Category: Chinese

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Chinese

Mr. Buffalo BBQ 牛鲜生中式烤肉 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

The concept of a “Chinese BBQ” restaurant is a bit foreign to me, as to the best of my knowledge Chinese food culture doesn’t traditionally include a kind of setting where you sit down in front of your own hot plate and grill your own food. Chinese BBQ, up until now, referred mostly to Cantonese BBQ, where meats are pre-roasted by the restaurant and cut and served to order, whilst other forms of BBQing, like cumin-coated lamb skewers, have also existed, again being prepared in the kitchen prior to being served.

Calling what is essentially a Korean BBQ restaurant “Chinese BBQ” just because it is run by Chinese people seems to be a bit of a misnomer, otherwise 90% of the sushi restaurants in Sydney should be calling themselves “Korean Sushi”.

There were, nonetheless, some more “Chinese-esque” flavours to be had at this Chinese-themed Korean BBQ restaurant (mainly the aforementioned lamb and cumin).

The food was good and reasonably priced. The giant piece of squid that we barbecued was more of a novelty than anything else.

In some sense, this was more of a Korean BBQ+, and could reasonably fulfil the niche that Korean BBQ offers, with additional flavours on offer.

We waited an exceptionally long time for a table, and were rewarded with a round of free drinks, which was very nice.

Mr. Buffalo BBQ 牛鲜生中式烤肉
Shop/6 Unity Pl, Burwood NSW 2134

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Chinese

Taikoo Li 太古里 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

We were the only diners at Taikoo Li at 4PM on a Tuesday, which was weird to us at the time because there’s quite a bit of real estate for just two Asians, but less weird to me now that I think about the way our schedule differs from that of the average Burwood human.

We had this very good braised pork belly with preserved veggies & chilli with rice ($15.80). The moist fattiness and umami flavours of the pork melted into the rice, stretched and complimented by the pickled chillis and other green pickles. Though the helping of rice was relatively large, the dripped through braising liquid from the pork belly, as well as the selection of delicious pickles meant that there was enough yummy flavour for us to finish it in its entirety.

The braised sweet duck (half) ($20) was not bad, though nothing in particular to write home about. I think I would still prefer your average Cantonese roast duck, but it’s good to have some variety once in a while.

The spicy boiled beef (Sichuan boiled beef) ($17.80) was a huge serving for the price, and great with rice, which was an additional $2.50. Can recommend for 水煮牛肉 fans.

The pork dumplings with chilli on side 8pcs ($10.80) tasted good, but were disappointing in their own way. They had a meat only filling, which was flavourful, as well as a dipping sauce that was savoury, oily, and not very spicy, which were all winning ingredients for success. What made me sad however was that some of the dumplings still had raw dough in them, which made it difficult for me to want to eat them, despite their good taste. I also dropped two out of eight, which was completely my fault, but this meant that the ratio of cooked to raw dumplings available for me to eat decreased even further.

Overall thoughts: I agree with my friend PMR that this is good quality, Chinese cuisine. Oddly enough, he and his partner were also the only customers when they ate, also at 4PM on a weekday.

Taikoo Li 太古里
47 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

Note 2025: This restaurant may have moved to 150 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

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Chinese

牛百岁 BFC Fast Food – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

We’ve walked past this restaurant in Burwood Plaza so many times in the past few months, that we had to give it a go.

BFC’s menu is predominately noodle based, and we of course chose the premium beef combination with vermicelli 精品牛杂粉丝汤 ( $16), their most expensive menu item and one with the word premium in it. We did not expect, though I suspect people who are able to read Chinese may have known, that the combination aspect referred to the combination of several different types of offals and tripes, which we were not so keen on. Indeed, even the beef muscle, which was interspersed with yummy gooey tendon, had a bit of an over-gamey flavour to it which we did not enjoy. The soup, and the noodles, however, were quite tasty, with a mild spice and a lot of umami.

The cumin lamb ribs 孜然羊排 ($14) were decidedly less challenging for our unrefined palates, and quite delicious, especially with a bit of chilli oil on takeaway lid.

Overall thoughts
ONLY WHILE WRITING this review did I realise that I had the exact same meal at NBS Big Bowl OUTSIDE Burwood Plaza a couple of years ago. Because I am absolutely illiterate in Chinese and must only rely on English text, I did not make the connection that it’s actually the same store. I don’t think my tolerance of offal has changed over the past couple of years though – I think this version in 2024 is simply more offally and gamey and less delicious than it used to be.

牛百岁 BFC Fast Food
Shop 18 Burwood Plaza, 42 Railway Parade, Burwood NSW 2134

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Chinese

Yan’s Kitchen 闫记锅贴 – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

One of the best meals that we had as we were scurrying across the Inner West and Inner East trying to commit the next 30 years of our lifes’ savings on a piece of residential property was at Yan’s Kitchen in Waterloo. Cheap and delicious, I can highly recommend paying this Northern Chinese restaurant a visit.

Yan’s Slow Cooked Beef Noodles 闫记大块牛肉面 ($15.80) were excellent. They had a lovely soup flavour, with lots of umami, a slight bit of spice (don’t be scared by its red colour) and a rich beefiness. The beef chunks were tender, tasty, and plentiful, and the noodles, slightly alkaline, were perfectly tender and handmade in house.

Yan’s Signature Fried Dumplings 金牌虾肉三鲜锅贴 ($15.80) with pork and prawn and chive and egg were also quite good. The wrappers were very thin, allowing them to get super crispy on frying, with a bit of lace on one side to stick them together. The filling, four classical ingredients in Northern Chinese dumpling cuisine was tasty though ultimately still a few milimetres away from extra-ordinary.

The Pork Wonton Soup in chicken broth 鸡汤小馄饨 ($5.80) was the weakest of what we ordered. They were the kind that were predominately wrapper with only a small smattering of filling. We were asked if we wanted coriander, which of course we did, but I found the soup a bit soapy. I don’t know if these two things can be clinically correlated as I’m normally someone who loves coriander. Maybe it was the influence of the seaweed rather than the coriander? Either way, it was only about a third of the price of the other dishes, I guess not meant to be eaten on its own as a meal, and definitely not intended to be the star of the restaurant’s menu.

THOUGHTS
It’s been a while since I have written that I could recommend a restaurant to a friend or colleague, but this place fits the bill.

Yan’s Kitchen 闫记锅贴
Shop 102/15 Lachlan St, Waterloo NSW 2017
(02) 8958 1967

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Chinese

Nathan Road Hong Kong Cafe – Waterloo NSW Restaurant Review

In March 2024 we looked a few times at a little terrace in Waterloo, recently renovated, that had exchanged hands 3 times (now 4) in the previous 6 years, mostly in circumstances of relationship breakdown (according to the medical student neighbour). It was nice but felt a bit cramped inside, and though its location was very transit-centric due to the upcoming Metro development, the area just didn’t feel as safe for a couple entering their thirties. This is the story of the meal that we ate afterwards.

The traditional fried sticky rice ($23.80) was quite good. I had never had anything like this before, which seems odd to me since I had thought that I had eaten most types of fried rice by my fourth decade in life. There was plenty of umami little shrimp and bits of sausage inside, and the stickiness helped it to achieve a crispy char on most of the rice. Actually delicious.

The sizzling bean curd beef brisket ($33.80) would’ve been good with some normal steamed white rice, rather than just the already-tasty fried sticky rice. It was a bit expensive in comparison to other restaurants, though the size and flavour was good. The beef came complete with a lot of tendon, and the texture of the meat was soft and juicy as well. I will note that the bean curd it came with was not what I had expected (I had thought it would be fried soft tofu), but ultimately did match well with the rest of the dish.

We ultimately ended up paying about $100,000 more on a place that was more or less just as crowded as the one we looked at. At least the nearby streets feel safer. It is what it is.

Nathan Road Hong Kong Cafe
832 Bourke St, Waterloo NSW 2017
(02) 9194 3770