The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally.
We waited in line for about 20-30 minutes, after 8PM on a weeknight, for a couple of bowls of pretty good noodles. Luckily, our time in line was not wasted, with a supply of complimentary plum juice and an Anki MCQ deck of recent vintage. In retrospect, this line is also probably where I got a viral URTI just before my exam, leading to a practical learning point about the hypothalamic set point.
The Biang Biang Noodles, Four-in-One 四合一面 （宽面）($17.90) were pretty good, coming as a large portion with a perfect ratio of topping to noodle. The noodles were ultra broad and chewy, though could only be moderately coated by the sauce unlike some other highly-coated competitors. While this was a good bowl of noodles, and somewhat of a staple that can be eaten over and over again, I would hesitate to really elevate my praise of it to that of one of the greats.
The Lamb stir fried shredded noodle cakes 羊肉炒饼丝 ($20.90) was an absolute mountain of a plate. Loaded with shredded noodle, lamb, egg, and a bit of vegetables, it was all stir fried together to achieve a level of yellow-brown normally confined to UK cuisine. The flavour was subtle on first bite, but as I began to eat more and more mouthfuls it seemed to build upon itself, like amiodarone inhibiting its own metabolism, until a high tier of umami enjoyment was achieved. For those wondering, the lamb was not very ‘lamby’, and game-hesitants need not avoid.
The lamb stir fried noodles were only made better through the addition of the bonus toppings, chilli oil (which was delicious, and not very spicy) and evil green garlic (known to me for many years from the short videos of recipes involving water specifically from the Mississippi River, but not tasted until now), which added a nice tang and cut through the oiliness of the dish.
A bean curd side was also included, though it was not fantastic nor something I would’ve paid for.
Overall I had a pretty good meal, although again I have to wonder why a restaurant would offer a 5% discount for cash payments. Has this always been happening or have I only begun to notice it recently?
Straight off the heels of having tried the Chive and Egg Dumplings from Ruyee, here are my brief thoughts on their Golden Potstickers with Chives Egg and Dried Shrimp (黃金鍋貼 韭菜鸡蛋虾皮). Dedicated readers do not have to fear, for these quickly jotted down thoughts will not interrupt the usual posting schedule.
These are clearly smaller than the previously reviewed egg and chive pockets. The photo on the packet has them being cooked still stuck together as a batch, though they did not come this stuck together in the packaging.
Though the supermarket I brought them from advertised them as chive, egg, and prawn, I could not appreciate any prawn whilst eating them, and a subsequent a close reading of the packaging revealed that the prawn was only dried prawn.
I’m open to any suggestions about how to de-carbonise the sides of my stainless steel cookware. Barkeeper’s friend doesn’t get rid of all of it, so often I find it’s less drama to just use carbon steel.
All faffing aside, these were only fine. The wrapper to filling ratio I felt was weaker than that of the ‘pockets’, and given the choice of the two I would choose those instead.
Ruyee Golden Potstickers with Chives Egg and Dried Shrimp (黃金鍋貼 韭菜鸡蛋虾皮) 9369999096892
For dinner on our wedding night, my new wife and I had the Signature Crispy Nuggets ($10.50) from Chicken No. 5. She chose the 中辣 spice level, and I spent our brief waiting period trying to convincer her that she had made a terrible mistake, and that 中辣 was in fact “Chinese person spicy”, rather than “medium spicy”, and would in fact be too spicy for her.
The chicken was pretty good but not particularly memorable. We enjoyed the brisk service, and sitting by the outside gas heater as we ate.
The spice level was indeed just a medium spicy – certainly more of a Taiwanese fried chicken than a Sichuan fried chicken. My wife informed me as I was writing this post next to her, that she hadn’t understood my joke about the spice level until now.
Chicken Number FiveDarling Square 9 Little Hay St, Haymarket NSW 2000
My partner and I got married relatively recently, and celebrated with a small lunch at Sunny’s Seafood Restaurant with close family only. We were seated in a private dining room and had dishes from a slightly varied banquet menu, which provided a good balance of price and performance as well as tastiness. The majority of dishes that we chose were classical Chinese restaurant fare however some were of the restaurant’s Teochow specialty regional cuisine.
I will aim to picture and vaguely describe each dish, but the overall takeaway should be that the food was all very good, even though no particular dish necessarily stood out.
Though I can no longer identify each of the various components of this braised mixed platter, I can remember that I enjoyed it thoroughly, as the first piece of food that was offered. I enjoyed the braised pork hock, which I remember to be gelatinous and melty, as well as the tofu and other now unidentifiable animal pieces. I think there was some chicken in there.
The lobster with e-fu noodles, ginger and shallot 姜葱龙虾 is a classic dish that no Chinese restaurant celebration can go without, no complaints here.
The special pork Spare ribs with vinegar sauce 镇江排骨 were really good. We’ve been searching for these pork ribs for a multiple years, and this is the first time where we were able to find something that was sweet and sour but mostly sour and only a very little bit sweet. The meat was tender, the flavors were right on, and I’m happy we were able to have this for our wedding.
The Peached Vegetables with Oyster Sauce (郊外油菜胆) were ordered to appease some kind of higher power that demanded that at least some vegetables be present in our meal. It came with seasoned with these little pieces of dried fish which were crispy and quite interesting, even though my wife did not love them, fish-hater as she is.
The family got to the steamed coral trout before I was able to take a photo. I didn’t end up having much of it, but it was pretty good with tender flesh and a very classical coriander, soy and shallot based saucing.
This braised pan fried bean curd with mushroom 冬菇红烧豆腐 was also the victim of family members. Don’t they understand why I had gathered everyone there? It was also pretty good – not something we normally have (a recommendation from the restaurant), but quite tasty, and well liked by all.
The Signature Stir Fried Beef Steak in Japanese Style 招牌清酒和牛粒 was tender and tasty. Even though I had originally envisioned getting the one with the wasabi sauce, I did not regret my decision to not change it once I realised I had ordered the wrong one.
The stir fried scallop with vegetable 翡翠带子 tasted as it looked.
The Crispy Goose 脆皮烧鹅 was actually really good. There aren’t that many places in Sydney to get barbecued goose, and this was our first time having it. It was so much meatier than your average roast duck, but also so tender and juicy and fatty in all the right places and cooked with such a crispy skin.
The fried rice with chicken and salted fish 咸鱼鸡粒炒饭 was ordered for my brother in law as a low-seafood option, given the large volume of seafood on the menu. He instead opted for an entire bowl of steamed white rice. The fried rice was pretty good.
For dessert, the red bean soup. Very standard.
They also patiently served and cut up 3 cakes, packing half of all cake up into takeaway boxes for us to take home, which was really good from a service point of view. They had a good eye for the amount of cake required for the attendees, and it was much more obvious to them than it was to us that we had ordered twice as much cake as we needed.
This unusual, slightly sweet jelly, embedded with flowers and goji berries, was quite refreshing and had a bit of a tea flavour. I don’t know what it’s called, but I would not mind having it again.
These cookies were fresh out of the oven and absolutely amazing. So warm and buttery.
Overall
We had a really good meal. I think at least a large part of this was the fact that we literally got to order everything that we wanted to eat and nothing that we didn’t want to eat. It’s so hard for a two-person couple (as opposed to what, a three-person couple?) to go to a formal sit-down Chinese restaurant and order a variety of food, simply because the portions are so large. In gathering all of our close family under the auspices of having a wedding we were able to eat everything that we wanted to.
Total cost was around $100 pp, which is amazing for a wedding.
Sunny Seafood Restaurant Central Park Mall 偉洋海鮮酒樓 R201/1 Central Park Ave, Chippendale NSW 2008
I saw on the news that Toi Shan in Bendigo has closed its doors two days ago, ending its streak as the longest-running Chinese restaurant in Australia after 133 years, and I did not feel a single shred of sadness. Reading through the praise online from individuals as well as outlets like Fairfax’s Good Food really makes me doubt these people have actually eaten there, or if they’ve ever eaten Chinese food anywhere else.
I’m not generally in the habit of ragging on places I went to 9 years ago, but I remember the visit distinctly, have photographic evidence to back me up, and I figure that now that they’re closed forever it’s fair game.
I’m pretty sure we had the Shandong chicken, which doesn’t exist on the menu at the current time, and so may have been the Northern Chicken instead. It arrived served on a sheet of aluminium foil (why?) and looked nothing like what we expected. In a move of 2016 humour, we even took a photo comparing it to a photo of Shandong chicken from Google Images.
I don’t have a good recollection of the flavours but judging by the visual appearance, my general vibe of the memory of the meal, as well as a silly selfie of my then-girlfriend (now-wife) and myself making sad faces in the restaurant I can safely say it is was not the best.
I don’t think their closure is a great loss to the culinary arts.
This has been an unauthorised eulogy for:
Toi ShanBendigo 65/67 Mitchell St, Bendigo VIC 3550
