Categories
Café

Little West – Haberfield NSW Restaurant Review

We spent like half an hour doing a post-walk stand-around waiting for a table at Little West, but we got to see a little cat after our meal, so it was kind of worth it to me.

The smoked brisket sausage roll ($10) was somewhat small in size, but made up for it with its good texture, both internally in the house smoked beef brisket filling, as well as externally in the buttery and flaky pastry. The house made bush tomato sauce was a bit tangier than your regular tomato sauce, almost similar to a BBQ sauce.

This banana & macadamia loaf ($7), toasted with a slab of cultured butter, did very little for me. At the very least I can say it was not too sweet, but I think overall it was not too anything in terms of taste.

This brunch bowl with house hot smoked salmon ($24 including a $7 salmon supplement) was wholesome and good, hitting the mark on a number of counts, including a good corn fritter, well poached eggs, and a varied smattering of fresh greenery. Little West’s commitment to making a bunch of different ingredients in house, where your usual café might just buy their smoked salmon from an external supplier, is pretty impressive, even if the quality of the end product does not differ noticeably from something off-the-shelf.

meow

Little West
Shop 2, 53-55 Waratah St, Haberfield NSW 2045
0482 078 099

Categories
Chinese

Golden Oceans Chinese Seafood Restaurant (文興海鲜酒楼) – Beverly Hills NSW Restaurant Review

This is not our normal behaviour, but we found ourselves at a formal Chinese seafood restaurant for dinner, just the two of us. We ordered a number of classics, at least one of which our parents would’ve been proud of.

The braiseds scallops with sugar beans and funguses with XO sauce ($38.80) were a total Chinese parent order. Super responsible, reasonably healthy, and a bit expensive. Clean feeling and delicious.

You tiao / fried dough cruller does not fit with the dinner meal thematically, but were a craving. They were fine, not mindblowing as they might have been straight out of the deep fryer on the side of the road.

We’ve been looking for zhenjiang pork ribs ever since our favourite Parramatta Chinese restaurant closed down in 2021 (RIP Taste Gallery), and Golden Oceans’ Pork Spare Ribs with Black Vinegar Sauce ($28.80) finally, finally hit the mark. I’m so glad we came here and I got to eat this again.

I like a good Shan Dong Chicken ($27.80), and though this one was a bit wet and a bit saltier than I like, it was still quite good. I imagine it would’ve been good with rice, but the you tiao were carb enough to compensate for the overflavour.

Overall I enjoyed. Take your family here.

Golden Oceans Chinese Seafood Restaurant (文興海鲜酒楼)
461 King Georges Rd, Beverly Hills NSW 2209
(02) 9580 0918

Categories
Café

Superfreak – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

We had quite a yummy and leafy brunch at relatively new spot Superfreak in Marrickville.

Taking a break from tradition, here’s a photo of an ultra-cozy shaggy booth bench to start.

The lunch plate ($32) allegedly with seasonal vegetables (in today’s case – carrot, cucumber, and strawberries), comte, LP’s saucisson sec, ham, sauerkraut, fig (where was this), whiped ricotta, butter, house pickles and bread was a medley of freshness and deliciousness on one plate. Each portion of the meal, apart from the comte, had its own fresh and non-overpowering flavour, layering upon each other to create a variety of mixed mouthfuls. The whipped ricotta was mild and delicious, the ham was similarly not too salty with a good mouthfeel (from Emilio’s butcher), and the bread was crunchy and excellent with a bit of butter and layered with everything else. The dutch carrots were served somewhat annoyingly with long stalks for no reason but display, but were fresh and cruchy, and the strawberries were very sweet. I didn’t have a strong adoration for the comte, especially in such a large quantity, but the sauerkraut was nice. Ever my partner, someone not generally in to cured salumis, enjoyed the saucisson sec from LP’s. This plate was overall a fun mixture of flavours.

Even better than the lunch plate was this trio of salads ($24), to which we added a side of gremolata encrusted Ora king salmon ($10). The pumpkin wedge salad was probably the best of the three, with a delicious sweet and moist wedge of roasted pumpkin in a green coriander and cashew cream dressing. The fioretto and lentil salad would be my second pick, not for the pulses, but for the mustardy leek, roasted fioretto (which soaked up so much dressing flavour) and dill, while the crunchy green salad made predominately of lettuce was quite missable, in my opinion.

The gremolata encrusted Ora king salmon ($10) was absolutely delicious, slightly seared on the outside and perfectly fatty and soft on the inside, served wiht a tangy leafy topping. It was absolutely a key component of the salad dish, if optional, and deserves to star in its own adventure on the menu on its next iteration.

Decor

The rare subsequent decor photo, they painted the air conditioner 1980s tobacco yellow to match the wall, as well as a ceiling fan and opposing wall air conditioner green. Kind of cute.

Overall thoughts
Yummy. Can recommend the salmon. Parking is OK around the corner.

Superfreak
Shop 2/333a Enmore Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204

Categories
Bakery Vietnamese

Nhu Y King’s Hot Bread – Ermington NSW Restaurant Review

Nhu Y King’s banh mis with double meat kept me going through never ending weekend ward rounds on the aged care inpatient team, and I thank them for that.

The size and price ratio was good, as was their 7-day opening schedule, something that XCel Roll could not compete with.

(I should note that as of 2024 the size and quality at XCel Roll Auburn has dropped off significantly, which is a shame, because they used to hold the crown. I don’t know if XCell Roll Parramatta has suffered the same drop in quality, as I’ve not been back in some time.)

Nhu Y King’s Hot Bread
23 Betty Cuthbert Ave, Ermington NSW 2115

Categories
Korean

Mapo Galbi Korean BBQ – West Ryde NSW Restaurant Review

We had a pork based meal at this West Ryde Korean BBQ restaurant allegedly known for its beef ribs.

The banchan offering was diverse for 4 and included marinated raw crab, which neither I nor my Indian gastroenterologist friend were game to eat. Our Korean gastroenterologist and intensivist were game. Banchan was not refilled through the meal.

We had 3 servings of marinated pork rib ($29 each) between the four of us. Cooked skillfully by a Korean born Korean, I have no complaints.

Perhaps the only thing is that when I eat with these guys we only ever get multiple orders of the one meat. See related review of Stoneage BBQ, also in West Ryde.

The miso stew ($17) with a bit of clam inside was a nice thing that I never get to eat when I eat with my partner, because she just hates anything clammy. I’m told not bad with rice, but it was also not bad without rice.

Mapo Galbi Korean BBQ
999A Victoria Rd, West Ryde NSW 2114
(02) 9807 2278