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.
Whilst Xibei (西贝餐饮), one of China’s largest restaurant chains is embroiled in a nationwide scandal involving the overreliance of pre-packaged, frozen, and parcooked ingredients in their restaurants, I have no problem enjoying their deeply and obviously and intentionally pre-prepared roujiamo.
I found this microwave, airfry, and eat roujiamou at a local Chinese grocery store a couple of months ago, before all the controversy. It is made by Xibei’s 西贝 放心早餐 divison, focused on heat-and-eat breakfast foods. This particular roujiamo (酥皮腊汁肉夹馍), purchased for around $6, was really good.
The filling is advertised as having greater than 50% meat by mass, and encompassing a mixture of 30% fatty and 70% lean meat. Both these claims appear likely to be true, as I found the filling to be both meaty and tasty, with the other 50% made up of spices, capsicum, chillies, and other vegetables.
The mixture of the fatty and lean pork was excellent, producing a melt-in-your-mouth texture whilst retaining a degree of bite and chewiness.
The pastry, cooked in the prescribed method of microwave then airfry, was thin, crispy, and not at all too bready – more than can be said for some of the lesser restaurant roujiamos I’ve had and reviewed on this blog.
I honestly think this $6 roujiamo is superior to a good number of restaurant alternatives, and would not be that offended if it were served in one.
Sadly on a subsequent return to the grocery store this was nowhere to be found.
I feel like over the last five years, as the growth of our liabilities and expenses has outpaced the growth in our income (thanks NSW), the contents of this blog has gone from a mix of Western and Asian cuisine at both luxurious and budget-conscious price points to a clear majority of Asian food at under $20 per person.
In keeping with this trend was our visit this morning to The Old Buddies 老伙記, a recently opened Malaysian-Chinese restaurant in Campsie. The premises are small with only a few tables on the inside, and a few tables for alfresco dining on th eoutside (though I’ve never heard it called that for this kind of local, hole-in-the-wall Asian restaurant). We were greeted in Mandarin and therefore felt the need to order in a mixture of broken Chinese and pointing, thought it later became clear that English would have been absolutely fine, as was Cantonese (the lady working there called me 靚仔 (leng zai), which I’m very proud of).
We had the Crispy Nam Yu Pork with Curry Noodles ($18.80) based on an (accurate) online recommendation. Provided was an excellent bowl of curry mee with a rich and warming soup, a mixture of egg and rice noodles, and nice variety of toppings. The namyu pork was lightly crispy on the outside and richly fatty and melty on the inside.
The pork, imbued wiht a umami red fermented tofu flavour, was sliced thinly to ensure a maximal number of mouthfuls that could have pork involved, a worthy strategy to minimise quantity of pork whilst maintaining frequency.of enjoyment. Other toppings in the bowl included egg with embedded fish paste (yummy, and not something we’ve had before), and bean sprouts.
Our other choice was the Signature Nasi Lemak with Crispy Belacan Chicken ($15). This nasi lemak, whilst fine, was not as excellent as the curry noodles. The chicken, lightly seasoned and deep fried, came as 3 drumettes, which was not extremely clear from the photo. The eggs were hardboiled with chalky yellow yolks rather than the soft boiled yolks in the menu photo, and though the meal was overall fine it didn’t have enough factors that set it out from every other nasi lemak out there. Appropriate props should be given, however, for the unlimited self serve sambal and hainanese chicken chilli sauce.
Overall The Old Buddies 老伙記 is a welcome addition to the Malaysian food scene in Campsie, a suburb in which I no longer live. The nam yu pork curry noodles were absolutely excellent, though I’m yet to find a second item that is worth eating (other online reviewers weren’t as impressed by the roti canai nor the char kway teow). The restaurant offers a braised pork rice dish only on some days (the owner said to follow the Instagram to find out when it’s available), as well as allegedly Sydney’s only yong tau foo (tofu and veggies stuffed with fish paste), so these are potential reasons to return.
They’re open from 5AM Mon-Sat and 7AM Sundays, which may seem unusual at first but is kind of in keeping with a bunch of other Chinese and Malaysian restuarants in the area, catering to a workforce that gets up early, has a meal near home, and goes elsewhere to do their job.
The Old Buddies 老伙記 5/2-16 Anglo Rd, Campsie NSW 2194
I ordered this small round honeycake ($65) from Newtown bakery Christina’s Honeycakes for a recent family birthday via home delivery service store2door. Delivery was smooth, but required a little bit of foreplanning as ordering had to be done prior to noon on the day two days before delivery.
The cake was very dense and sweet, with multiple thin layers of honey soaked sponge alternating with thick layers of flavoured cream. I’ve never had medovik before and am unlikely to ever have it again (of my own accord), so I don’t have any other honey cakes to compare this with, but the sweetness was in general too much for me.
I will say however that despite its small size it packs a punch in terms of its density, so a small 18cm cake really does go a long way in terms of how many people it can serve. Christina’s says 10 people, which I agree is appropriate, and can even stretch to more if need be.
Quite surprisingly for two Asians, my parents were fans.
2021 was a peak food ordering time for me, and as a year probably set us back significantly in terms of our finances and ability to purchase a house. To this day I am still finding photos from delivery meals that we ordered and consumed in our little apartment in Wentworthville 2145. It’s quite strange that whilst I often forget the quality of meals eaten some months back, I seem to still remember the taste and mouthfeel of these particular items that I will briefly describe below. The pricing is going to reflect 2021 prices (pre-post-COVID inflation, but inclusive of delivery app markups).
I can’t believe I literally just said I could still remember the taste and mouthfeel of this meal, because I really don’t have anything memorable for the BBQ Pork with Sticky Rice ($19.90).
Luckily I do remember these Potato Prawn ($10.90), which were all eaten by me because my girlfriend at the time was not a prawn fan. I thought that they were crispy, though underflavoured, with the ratio of potato to prawn too high. The sweet chilli sauce was an absolute neccessity here in helping the potato go down. I think these were even worse the following day.
I love a net spring roll ($9.90), and these were no exception.
I actually really enjoyed this pineapple fried rice ($19.90), even though it was served in a plastic takeaway container and not a half pineapple. The balance of lightly spicy curry powder and sweet pineapple flavour was just right, and I’m craving some more now. Man food is yellow, and it’s delicious.
For a place so close to work, I’m surprised I’ve never been in person. And now that I’ve found these photos and written this post, I’ll probably never have to.
We’ve eaten at Pho Vien, sister restaurant of Madam Ky (RIP), a couple of times in the last few weeks. Here are my thoughts.
The Pho Dat Biet – special beef pho($19.90) was pretty good, a large bowl with a flavourful soup and a generous helping of rare beef, beef brisket, and beef balls. Missing, unfortunately, was any hint of slightly less widely palatable yet still important inclusions such as tripe and tendon, which would’ve elevated this good bowl to the level of an excellent bowl. The first time I had this at Pho Vien I found that, unlike the time we ate at Madam Ky, the soup was adequately hot to handle the inclusion of mass bean sprouts. The second time we ate here my partner’s dad asked for cooked bean sprouts on the side, which to be honest was revolutionary. They came only slightly cooked, raw enough to remain crispy, but warm enough to not thermodilute the soup. What a next level move.
The Com Suon – tomato rice with grilled pork chop ($19.90) is really more my partner’s thing. It was not bad, just generally not what I’d pick overall. The quality of the tomato rice was good, however. Not too dry.
The Canh Ga Chien – deep fried wing ($7.50) came after a long wait and were very salty. Added to that – though the menu said wings, we got four drumsticks. Respecting that many would prefer drumsticks over mid wings due to their greater meatiness, I am not one of these people. I did not enjoy this.
The Bun Bo Hue ($19.50) that we had on our second visit was tasty and inoffensive, again lacking components like pork trotter and blood jelly that usually round out the dish. My partner, normally someone who doesn’t like bun bo hue, enjoyed this bowl, probably for the same reason that I found it lacking.
The Banh Xeo – pancake pork and prawn ($22.50) was crispy and tasty, well filled on the inside. I didn’t find any bugs in my vegetables, which doesn’t seem like a high bar, but seriously considering the last few banh xeos I have at different restaurants in Sydney, this counts as a plus.
Overall we had a couple of pretty good meals at Pho Vien, but I do wish they would add some of the more controversial ingredients to their soups (or at least the option to have them).
Pho Vien 283 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131 (02) 8057 8668
