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.

Kafe Halaman

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price: Rp. 15,000 – Rp. 55,000 per dish = $2 – $6

Place: 7/10

Review:

For my first review in my home country, I will take you to one of the only few good things in Bandung, Kafe Halaman (translated into ‘backyard café’). This café gave you the feeling of having a meal in a patio on our backyard.

Before you start, you might want to familiarise yourself with the menu, since there are literally 100s of things to choose from. Feel free to explore the variety of menu in the restaurant, as I will only list a fraction of it that we actually ordered.

Our first starter was this funny looking dish called Rambutan Prawn. Derived from the Rambutan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan) image, the noodle-coated prawns were deep fried till they’re golden brown. Enjoyed with condiments of Chilli and Tomato sauce, it was really crunchy. The other starter was Lumpia (Spring Rolls). Another deep-fried menu, but this time was too similar with the regular spring rolls, with the exception of their tiny bite-size.

We also ordered some share plates of Siomay (Chinese Shumai) and Ceker (Chicken Feet). I will pass on the description of the second one since its admirers are so little. The first one is an Indonesian adaptation of Chinese Shumai. They were slightly more sturdy and solid in appearance and usually more flour than meat.

We had two main courses to try with and both of them had the same seasoning. One was Buntut Bakar (Grilled Oxtail). It came with the unique Melinjo crackers and vegetable soup. Again, not anyone will enjoy this kind of treat. The second one was a bit ‘neutral’, Iga Bakar BBQ (BBQ Ribs). Unfortunately, these are not those gigantic Sydney’s Hurricane’s ribs. Quite the opposite, they were pretty tiny. I think it’s fair enough, considering the very low price of it. They did come in a nice old-fashioned hot plate, with sides of fries and veggies + additional yummy BBQ sauce.

The final verdict for Kafe Halaman:

The best thing about Kafe Halaman is its variety. You can choose from Chinese, Western, to traditional Indonesian food and they’re all decent (except maybe the exotic ones – for preference / distaste). It is also one of the few restaurants that open past midnight.

Did you know?

There are at least two Kafe Halaman restaurants I know of. This spot is definitely not better than the main one. In terms of taste, it’s not really different. Getting to the mall, on the other hand, is a mammoth task. Paris Van Java is one of the hottest spot in Bandung and considering traffic generally is already pretty bad in Bandung, it is worse at this spot.

Location:

Paris Van Java, Bandung, West Java

Mar 16, 2011
Blue Ginger, South East Asian Cuisine

Rating:

8 / 10

Taste: 8.5 /10

Price: $35 – $50 per person

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Blue Ginger has everything that I wanted in what South East Asian restaurant should be: Nice ambience, table setting that won’t let u kick your neighbour, and most importantly GREAT service – no grumpy old lady throwing plates on your table!

There are choices of Banquet menu that we chose not to have because we weren’t too sure about some of the selection. We ordered 1 appetiser, 5 main dishes, and 2 desserts. For the appetiser, it was Salt & pepper squid. Definitely not the best one Sydney has to offer and quite frankly quickly abolished my hope of having a great night.

We were made to wait for quite a while until the main course arrived but in the end all of them came at once – which was the most important feature of South East Asian dining experience. It didn’t take long before dim expectation turned into great experience.The slow braised black Angus beef short ribs (boneless) literally blew my mind away! Cut into bite sizes, the ribs were cooked to dry, glazed with special sauce and an optional cucumber relish and tamarind for an extra taste.

The next one I tasted was Crispy skin chicken Maryland. Equally yummy with its unique trait, really really crispy skin! The black vinegar dressing complemented the chicken really well.Then, the stir fried eggplant & pumpkin was made special with the addition of chilli black beans and young corns.

The next two dishes were my wife’s favourite. First one was Panang curry chicken. The curry was really smooth without any overpowering taste of the element. The second one was Stir fried Singaporean chilli prawns with snow peas. It was perfect for me due to the mild hotness of the chilli.

Considering none of the dishes were disappointing, we were tempted to try out their desserts. Our choices fell to two of the following:

–Panacotta with Palm Sugar and Pineapple Ice Cream

–Kaffir Lime Crème Brulee

In overall they were not mind blowing but more similar to Chat Thai with a Fusion to western desserts, with special credit to the Pineapple Ice cream.

The final verdict: Blue Ginger charged quite a premium price but it was by far the best (South East) Asian restaurant in Sydney! Even the desserts are much better than one-hat restaurant we went to. The short ribs were the highlight of the day, shockingly excluded from the Banquet menu! They were just simply beautiful…

Did you know?

There are some nice spots in Balmain to relax and unwind, all in walking distance. Some of the nicer ones: Great coffee in Bertoni, Adriano Zumbo’s infamous Croquembouche and Macaroons.

Location:

241 Darling St, Balmain NSW 2041

Website:

http://www.blueginger.com.au/

Jan 26, 2011
Chefs Gallery

Chefs Gallery’s rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7 /10

Price per plate: $8 – $22.90

Place: 8/10

Since the dishes have name as long as a train at Chefs Gallery, I am going to list it first and put the numbers as it appears in the menu. It will also make it easier if you want to try these dishes, just mention the numbers to them.

A2 Finely sliced beef shin slow roasted in premium soya sauce, a Shanghainese favourite

D2 Guo Tie Lightly pan fried prawn dumplings

SN2 Chef’s own golden snowflake chicken – lightly crumbed chicken fillet, very crispy, tender and moist served with noodles in a pumkin soup

R3 Wok fried medium grain rice with three types of eggs (chicken egg, salted duck egg and century egg), a must try dish

V5 Wok fried mussels in sweet Chinese rice wine

V6 Chef’s own handmade egg tofu lightly pan fried, topped with preserved vegetables

HD1 Steamed sesame ‘piggy face’ bun, as sumptuous to the eyes as it is to the taste buds – a must-try for adults and children (2 pc)

HD3 Steamed pumpkin pastry dumpling filled with lotus paste, a beautiful piece of art (3 pc)

Review:

We will start the New Year with one of the newest restaurants in town, Chef’s Gallery. One of the main attractions of the restaurant is the restaurant-wide see-thru kitchen. It really gave us a unique dining experience and a sense of security because we know what the chefs are doing to our food.Although there were quite a bit of options in the menu, they made it easy for us since they highlighted their signature dishes with a chef hat.

We started off the night lightly with the sliced beef shin and guo tie. These two dishes were too ordinary for this wonderful looking restaurant. There was also accompanying vinegar for the dumpling to enhance its flavour.

The next two served were completely the opposite.With its three egg types, the fried rice was rich in flavour and very savoury. However it was pretty expensive for its size. This is where the noodles compensated. It had a decent size and its pumpkin / egg soup filled in the duty of tummy-filler. The noodles came with golden snowflake chicken aka chicken katsu.

The mussels were quite bland and, again, had a very tiny portion. It was nowhere near the Belgian mussels. However, the last dish was a work of art. The egg tofu was so delicate and its unique combination with the vegetables I’ve never tasted before.

The clear winner, however, was the dessert. Nothing will make the ladies squeal like the ‘piggy face’ bun.The other dessert was also comparable to the bun.

The final verdict for Chefs Gallery

The ‘piggy face’ bun was definitely the dish of the day, although it was too cute to be eaten. The other dishes were also nice with few surprises here and there. It was worth coming back to Chef’s Gallery for seconds.

Did you know?

Chef’s Gallery is one of the newest additions to Sydney’s culinary world. With similar concept to Din Tai Fung’s, it wins a contemporary edge over DTF. Taste wise both of them are clear losers when compared to the cheaper and fast Chinese food of Ashfield and Burwood. However, in terms of table service and hygiene, we know whom to pick.

Location:

Shop 12, Ground Floor Regent Place, 501 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.chefsgallery.com/

Jan 9, 2011
Red Chilli Sichuan Restaurant

Rating:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6 /10

Price Range: $15 – $30

Place: 7/10

Review:

First of all, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. This week we will have a double review. This is the first instalment of the review.

For the first one, I take you to the world of chili, or in this case, Red Chilli Sichuan (or Szechuan). Located at the heart of Chinatown, this restaurant was recommended by our friend. Upon glancing the menu, we knew that there were not many non-chili dishes.As with any other Chinese restaurants, the dishes’ names are loosely translated or just a list of what was in them.

Without further ado we start with the appetiser, Sliced beef, beef tongue, tripe and chilli sauce. Pre-boiled-then-chilled meat was immersed in chilli sauce. It was a nice intro to the chilli night and this one was not too spicy.

The next two dishes had the same attributes, except for the main ingredient. One was Hot pot beef with hot and spicy sauce and Chinese cabbage and the other one was Hot pot fish fillets. Although the pictures can’t really show, these two dishes were gigantic. For chilli lovers, I think they’ll be in heaven with this dish. The soup was literally a chilli pot. In my opinion, it was just too much: too much chilli and too big of a portion.

The next dish I couldn’t taste because there was an element of pork in it, although we specifically said to the waiter that we didn’t eat pork. I guess the poor underpaid girl didn’t really care anyway. It was Stir fried green beans with pork mince.

Two of the better dishes of the night came in last, westernised Kung Pao Chicken and Crispy Ducks. The chicken was an ok dish with some element of chilli in it. The crispy ducks on the other hand were great. They were fried to golden brown with extra crunchy skin. It was served with a nice brown sauce.

The final verdict: Another restaurant that I wasn’t fancy because of the super hot dishes. In addition to that, the service that we received was too similar to any cheap Chinese restaurants in Sydney, even when it charged a premium pricing. The only exception to it was the duck. It was very clean and crispy. It reminded me of how ducks are cooked in Indonesia.

Did you know?

When trying to find the website for this restaurant, I found out that it was part of a restaurant chain around Sydney.

Location:

Shop 3, 51-53 Dixon Street, Haymarket NSW 2000

Website:

http://www.redchilligroup.com.au/

Dec 27, 2010
Ginger and Spice Singapore Restaurant

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8 /10

Price Range: $25 – $30

Place: 7/10

Review:

It was really hard to decide which restaurant I was going to review after a fabulous night at Quay… but the show must go on and I chose Ginger and Spice Singapore restaurant. Reviewers described this restaurant as ‘a place to experience genuine street food as you might find in Singapore’ – No tone down, no westernised taste.

Upon arrival to the restaurant, we were greeted by the ‘usual’ Chinese-style waiting and I also caught a glimpse of an article about Tetsuya’s visit to the restaurant. We were a bit early and had to wait until our allocated time. However, as one of Sydney’s finest Singaporean restaurant, we were less impressed by the seemingly ‘standard’ table arrangements and menu.

As with any other Chinese restaurants, we ordered 5 dishes to be shared by the whole table. Unsurprisingly, their trademark, Hainan Chicken was brought out first. It was the only dish that they served in a nice leaf-like plate with three different sauces. It was the only-well presented dish of the night and the taste was also great. We had to wait for quite a bit for the next one, Beef Rendang, to come out. A classical Malaysian/Indonesian Beef with Rendang flavour. The meat was very tender and the sauce was also nice.

The third dish was Garlic Prawns, although to be honest, it was more like ‘a bunch of onions with some prawns on top’. It was our least favourite dish of the day because of the fact that it was too simple. We could just get it from any other Chinese restaurants for a much cheaper price, and not everyone got a prawn. Next one came the only veggies of the day, Long Bean Balacan. Another classical Asian dish, long beans stir-fried with real shrimp paste and some other yummy ingredients. This is one of the few vegetable dishes that I could actually enjoy.

Best one for the day, and came lucky last, was the Sweet Soy Calamari. Presentation wise, it was worrying, and we did not expect anything judging by the looks. However, on a first bite, it quickly became the dish of the day. The calamari was cooked to perfection, crunchy all the way. Since sweet soy sauce was also my favourite, the experience became extraordinary. For drinks, I ordered a Grass Jelly drink. This typical Southeast Asian reminded me how refreshingly different they were.

The final verdict: There is no doubt that in terms of quality, the food was excellent. Special credit goes for the Sweet Soy Calamari. However, lack of efforts put on interior design and staffs’ below-par customer service has made the experience a less satisfying one.

Did you know?

Neutral Bay is known as the mid-upper class place where over-priced restaurants are everywhere, unless you get the quality one.

Generally speaking, I always hesitate to go to Indonesian-like restaurant because of the exorbitant price when compared to real street food in Indonesia.

Location:

240 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW 2089

Website:

It’s surprising to learn that as a famous restaurant, they don’t have their own website.

Nov 16, 2010
Din Tai Fung

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price Range: $11 – $20

Place: 7/10

Review:

Just like any other well-known Chinese Restaurants, Din Tai Fung is always packed with people. If you go there only with your partner, don’t be intimidated by the huge number of people queuing outside the restaurants. The turnover for two people is quite high, so you will only need to wait for half an hour. But if you go with a large group, I’d suggest you to book in advance.

Din Tai Fung is world famous for its Xiaolongbao (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaolongbao). It is a very soft dumpling with mince pork (or some other combinations) and gelatine soup. We normally add vinegar and sliced ginger, pop the dumpling so that the soup would come out and enjoy it all in a spoonful. This time, we ordered its variant, Steamed Green Vegetable Dumpling. It was served in a bamboo basket and a layer of white cloth. The dumpling was quite different than any other dumplings we found on a yumcha restaurant. You can actually see through it and looked soft and yet it is strong enough to be handled by chopsticks.

Similar to other fine dining restaurants, the portion of their food is pretty small, thus we ordered quite a few dishes. First one to come out was the appetiser, Drunken Chicken. It was a chilled Boneless chicken marinade in Chinese wine. It was soft and had a hint of sweetness in the chicken. Very good to build your appetite, but unfortunately, this was the best dish of the night for me.

In addition to the dumplings, we also ordered Sautéed Water Spinach with Garlic and Deep Fried Chicken Fried Rice. Although a quite staple food in Indonesia, water spinach is difficult to obtain in Sydney. It is quite nice and healthy. There was nothing special about the fried rice as well, but the chicken was quite crispy and tasty.

To finish the night, we ordered Mango Pudding and Golden Taro with Taro Ice Cream. We ordered the pudding just to be on the safe side (and I think there’s a universal standard for how you make mango pudding). It’s a pretty generous serving of mango pudding with an optional side of condensed milk. Pretty nice, yet pretty standard! The other dessert, however, was really nice. It was a deep-fried, golden brown taro on a side with a scoop of ice cream. It was very crunchy and savoury.

Did you know?

As one of Sydney’s prominent building, World Square housed several big name restaurants, shops, and nightclubs. It is also an ideal meeting place because of the ease of travel to it.

Location:

Shop 11.04, World Square Shopping Centre, 644 George Street, Sydney

https://www.dintaifungaustralia.com.au/

Sep 7, 2010