Category: Cuisines

Categories
Asian Fusion Vietnamese

Hello Auntie – Darling Square Haymarket NSW Restaurant Review

We’ve passed Hello Auntie multiple times on our numerous trips to Darling Square, and felt it was time to pay them a visit. Given the limited COVID-19 seating situation, we booked ahead for the same night, which was not a problem at all on a Wednesday.

Hello Auntie has mixed indoor and outdoor seating, and provides blankets to snuggle up under for both indoor outdoor patrons. I can’t imagine that these are washed very often, and thus with the COVID-19 context in mind draws allusions to Christopher Columbus.

As lovers of fried chicken, we were unable to see past the Ga Chien Vi Pho ($32). 500 grams of fried chicken in a pho-flavoured batter could not simply be ignored. We were surprised with three large pieces of juicy, tender chicken in a fluffy golden batter – I had imagined more numerous, smaller pieces. The chicken was tasty and not faultable – a definite recommendation. Despite being listed in the menu I didn’t realise the dish came with a large amount of salad – lettuce heart in plenty of ceasar-like dressing. A relatively heavy and oily salad but a nice and surprising addition.

The other dish we had was the Mi xao bo birria ($21). Supposedly angus blade ragu in biang biang noodles, this dish was very similar to the pappardelle with lamb shank ragu at Flour Drum, but nowhere near as good. The angus blade ragu amounted to little more than connective tissue with only a vague hint of actual meat. It was a very chewy affair. We also found that the biang biang noodles had an odd stale-like taste, which just piled onto the dish’s inadequacies. It was ultimately a poorly executed noodle dish that I wish we had avoided.

While I enjoyed Hello Auntie’s chicken, the ragu was a big letdown. I would return to Hello Auntie to try some other dishes, but probably not in the near future. Hello Auntie earns a rare 3.5/5 chickens. Bok bok.

Hello Auntie Darling Square
Darling Square, Shop 2/16 Nicolle Walk, Haymarket NSW 2000
(02) 8072 8838

Categories
Italian

Mapo – Newtown NSW Gelato Review

Mapo is currently my favourite gelato in Sydney.

My first experience with Mapo’s gelato was during my first visit to Kurumac in early 2020, a Japanese cafe which offers a hojicha milkshake as well as a seasonal milkshake made from Mapo’s gelato. I’ve subsequently taken every available opportunity to get gelato from Mapo and have thoroughly enjoyed their selection.

My picks of the litter would be

  • Hojicha (roasted tea)
  • Fior di latte – a really creamy, milky flavour
  • Black sesame – basically any time I have black sesame it’s a blast to the past, evoking memories of that sweet black sesame slurry as well as black sesame filled tang yuang

Other flavours I’ve had are

  • Pistachio – Vegan, honestly pretty good for vegan ice cream, quite creamy
  • Kiwifruit (as milkshake at Kurumac) – Not bad

VERDICT

I would really recommend giving Mapo a try. They have somehow really mastered the art of turning Asian inspired flavours into ice cream, whilst maintaining a strong menu of more traditional flavours.

Mapo Newtown
123 King St, Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 8937 4919

Categories
American

Cloris Gourmet – Botany NSW Restaurant Review

Cloris Gourmet, one of our local restaurants, open until the wee hours of the morning. The food is cheap though not amazing, acceptable in a pinch.

Beef Chorizo Burger ($11.50) was only ok.

Spicy Southern Chicken Burger ($10.50) was also OK. A pretty similar mix of slaws. The chicken was better than the beef in my opinion.

The Lamb Hot Roll ($13.50) wasn’t what I wanted or expected. I thought it would be a roll in the way a kebab roll is a roll. I don’t understand why they would call the last two burgers burgers but this one a roll.

Chicken wings (6 for $7.50) were fine, not special, were a bit oily, wouldn’t go for them again.

3.5/5 + 0.5 late night bonus

Cloris Gourmet
1621 Botany Rd, Botany NSW 2019
(02) 8964 1861

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Japanese

Rising Sun Workshop – Newtown NSW Restaurant

Rising Sun Workshop, half motorcycle garage and half cafe, has been on my radar for some time. Embarrassingly enough I had avoided it as I had confused it with the similarly named Rice Workshop, a chain of cheaper Japanese diners predominantly based in Melbourne.

While Rising Sun Workshop offers both food and motorcycle related activities, it seems rare that one would partake in both on the same occasion. Indeed whilst I was eating lunch there was no point at which I felt like I was able to access the motorcycle portion of the establishment. This is in direct contrast to the Naked Racer in Cheltenham VIC (a recommendation, by the way), where patrons are able to both eat and peruse a motorcycle themed museum.

The Burnt Ends ($19) were kind of like a radish cake omurice. It was basically sweet-soy glazed pork belly atop a radish cake wrapped in scrambled egg, served with a side of pickle and sambal sauce. The radish cake was sweet, fluffy and soft, unlike radish cakes common to Shanghainese cuisine which tend to be a bit fried and harder. The egg wrapping was quite thin. The sambal sauce was a milder sambal than I’ve been having at Indonesian restaurants – more sweet than spicy, which was not so much a problem as it does make the dish a bit more friendly to a wider audience. While the portion was small the Burnt Ends was quite yummy and I can recommend it.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

While I enjoyed the Burnt Ends, there wasn’t really anything else on Rising Sun Workshop’s brunch menu that looked like it would travel well enough to bring home for my sleeping night shift girlfriend. I opted to bring her one of these chocolate chip cookies ($5 each) instead. I thought this was quite good. It had a nice three dimensional structure to it, which I tried to capture in the photo. The chocolate chips were quite melty and gooey, and the cookie itself not too sweet. The half of the cookie I saved for my partner split in half during the car ride, and she sleepily told me that she enjoyed the first cookie as well as the second cookie (don’t worry, she didn’t aspirate). They were two quarters of the same cookie.

CONCLUSION

I enjoyed my expensive and small meal at Rising Sun Workshop. There are a few other things on their dinner menu that I’d like to try, which are again small and expensive looking. The land of the rising sun generally refers to Japan however Rising Sun Workshop’s offerings look to have both Korean and Japanese influences. There is in particular a cauliflower dish called the “Korean Fried Cauliflower” in “Dear Leader” sauce. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone call Shinzo Abe “Dear Leader”.

4/5

Rising Sun Workshop
1C Whateley St, Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 9550 3891

Categories
Café Chinese

White Rabbit Teahouse – Chippendale NSW Cafe Review

Following on from White Rabbit Gallery’s theme of white women collecting items of Chinese cultural significance is the White Rabbit Teahouse, located in the gallery’s foyer. The teahouse offers snacks and tea to gallery patrons and passers-by alike, however its coffee-free menu will not suit anyone looking for a rapid caffeine hit – the staff at White Gallery Teahouse earnestly recommend the cafe across the road for that.

Taiwan Gingseng Oolong Tea (L), Lychee Iced Tea (R)

The tea at White Gallery Teahouse is served in small glass pots with unlimited refills. The prices are quite reasonable compared to other specialty teahouses (for example Zensation in Waterloo), with our Taiwan Gingseng Oolong tea coming in at $7 for two. We were the only patrons in the teahouse at the time and service was brisk, with our waitress readily topping up our water as required.

The Lychee Iced Tea ($4.50) was nice, refreshing, and not too sweet. I regret getting a glass and not a carafe ($13).

Chicken and coriander dumplings

The chicken and coriander dumplings ($13 for 10) were not very exciting. I like that they were boiled rather than steamed or pan fried, but thought that they didn’t have much taste to them. The teahouse prides itself on serving MSG-free dumplings and the avoidance of glutamate is probably the reason for the dumplings’ lack of taste.

The large soy sauce bottle lamp ($579) was located next door in the gallery’s gift shop. I took a photo purely because it reminded me of a story of a guy who recently came in hyperthermic and obtunded and all they could find was a bunch of little soy sauce bottles in his pocket.

VERDICT

If you’re at White Rabbit Teahouse for dumplings I wouldn’t bother. Shanghai Dumpling Bar in Spice Alley, a mere 2 minute walk from White Rabbit does much tastier dumplings. If you’re not that keen on food and just want a nice place for a cup of tea after a stroll through the gallery it is absolutely fine.

3/5

White Rabbit Teahouse
30 Balfour St, Chippendale NSW 2008
(02) 8399 2867