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.
I had this half meat half cheese pizza ($7) towards the tail end of my overnight on-call shift when I had to sleep at work. Alhamdulillah no one tried to have a stroke in Western Sydney overnight.
Physically it was no better or worse than your average half meat half cheese pizza, but emotionally, eating it on the footpath working back to work ready to do my third of five 12 hour days in a row, it was there for me when the NSW public health system was not.
One of my favourite things about Xi’an restaurants is that they are almost invariably named “Xi’an Restaurant”. We ate here in the first week of having moved house, in a flurry of cheap and cheerful dines out whilst we were still unpacking our kitchen.
The food was generally good. This Chinese pork burger Roujiamo 肉夹馍 ($8) was moist and meaty, flavourful though lacking any visible vegetables or herbs.
The Pan Fried Chives Pancake韭菜盒子 ($7) is a relative favourite of mine. This example had a good crispiness to the skin, which was kept thin so as to maximise the filling to pastry ratio. A good example in a sea of good examples.
The Rice with Yuxiang Eggplant鱼香茄子 ($16) was a vegetarian version of the dish, well priced, tasty, and very filling. Something my partner enjoys and I am yet to make an edible version of.
Comments Though readers will note that only the roujiamou was particularly Xi’an in origin, this restaurant executed good versions of Northern as well as Sichuan cuisine at good prices. I’m sure we will be back for more.
UPDATE 13/03/2026
I went back by myself last night, about half an hour before close, for a bowl of noodles. I kind of rationalised going back without my wife by it being just a quick meal, that was ultimately going to be cheaper than buying groceries and cooking for one. The Biang Biang Noodles 𰻞𰻞面 were $17. The service was fast, and the bowl was gigantic. The sauce or gravy of the noodles was extremely delicious, with lots of umami flavour contributed to by the variety of ingredients including egg, pork (with cubes of both lean and fatty meat), as well as tomato, a natural source of glutamate.
The cubes of potato added a richness and thickness to the soup that would have been difficult to achieve with tomato alone, ensuring that flavours clung to each road strand of noodle. The noodles themselves were a bit more soft and well cooked than I would have expected, however thicker parts of the noodle did retain a signature kind of bounce to them, which was I liked.
It was overall a good bowl of noodles at a reasonable price, that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
We stopped at New Shanghai Workshop in Ashfield on our way to see a house that we ultimately locked ourselves into a $10,000/month mortgage on. Whether or not that was the right decision ultimately remains to be seen, but every day looking at my bank account and a series of consecutive interest rate rises I do wonder.
We had a number of pastries, that were all generally quite good.
Specific memories that I had include the egg yolk short cake with custard crisp ($5.50), which was rich, flaky, and not too sweet.
And the pan fried prawn bun ($5.80) which was only slightly above room temperature, didn’t have much flavour, and kind of sucked.
It’s just a shame we won’t be able to afford to eat here again for the next thirty years.
New Shanghai Workshop Ashfield 269 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131
I saw this Korean deli from across the road, which had only recently opened in the past week or so.
Inside were a number of foods already prepackaged in single-use plastics, laid down on a wooden bench nicely labeled with prices and names for the Chinese-majority population of Ashfield who may not be able to identify such delights by eyesight alone.
I purchased this bulgogi beef with rice set ($13) for my partner to take to work for dinner, but of course had to try each element while it was still fresh (to ensure it was non-poisoned, of course). The rice was nice and soft and fluffy, and the beef deliciously moist (and absolutely better than the bulgogi beef I had eaten recently at La Lune Market. Importantly, the juiciness and sauciness of the bulgogi beef was well proportioned to the amount of rice, meaning that no bite was too bland, nor was any bite too flavoured. The mixed shredded salad I honestly didn’t taste, but the potato salad was yummy and creamy, and the marinated kimchi was also quite a tangy and refreshing addition. Overall I felt this set was quite good value with quite a few different flavors and textures in one box each of which was appealing. I’m sure she’ll enjoy her dinner tonight at work.
I also had a original kimbap ($8). which was also pretty good – nice and crunchy, with the flavours from the daikon, fish cake, carb stick, carrot, egg and cucumber tasty but not at all overpowering. Similar to the bulgogi set, this is also quite a suitable to-go meal for a good price.
Overall A number of other variations of kimbap (including onigiri-style triangular), set boxes, and bibimbaps are on offer, which I have yet to but may eventually try. Hopefully these this place will see success in their new endeavor.
One of the problems with being a Western Sydney Person at heart is that it’s extremely difficult to find good Indian food outside of the 2145-2150 postcode at a price that you’re willing to pay.
We visited Thar Indian in Neutral Bay on our way back from a failed mission to buy a rich divorcée timber bedroom set in Manly. Though we didn’t manage to fit any of her high quality, low priced furniture into our car, we did get a glimpse of how the other 1% lives, and an important lesson how to actually buy things from Facebook Marketplace. (Protip: with a rented van).
My partner was hungry on the drive back, and so we spent almost as much as we would’ve on a timber queen bed, two bedside tables, and a tallboy dresser on Indian food.
It’s hard to consider either the Bombay Beef (a curry cooked in potatoes) ($21.90) or the Butter Chicken (a similar price) particularly memorable. They were good, yes, but not extraordinary, and not so much better than what I’ve been making recently at home with my own two hands and a poor understanding of how to follow instructions from Youtube.
Bread, contrastingly, is a thing I’ve yet to attempt, and the garlic naan ($5.90), cheese & garlic naan ($7.50), and keema naan ($7.90) were all fresh, oily, and delicious. Let me know in the comments if you have a source in the Inner West or Western Sydney for something from the freezer aisle.
Does Udaya carry something good?
Thar Indian 75 Military Rd, Neutral Bay NSW 2089 0408 756 424
