Category: Cuisines

Categories
Vietnamese

Love Mi – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

I saw and smelled one of my juniors eating the most seductive banh mi ever on a recent night shift, and couldn’t make my way home without getting one myself.

I stopped at Burwood banh mi spot Love Mi, a place I had seen before on social media but never eaten at, parked precipitously on the street (arriving at 8:45AM, the parking becomes ticketed after 9AM Monday to Saturday), and waited 8 minutes for two rolls, returning to my car at 8:56AM, 4 minutes before a potential parking ranger could fined me.

I had a banh mi thit ($8.80), a classic cold sliced pork roll, and a nem nuong banh mi ($11.80).

The banh mi thit ($8.80) did not meet my expectations for taste, moistness, and price. Though extremely well packaged wrapped in paper and enclosed in a cardboard box, it felt dry on the inside, with an inadequate volume of salad, nor amount of Vietnamese mayo or pate to create that wonderful moist and fatty texture. It’s not the worst pork roll I’ve ever had (hello Northmead NSW), but doesn’t rank anywhere near the best.

The nem nuon banh mi ($11.80) was a stronger showing, owing to the significantly jucier and more flavourful warm nem nuong, which meant that the smaller amount of salad filling at Love Mi was less damaging.

Overall I’ve definitely had better for cheaper (including at the corner of Burwood Road and Park Ave for $2.40 in the late 90s). My partner and I finished both of Love Mi’s rolls, but they didn’t quite hit the spot. I wonder if they spent less effort on packaging they could spend more on the food itself. I don’t have any plans to return.

Love Mi Burwood
Shop 2/2a Elsie St, Burwood NSW 2134
0466 183 338

Categories
American

Butterball BBQ Chicken – Earlwood NSW Restaurant Review

I don’t remember the exact set of circumstances that led to me getting an $18 burger and fries right after spending like $100 at the slightly upmarket grocery store across the road, but I did it and didn’t regret it.

The dirty bird ($18), with two pieces of fried chicken, bacon, onion, pickles, peri aioli and a maple glaze was fat, delicious, and juicy. Potentially could only be optimised or ruined (you’re welcome to your opinion on this one) with the addition of pineapple, which I do not believe was on offer.

What really wowed me, even outside of the really good burger, were these chips. I don’t know how or what they did, but they were just so good. So crunchy, and not just immediately crunchy, but even crunchy after a 10 minute drive home. Absolutely delicious, I can still taste them six months later.

Butterball BBQ Chicken
1/8-10 Clarke St, Earlwood NSW 2206
(02) 7209 5460

Categories
Italian

Crazy Nonna – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

Crazy Nonna is our local woodfired pizzeria. We walk past it several times a week on the way to the grocery store or the parcel locker, but have never eaten in, only ordered take-away.

The Crazy Nonna Pizza ($26), with San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte, basil, pork sausage, ham and salami was super tasty. It was absolutely topped with toppings, with each bite presenting multiple flavours and animals in one.

The Nonna Irene ($28) with its San Marzano tomatoes, Fiore di latte cheese, hot salami, chilli oil, stracciatella and alleged dash of honey was super delicious too, with the creaminess and mildness of the stracciatella providing the perfect foil for the spicy salami. The honey was difficult to appreciate, but appreciated all the same. The pizzas at Nonna’s were 2 for 2 bangers.

My partner loves a good pasta, even though I am a bit iffy about takeaway pastas in general. We had the boscaiola ($26), which though acceptable (she enjoyed it thoroughly), I’m sure would’ve been better eaten in a dine-in capacity. I just don’t think pasta usually travels really well.

Local gem.

Crazy Nonna
60 Charlotte St, Campsie NSW 2194

Categories
Indian

Shahi Dastarkhwan – Lakemba NSW Restaurant Review

We had a lot of Indian food in October.

This chicken half tandoori ($12) was good, and well priced.

This shahi rice platter ($23) was huge. No one warned us about the sheer amount of food we were ordering. We didn’t even spend that much. It was unreal. The chicken 65 and tata hua gosht was good. The rice was rice, and the dal tadka, something I’ve never ordered by itself, was also nice to add into the mix for a slurry like texture and moistness. This rice platter probably could have fed the two of us just on its own. Great value.

I’ve spent years trying to replicate the first amritsari fried fish dish I ever had, and sadly this ajwain fish ($18) was not it. The crumbs were too crummy for me.

$5 for a mango lassi. Not bad, but not the best.

Overall thoughts: Great value, huge portions. Can recommend, but wouldn’t travel for. Order less, my friend.

Shahi Dastarkhwan
64 Haldon St, Lakemba NSW 2195

Categories
Japanese

Edomae Sushi – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

I had lunch here with a friend a few days ago and it was actually very good. I didn’t expect a huge amount going in, but it really blew my expectations. There were so many varieties of sea animals that you don’t normally find, with an extensive ‘market price’ menu with vaguely variable pricing, as well as fixed-priced nigiri and gunkan.

Interesting things that I had included fugu, spanner crab, and akanishigai (whelk). My dining friend ate these weird things with me like a champ, but did not enjoy them.

I want to go back.

UPDATE
I finally got a chance to eat here with my girlfriend.

Like before, the variety was excellent, and everything was good.

Except this negitoro and daikon pickle, which was not exciting.

Everything here was very exciting. Salmon Roe (ikura) ($9 for 2). Sea Urchin (uni) ($12.80 for 2) were both delicous, especially with the ikura being not too salty. The Chu-toro ($4.50 for a single piece) was fatty and melty. It would be amazing to have all 3 in a hand roll, but not something this place currently offers. The salmon 3 kinds ($6.60) was just 3 kinds of salmon. Not particularly exciting.

All other fishes were also good, including a number of white fish that I neglected to remember the names of. We had engawa, but the ones we took off the conveyer did not get named on the receipt.

This may have honestly been our first takoyaki ($8.80) since Japan in 2017. I think we ate so much of it back then that we couldn’t face eating it for another 7 years. Not bad.

The concept of soft shell crab ($5.90) becomes spookier to me the more I think about it. So I don’t think about it. I just eat it, and it’s delicious. The oyster katsu hand roll ($5.50) was safe from hungry deer.

Edomae Sushi Burwood
Shop 1/39 Belmore St, Burwood NSW 2134