Category: Chinese

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Chinese

Jinwei (Jinweigu) Food 津味谷) – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

My mother doesn’t approve of my dining out habits and related financial insecurity, but Jinwei (Jinweigu) Food has the rare distinction of being one of the few places approved by my mother. Their offering of Northern Chinese breakfasts foods is attuned almost perfectly to my tastebuds as an ex-Northern Chinese kid, and I must say that I enjoyed almost everything on offer.

This triangle pork pie ($6.80) is a best seller, and one bite is enough to tell you why. The pork filling is juicy and tasty, and the thin pan-fried flour pastry is perfectly proportioned for that optimal filling to carb ratio. This isn’t something that I remember having growing up, but I wish it were.

The shitake mushroom and pork pie ($5) was in a form more similar to what I’m used to, adhering to the standard filling enveloped by dough xian bing formula. Like the triangle pork pie this filling of mushroom and pork was also new to me, but thoroughly enjoyed. I do wish that the dough were a little bit thinner to optimise the flour to filling ratio though, and you can see from the cross-sectional imagery that one layer of dough was unfortunately much thicker than the other.

The mashed potato and beef roll ($3.50) was not bad, but certainly more potato than beef, with an overall creamy taste and texture with a hint of meat umami. It was a favourite of my partner the potato fiend, though as I have been in a carb-avoidant state I tried to only have a little bit.

The mung-bean powder wrap with deep fried dough sticks ($7.50) or jianbing guozi (煎饼馃子) was the memory from childhood that I had been chasing, which sadly will remain just a memory for now. I had incredibly high expectations from this, jianbing guozi being perhaps my favourite food in the world before the age of four. While there are specific points for improvement (the dough cruller (you tiao) was not particularly crispy and they used another sauce other than tian mian jiang)) I think that ultimately much like your Italian nonna’s bolognese it’s probably just not physically possible to reach the pinnacle of expectation that your four year old self with an undeveloped frontal cortex has set for you. Nothing is ever as good as you remember, though in this case my mum agrees.

In mid 2023 I had this eggplant pie ($3.50), which tasted exactly the same as it looks – oily, juicy, crispy, meaty, with some pork mince and eggplant surrounded by a light batter and deep fried. Delicious and terrible for you at the same time.

THOUGHTS
Overall Jinwei Food is a winner for me, directly invoking memories of growing up and eating food at the hawker stands under our apartment building in Northern China. Many of their foods are delicious and well priced, though sadly the one thing that I was really looking forward to (jianbing guozi) did not quite live up to my expectations. Despite this I am glad to live so close to such a fantastic restaurant, and hope that they can open back up for dining in at some point soon.

Jinwei (Jinweigu) Food 津味谷
277 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194

Categories
Chinese

Chef’s Gallery – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

My first ever encounter with Chef’s Gallery was outside their Sydney CBD store back in 2012 or so. My friend ACYL and I were looking for a place to eat, and even though I don’t remember if we ultimately went inside I distinctly remembered reading this high-gloss white menu in the midday sun, and having the afterimage of it seared directly into my optic nerve for many minutes after.

Flash forward almost a decade to 2021 and I’m sitting in Chef’s Gallery’s Parramatta branch, and not for the first time in mere weeks. Their food is good, reliable, though perhaps on the expensive side with more of a focus on presentation than strong value. Throughout the course of the lockdowns in Sydney in 2021 I order takeaway several times from Chef’s Gallery, though to be honest I prefer Taste Gallery across the road for their more homely fare.

My partner loves some good deep fried tofu, and these Spinach Tofu with Soy Sauce ($17.90) fit the bill. These tofu were large and plump and soft inside, with a dusting of what I can only assume is eggy batter on the outside. The soy sauce was not overpowering, though the effect or benefit of the spinach was a little lost on me. Though in itself a solid dish, I feel $18 was perhaps a little too much to ask for it.

The Wonton in Chicken Soup ($11.90) was appropriately priced, warming, and delicious. The wontons were meaty with no signs of skin breakdown, and the soup clear, light, and wholesome.

The Dice Pepper Wagyu Beef ($29.90) was alright. Definitely a more expensive dish, that perhaps did not really live up to expectations set by its price and “Wagyu” flag. I feel like this is another one of those dishes where being Wagyu is more of a glamorous name and less of a meaningful attribute taste or texture wise. The black pepper sauce was good.

I have mixed feelings about the Dan Dan Noodles with Pork Chop ($18.90). I enjoyed the pork chop, but after enjoying the pork chop I found that the noodles by themselves were a bit plain and difficult to finish. Perhaps better optioned with an extra chop.

COMMENTS
Chef’s Gallery is not bad, and a known quantity. The food is definitely Chinese, but I do feel that they focus more strongly on the presentation and the price to value ratio therefore takes a hit.

Chef’s Gallery Parramatta
Shop 2184/159-175 Church St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 7805 2303

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Chinese

Hung Cheung – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

We took advantage of my partner’s day off to have a nice little weekday yum cha at Hung Cheung in Marrickville.

Though I saw a line down the street outside Hung Cheung when I went to neighbouring Goodwood the previous weekend, the weekday clientele at Hung Cheung was far more sparse, with only about a third of their modest dining room filling up with a collection of mostly mums and bubs during our visit. We had a few small initial misgivings about the place given its apparent lack of patronage and minimal cart service, but given it was a random Thursday we decided to stick it through. This turned out to be a good decision.

I’ll try not to bore you with a blow-by-blow description of each dish, by simply prefacing that most were quite good.

The steamed chicken feet– (fèng zhuǎ 凤爪) were good. Good flavour, good steamedness. I wouldn’t have minded a slightly plumper chicken foot, but all in all a good showing.

The pork spare ribs in black bean sauce (pái gǔ 排骨) were not the best that I’ve had, nor were they the worst. I wonder if I just don’t like these any more though, I haven’t had one that’s really made me go ‘wow’ in a while. My partner thought it was a tad too porky. It is definitely pork.

I don’t think there’s really an English term for these apart from siu mai (shāo mài 烧卖), though I did hear the ladies go around asking customers if they wanted “dim sims” without any further elaboration. These were pretty stock standard, reasonably prawned, even to the point of being a little too prawned from my partner.

We both really enjoyed these tofu skin rolls (Xiān zhú juǎn 鲜竹卷). The flavour was outstanding and both the bean curd wrapping and fillings of a high quality.

A brief intermission to discuss the tea. Customers upon seating are asked if they want tea, though not directly asked the particular kind of tea that they want. This happened not only to the inner-West yummy mummies, but also to us, two people who not only look like we speak Chinese but also who spoke to the staff in Chinese upon entering the restaurant. We asked for tiě guān yīn, but clearly heard other customers answer “yes”, after which presumably a random tea of the server’s choice was served. I’m not really a tea expert so I can’t comment on the quality of the tea, though it was interesting to see it served in a tea bag (presumably to help with cleaning).

The fried taro dumpling (yùtóu jiǎo – 芋头角) was not my choice, but I did eat it. I don’t love it as a food in general, and this one was certainly as oil as any other I have tasted. I told my girlfriend she wasn’t allowed to order anything else deep fried after this. She enjoyed it.

The garlic chive and prawn dumplings (jiǔcài jiǎo 韭菜饺) were really good. I didn’t love the ones at Sun Ho Restaurant in Campsie RSL, so I was pleasantly surprised to taste these delicious, plump, and fragrant dumplings with huge pieces of prawn inside. These were not available on the roving cart during our weekday visit, and we had to ask for them specifically.

The BBQ pork rice noodle roll (chā shāo cháng fěn 叉烧肠粉) was a rare point of weakness. It was probably partially our (my partner’s) fault for ordering it with char siu rather than something more classic like prawn, but I also didn’t love the texture of the rice noodle rolls, finding it a bit more sticky and less silky than I would’ve preferred.

The mango pancakes were good. Pretty easy to eat by hand, portioned well for each human, unlike the ones I had in my childhood that I had to share. The pancake batter was a bit thicker than I would’ve liked, but this added a good level of structural integrity, allowing it to be eaten like a burrito.

OVERALL We very much enjoyed our yum cha lunch at Hung Cheung in Marrickville. We paid around $75 for two people and left quite full, which my partner thought was a little too much but I thought was an appropriate price to pay. The staff were nice and appropriate with good bilingual skills that catered well to their mixture of Chinese and non-Chinese guests, and while the trolley has all of the staples I think the real trick is to not be afraid to ask for stuff that isn’t being carted around. There’s even a menu with photos of each item in both Chinese and English (the best kind of menu) to pick from.

We also got to meet this good little cat on the way back to our car.

Hung Cheung
338 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
(02) 9560 4681

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Chinese Malaysian

Hokkien Kia – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

My visit to Hokkien Kia was foretold by both Malaysian and non-Malaysian friends alike, who knew I could not resist a strong recommendation for some good Asian food.

This Duck Egg Fried Kuey Teow ($15.80) is the thing of legends. My friend BCSY, a real life Malaysian, describes this as the closest thing to Penang-style CKT as you can find. I had an extraordinarily large amount of char kway teow during my first two years of med school from a small restaurant near to campus called Pinewood Noodle & Sushi Bar, and while that was a formative culinary experience for me at the time, this CKT clearly blew that and every other CKT I’ve had out of the water. Highlights of this particular char kway teow were the huge prawns and the excellent wok hei flavour, but the most impressive part was the addition of deep fried pork lard, adding crispy and deeply umami morsels into each mouthful. I don’t know that the duckness of the egg was a particular must have, but I’m told it’s part of it. Either way, this is certainly an impressive char kway teow and a must try from Hokkien Kia.

I’ve never had roast pork in laksa before, but Roast Pork Curry Laksa ($15.80) was actually quite good. The laksa had good curry flavour, while the crackling roast pork was of a high quality, with good crispiness to the skin and worthy to be sold on its own at any Cantonese/Hong Kong style BBQ restaurant.

The Kam Heong Pipi ($22.80) is another specialty of the restaurant, with pipis stir fried in an excellent umami and seafoody sauce of dried shrimps, curry powder, shallots, and garlic. It was very fragrant and a little sweeter than XO pipis, with a good pasty texture to the sauce that added an extra dimension.

My partner thought this iced teh tarik ($4.80) was a bit too sweet and not her favourite teh tarik ever, not that she’s had that wide experience with the drink.

COMMENTS
I really enjoyed Hokkien Kia’s duck egg fried kuey teow, with its excellent wok hei quality and the absolutely delicious deep fried pork lard making it extremely dangerous to anyone looking to avoid an early cardiovascular death. Whilst the other dishes we tried didn’t wow me so much, Hokkien Kia remains a strong recommendation from me for the strength of its char kway teow alone.

Hokkien Kia
254 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194
0403 889 139

Categories
Chinese

New Hunan Noodle Bar 一呷一嗦 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

Quick one.

Slow cooked braised beef tenderloin in a special chili sauce ($14.80) – There was much meat, which was good, but much of the meat was quite fatty. The flavour was slightly umami and slightly ma la, but ultimately I didn’t feel like these noodles were anything to write home about.

Succulent chicken feet with chili garlic toppings ($6.80) – The taste of these with fresh chili was good, but sadly the paws were skinny and not very meaty.

COMMENTS – Would I come back? I don’t know that I would. There’s so much variety in Burwood that unless a place is very very good it tends to be a one time visit.

New Hunan Noodle Bar 一呷一嗦
Shop 1, Clarendon Place, 38-40 Railway Parade Burwood NSW 2134