked – $26.90 – in a mix of Chinese herbs, then fried with lemon grass, eschalots, ginger, chilli, galangal, kaffir lime and basil leaves. Served in a sizzling hot pot.

    Ox tail is a dish that I enjoyed the most when I was living in indonesia. It is probably not the healthiest dish in the world, but it is so yummy! Also, this dish is probably one of the most expensive ox tail dishes in the world.

    Spinach handmade noodles – $19.90 – wok fried with prawns, mussels in shell, baby calamari tubes, julienned carrots and fresh shiitake mushrooms

    When they had the opening party, noodles played a big part. Chefs gallery prides itself with their handmade noodles. The spinach handmade noodles is one of them and they were very good.

    Wok fried medium grain rice – $16.90 – with three kinds of eggs (chicken egg, salted duck egg and century egg)

    Why stopped with one egg when you can put in three kinds of eggs in your fried rice?

    Smiley egg custard buns – $4.90 each

    If you are eating out with the kids and not planning to have any desserts, don’t show this section to them. In addition to the emoticons custard bun, they also have the more famous piggy face bun.

    The final verdict for Chefs Gallery Macquarie

    Chefs Gallery Macquarie Park is probably one of the more expensive Chinese restaurants chain. However, their handmade noodles are very good.

    Did you know?
    One dish that we did not order this time around but you should really try is the Peking Duck Roti.

    Rating for Chefs Gallery Macquarie:

     

    7.0 / 10

    Taste: 7.0 / 10

    Price: $35 per person

    Place: 7.0 / 10

     

    Details:

    Shop 407, North Ryde NSW 2113

    +61 2 8040 7483

    http://chefsgallery.com/

    Chefs Gallery Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato