Category: Cuisines

Categories
Indian

Not Just Curries – Harris Park NSW Restaurant Review

We needed to find somewhere local to eat one night when I was on call for strokes. The idea was to have a quick in and out meal, at a place where I could still be back at work within the requisite period to do a quick NIHSS. The quick in and out bit didn’t go quite to plan, but the food was great.

The pappadums were free because they forgot to make our order for 45 minutes. My partner generally likes pappadums, I have no strong interest in them, but I’m happy we didn’t have to pay $1 each for them.

This half tandoori chicken ($18) was great. Such good flavours, whilst remaining not too salty, and so juicy on the inside as well. Served on a sizzling hot plate.

We had some keema naan ($8), garlic naan ($5), and cheese garlic naan ($7). No complaints about the quality here, though I guess it is a bit expensive at $5-8 per bread.

I was a bit embarassed about ordering the Dehli style butter chicken ($25), but this was actually a bit spicy, as well as yummy. It was, as the kids would say, ‘bomb’.

This kulfi, Indian style ice cream with pistachio, was also comped as an apology for the lateness of the meal. It tasted good, and at $7 is a nice novel thing to try. Though we were a bit miffed at waiting quite a while for our food, the subsequent service and free stuff more than made up for it. They were very apologetic.

Can recommend.

NB: This post was originally titled “I Love Curries”. Though I do, this is not the name of the restaurant. (Corrected March 2025)

Not Just Curries
66 Wigram St, Harris Park NSW 2150
(02) 9893 8202

Categories
Chinese

Delicious Chinese Restaurant – Kingsford NSW Restaurant Review

I’ve been watching The Brothers Sun, part of a recent (and welcome) push by Netflix to get more Asian-American content on screen, and one of the jokes that they made early on was about a restaurant named the “#1 Seafood Restaurant,” which may or may not be the number 1 seafood restaurant of their local area. Named in a similar vein, Delicious Chinese Restaurant just happens to also be quite as delicious as it is advertised to be.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a combination bean curd hot pot (?$25) that I’ve not liked. It’s just one of the best things ever – so warm and comforting, always with such soft fried tofu and an assortment of meats and vegetables. This one was a bit heavier on the garlic than I’m used to, but still good overall. Good with rice.

The Hokkien Fried Rice was also very good. Great with combination bean curd hot pot once you’re done with the topping it comes with.

I think the salt and pepper pork chops were a bit more floury than they absolutely had to be, but they tasted good, and that’s what was important to my partner. I would’ve liked just a little bit less batter, but what can you do?

Overall a good option for a succulent sit down Chinese meal, in a formal restaurant that’s also fine catering to couples or solo diners, Chinese or otherwise. I think the next step for Chinese restaurant dominance would be to have actual photos on their menus.

Delicious Chinese Restaurant
291A Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032
(02) 9663 2853

Categories
Vietnamese

Mê Bánh Mì – Ashfield NSW Restaurant Review

These were the first banhs mi I had in the local area after moving to the Inner West. They were good, but I don’t know that I would say that they are as affordable as the headline on the website suggests.

The crispy pork roll ($11) was good, but $11. It had a good density of fillings when felt in the hand.

The BBQ pork roll ($10) had a unique and pleasant flavour that I’m having difficulty recalling whilst writing this. Worth a try, I think, but at $10-11 a roll I’m going to walking up the street to one of the multitude of other banh mi shops next time.

Me Banh Mi Ashfield
Shop 2/250 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131

Categories
Bakery Vietnamese

Bánh Mì Bảy Ngộ – Bankstown NSW Restaurant Review

I was on a banh mi kick recently, and Banh Mi Bay Ngo, very close to Nam Fong Hot Bread, was a natural option for a pre-work meal.

Like its nearby competitor, Banh Mi Bay Ngo’s traditional pork roll ($6.50) was packed with cold sliced meats at a very competitive price. I’d say that in comparison with Nam Fong, this particular roll had a greater and attractive crispiness to its pickled vegetables, which provide for nice intra-bite textural variation. Please note that the roll did not come wiht the grill marks – the bread was heated up in a sandwich press prior to consumption – a technique I learned from the SRMO who keeps making me feel jealous every time he has a banh mi at work.

The nem chua pork roll ($6.50) was less attractive to me, owing to the physically smaller quantity of meat, without much extra in terms of flavour. Still a good roll, but doesn’t beat the classic in my opinion.

Overall, both were good, and I can’t recommend either Banh Mi Bay Ngo or Nam Fong over the other.

Bánh Mì Bảy Ngộ
49 Bankstown City Plaza, Bankstown NSW 2200
(02) 9709 8106

Categories
Café

Peaberry – Croydon NSW Restaurant Review

We made just a quick stop at Peaberry between inspections as we engaged in Australia’s national pasttime.

We came near closing – tempted by images of fish burgers and smash burgers on Google Maps with only half an hour to eat. Sadly the burgers no longer existed on their menu, leaving us with these sandwiches instead.

The Frankie’s Pick ($12) was also my pick of the two sandwiches, featuring peppered corned beef, American cheese, American mustard, and a huge amount of thinly sliced American pickles from Mcclure’s between toasted Turkish bread. The choice of bread, and the bread to filling ratio in particular, I thought allowed for a high level of tanginess and tastiness without too much unneccessary density. A good package.

The Cuban ($12) was quite similar to Frankie’s Pick, but with triple smoked ham and sliced jalapneos in place of corned beef and pickles. My partner preferred this one over Frankie’s, but I personally would have preferred some roast pork a la the classics rather than just ham itself.

I’m sad about the lack of burger, which really did look good online.

The Peaberry Cafe
202 Elizabeth St, Croydon NSW 2132