Category: Chinese

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Chinese

Po Po 面婆婆 – Hurstville NSW Chinese Restaurant Review

Po Po is a small and authentic Northern Chinese diner in Hurstville. It’s been on my hitlist for some time now, and we finally were in the area and able to hit it up for some dumplings and noodles.

I really enjoyed the friendly, homely service, as well as the delicious dumplings and beef brisket noodle soup. We got all of our dumplings boiled as that is my favourite way to have them, and I feel that boiled dumplings are really the best test of the chef’s skill and expertise.

Pork and Chive Dumplings

The pork and chive dumplings were good!

Pork and chive and prawn dumplings

Pork and chive and prawn dumplings – also good

Xiao long bao

Unfortunately the xiao long bao were not very good. I wouldn’t recommend them.

The beef brisket noodle soup we found to be quite flavourful and delicious. There were big chunks of beef, and the flavour of the soup was neither too strong or too weak. I can recommend this dish.

I wish you could see how happy my girlfriend is in this photo, guys. This is why I do it.

Eating at Po Po really felt like eating in an authentic Chinese diner. There were plenty of other groups, mostly older Chinese couples, eating at the same time as us, and this is a group which seems an excellent barometer for cheap and filling food. One funny thing we saw was a Caucasian gentleman come into this obviously Chinese store and ask for pork rolls (which they did not have), and then ask for pho (which they also did not have). He ultimately, after much patience from the owner, settled on some pork buns. I hope he enjoyed them, although I guess he may be disappointed if he was looking forward to some Vietnamese food.

I can recommend this place.

PO PO Hurstville 面婆婆
238 Forest Rd, Hurstville NSW 2220
(02) 9580 6218

Categories
Chinese

ChongQing Street Noodle (猫婆小面) – Emerald Square, Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

I really wanted to like Chongqing Street Noodle in Emerald Square Burwood, but I just didn’t.

The main spicy noodles were good but we didn’t really enjoy any of the sides.

Beef was super dry, salty but otherwise tasteless.

The sides were basically disappointment after disappointment, with no hits.

The crumbed and fried sweet potato was particularly disappointing. 

Ultimately no dice. I wouldn’t recommend 猫婆小面 Chongqing Street Noodle. Go somewhere else.

2.5/5

ChongQing Street Noodle (猫婆小面) Burwood
31 Belmore St, Burwood NSW 2134
0414 698 838

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Chinese

Shanghai Dumpling Bar – Spice Alley, Chippendale NSW Restaurant Review

Shanghai Dumpling Bar is one of many small street-food vendors tucked away in Spice Alley in Chippendale. We visited after Monkey’s Corner so that I could bring some food home for my partner who made the wise decision not to come out.

Green pork and chive boiled dumplings – 6 for $8.80

I ordered only one serving of green pork and chive boiled dumplings (6 for $8.80), although they snuck in an extra one for free. Service was quick, with a sub 5 minute wait for freshly cooked dumplings.

I thought that the filling was very tasty and genuine. I loved that they had the option of boiled or pan-fried dumplings, as most place will only offer the option of steamed or pan-fried. I’ve always felt that boiled dumplings are the most wholesome, and they’re also the kind that I grew up with. While the filling was good I did feel like the green coloured dough was a bit gimmicky, however respect that perhaps that’s what it takes to draw in a largely Caucasian customer base in the Sydney CBD. I also thought that the dough was a bit thick, however the delicious juicy filling made up for it. Of the eight dumplings I had, around half were broken, however despite this their flavour was not watered down too much.

I can recommend the green dumplings at Shanghai Dumpling Bar to a friend or colleague, however cannot speak for the other foods on offer.

Shanghai Dumpling Bar
18-20 Kensington St, Sydney NSW

Categories
Chinese Drinks

Xiaomi’s Yoghurt – Kingsford NSW Bubble Tea Review

Xiaomi means “small rice” in Mandarin, a name perhaps more fitting for this purple rice yoghurt specialty store than the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer (on whose product all of the photos on this blog have been taken).

Xiaomi Yoghurt’s restrictive opening times have meant that despite the many many times we have eaten out in Kingsford it has been very rare for us to see it open. I took the opportunity one evening to grab a mango tea yoghurt ($8) for myself and some purple rice yoghurts for my partner (4 for $20) and her friends and colleagues in the Prince of Wales intensive care unit.

I really enjoyed the mango tea yoghurt. It had heaps of thick fresh mango at the bottom, with a good mix of yoghurt. I particularly enjoyed the strong tea flavour in one layer of the drink. My only regret is that I drank it through the straw whilst driving in my car, and thus I wasn’t able to appreciate all of the layered complexities present in the drink.

My partner liked the purple tea yoghurt. She’s somewhat of a connoisseur, and found it no worse than its competitors but at a better price.

4/5

Xiaomi’s Yoghurt
Shop 1/450 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032
+61 405 980 868

Categories
Café Chinese

Zensation Tea House – Waterloo NSW Dim Sum Restaurant Review

Zensation Tea House is a nice little two person operation in Waterloo. It is a mix between a teahouse, dim sum restaurant, and tea shop. The interior is decorated in a very cosy manner with all sorts of different tea related decorations and displays. There are a number of different seating options available, and a few different booths in different styles.

The attention to service from the middle aged Chinese man and woman and the toy poodle Goldie made our experience a real treat. We could tell that the lady was manning both the restaurant and the store by herself to start, but she fielded all her customers deftly and with a very kind manner.

We were given a bowl of sunflower seeds to eat while we waited. This was some kind of next level targeted nostalgia bomb as my grandmother and mother would eat these nonstop. (Still alive, teeth not so good now).

The food served was on par on quality with a regular yum cha restaurant. What was special was that they allow you to mix and match your dim sum for the same price. We were able to order 18 pieces of assorted dim sum for only $42, which is quite special. It’s really nice that as we dine as a couple we were able to get 2 each of a bunch of different things, compared to if we had gone to a normal yum cha place and had to get 3-4 of each thing we ordered. This meant that we were able to have much more variety! It would even be very feasible to go alone and get one of each type of dim sum for a cheap price.

A deeper dive into selected dim sum. Most were very good. The har gao was good. The siu mai, both chicken and pork/prawn varieties were good, the chive and prawn was good. The lo mai gai was good. The custard bun was good. The only complaint I have would be about the scallop and prawn dumplings which felt a bit flour-y, and the vegetarian dumplings which were mostly just not to my taste. All in all though very authentic.

Goldie, the shop dog, was not for eating. I got to pet him.

Water was filtered and chilled. We didn’t go for a tea session as we were in a bit of a rush and didn’t have time to stay. Tea was around $9-12 per head for unlimited refills, so we thought we would save this somewhat pricey pleasure for a different time.

I can really recommend Zensation Tea House in Waterloo, both as a nice date, a prolonged tea drinking session, and also for a solo diner keen to have an assortment of dumplings rather than just 4 of 3 types.

5 goldies/5 (peg approved)

Zensation Tea House
Shop 160/806 Bourke St, Waterloo NSW 2017
0418 291 197