Category: Cuisines

Categories
Chinese

China Bowl – Waterloo NSW Chinese Restaurant Review

This review is about China Bowl in Waterloo (Sydney) NSW Australia, not China Bowl in Waterloo Ontario Canada.

Pan-fried pork and cabbage dumplings

The pan-fried pork and cabbage dumplings were minimally fried, with juicy insides and no breakage in the pastry. Pretty good. Also comes in boiled.

shredded pancake with beef

My partner’s order of shredded pancake with beef was not our favourite. It was a huge portion of food, but taste did not meet the expectations set by the other dishes.

The Biang Biang Noodles were yummy, a large portion with lots of toppings. It’s important to eat this with a spoon as otherwise the toppings sink to the bottom and you end up just filling up on noodles. The noodles themselves were very jin dao (bouncy)

cold poached chicken in chilli oil and peanuts

The cold poached chicken in chilli oil and peanuts (口水鸡, mouth-watering saliva chicken) were delicious. My partner’s second favourite dish, even though she doesn’t normally like Sichuan cuisine. It was also a large portion.

All in all China Bowl is good food at a good price. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a colleague for a quick late night meal, especially if you live in the area.

4/5

China Bowl
5 Gadigal Ave, Waterloo NSW 2017
0432 521 980

Categories
Italian

Da Mario – Rosebery NSW Italian Restaurant Review

After being thoroughly disappointed by Lucio Pizzeria earlier in the week I took a gamble went for a second round, this time at Da Mario in Rosebery. My partner wanted to stay in, so I made a phone order and drove to pick up my two pizzas.

A fair warning first – as the pizza is takeaway and framed by a cardboard box the photos are not very good. But the pizza was delicious.

The Mortadella (mozzarella, fontina, mortadella and crushed pistachio – $26) was delicious. The fontina cheese flavour was dominant in some bites, and the mortadella in others. Overall a perfectly tasty pizza with a few great flavours.

This Diavola pizza (tomato, mozzarella, hot ‘nduja paste and extra basil – $25) may be the best pizza I have eaten ever. Each of its basic ingredients, the tomato, mozarella, basil and ‘nduja paste had their own strong, delicious flavours. The freshness from the tomato and the basil were paramount, while the mozarella was mellow, and the spicy ‘nduja paste provided an unexpected kick. Delicious.

UPDATE 13/11/2020

salsicce con friarielli

The salsicce con friarielli pizza ($25) was only ok. It was not so flavourful. The “spicy sausage mince” was not spicy at all. The broccoli rabe was a bit too wilted for us. I can’t recommend.

Calzone salame

The calzone samale ($22) was the tastier of the two we got on the second round. It was almost like a pizza and calzone combined, as the exterior was sauced with some cherry tomatoes. The interior was filled with a yummy and tasty ricotta and salami.

Even though I got take-away I can also comment on the service. The boys behind the bar at Da Mario were happy to provide an additional pizza box for me to store my RICOS TACOS in from around the corner.

Da Mario in Rosebery has to be the best pizza I’ve ever had in Sydney. Give it a try soon.

5 Marios.

Da Mario
Shop 1/36 Morley Ave, Rosebery NSW 2018
+61 2 9669 2242

Da Mario Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
North American

Surly’s American Tavern – Surry Hills NSW Restaurant Review

We woke up to news of a Biden-Harris victory and then spent lunch at Surly’s American Tavern, an American themed pub and restaurant in Surry Hills, seeing off our favourite Kiwi anaesthetic colleague back across the pond.

sweet potato chips with poutine topping

The sweet potato chips with poutine topping ($14) was good. The sweet potato chips were crisp, despite being drowned in a fully adequate helping of gravy. The cheese curds were soft and not too hot.

BBQ Platter

The BBQ Platter ($45) was ordered as a result of my indecision. There were so many meats that I wanted to try, but so little time. It consisted of 18 hour dry rubbed beef brisket, 12 hour pulled pork, Smoked chicken thigh, Texas hot link sausage, and smoked chicken wings with pickles, onion and corn bread.

The beef brisket was not bad, quite moist.
The pulled pork was not exciting at all.
The smoked chicken thigh was nice, and it was nice that it was skin on
The Texas hot link sausage was quite tasty, good.
The smoked chicken wing I could’ve lived without – it would’ve been better as a normal wing.
I didn’t eat the corn bread. It gave me too many flashbacks to the weird frozen cornbread delivered from Third Wave Cafe in Melbourne.
The pickles were fresh and tangy and good.
The coleslaw was actually really good.
Chips were fresh.

Seatings are timed for 2 hour intervals
News coverage of Joe Biden’s presidential win was being played throughout our entire stay there.
4/5.

Surly’s American Tavern
182 Campbell St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
02) 9331 3705

Surly's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Categories
Italian

Lucio Pizzeria – Zetland NSW Restaurant Review

There’s lot of praise floating around for Lucio Pizzeria. After having dinner there tonight I don’t really think it’s warranted.

Lucio

The Lucio ($24), Lucio Pizzeria’s signature pizza, is a half margherita half calzone. It is an interesting concept to create a pizza in such a way. While the flavours weren’t bad, I just wish there would be more of everything – more tomato, more basil, more ham. The calzone filling of ricotta and ham was good, but underseasoned.

Campagnola

Lucio’s Campagnola ($24) continues the tradition of underflavouring. While the sausage itself had good flavour, the flavours on the rest of the pizza where overwhelmed with cheese and cheese alone. This was a very cheesy, oily pizza, and a little bit of salt, a little more mushroom or sausage, would have gone a long way.

If I had to give my meal at Lucio Pizzeria an overarching theme it would be that it is underseasoned, bland, yet very oily. My compliments where compliments are due would have to go to the pizza’s thin base. It’s not awful – but it’s expensive, and I definitely wouldn’t travel for it.

The next pizza on my hitlist in the local area is Da Mario in Rosebery. I hope they will not disappoint me as much.

3/5 unworthy of their medals. Simply did not live up to the hype.

Lucio Pizzeria
East Village 2, 4 Defries Ave, Zetland NSW 2017
02) 9697 3028

Categories
Middle Eastern

Mum’s Kitchen – Eastlakes NSW Restaurant Review

Mum’s Kitchen (not my mum – someone else’s mum) should be commended for their early opening hours. It is a rare Lebanese restaurant that opens at 6 in the morning, and while its food isn’t great, it’s one of the few interesting options for breakfast after a night shift in the area.

The Half Cheese Half Lahem Pizza ($10) was some of the worst half cheese half meat Lebanese pizza I’ve ever had. Somehow both the cheese and the meat halves were dry. If you’re looking for something like this that actually tastes good I suggest you try Mina Bakery, the closest of which is in Carlton. Nonetheless, despite it being very bad, it was still good, as meat, cheese and carbohydrates tends to be.

The mixed plate ($21.50) was equally disappointing. The meat was dry, and the hummus was very watery. The garlic sauce was too creamy and didn’t have enough garlic flavour. Nevertheless a dry man finds a cactus in the desert.

The Chicken Wrap ($11.50) was actually quite good. There was a good ratio of filling to bread, and the pickles and chicken and sauces inside were synergistic. This is a good pick of a bad bunch.

Overall, Mum’s Kitchen is quite bad. But where else are you going to go if the craving hits before noon?

3/5

Mum’s Kitchen
96 Maloney Street, Eastlakes NSW 2018
0426 462 036

Mum's Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato