Categories
Chinese

Yang Guo Fu Ma La Tang – Kingsford NSW Restaurant Review

So fresh! So clean! After having an awful time the previous week at No.1 Malatang in Kingsford, we went just 190 metres up the road to Yang Guo Fu Malatang. The difference was immense.

Malatang, for the uninitiated, is basically a form of hot pot where you choose your own raw ingredients, pay for it by weight, and have them boiled for you in a soupy and generally spicy broth. There are a number of vegetables, meats (lamb, beef, chicken, pork), tofu, mushrooms, quail eggs, and seafood on offer, so it’s quite easy to build yourself a bowl that suits your own preference.

We’ve had malatang from Yang Guo Fu in Hurstville, Burwood and Eastwood before and have generally enjoyed it. The ingredients have always been fresh, the soup tasty, and we’ve kind of made their our go-to. Keeping in mind the general good quality of YGF MLT, their Kingsford location was even better.

Yang Guo Fu in Kingsford is a larger location than its more suburban counterparts. There was ample distance between tables, and it didn’t feel as claustrophobic as some of those other restaurants do.

The ingredients were very fresh, even as we were making some of the last orders for the night. We also got the option of several different broths, which isn’t available at some of the smaller YGF Malatang stores. Unlike some of the other stores, the responsibility of saucing our meals was put on ourselves via a self sauce station. This was nerve-wracking (what if I put in the wrong ratio of ingredients!) but ultimately paid off.

A special mention needs to go to theses housemade meatballs. I haven’t seen these at any of their other stores. Their texture and taste are quite good, and I would recommend you try them. They also had ham hock, also a good and rare feature.

One weakness of Yang Guo Fu Kingsford is that they are connected to a bubble tea shop called Hey Fresh, which I have briefly written about before. Hey Fresh tends to underperform, but the restaurant staff voiced no objections to us bringing in Beautea from down the road.

I would definitely recommend Yang Guo Fu Malatang Kingsford for any malatang or hot pot lovers. They really elevate the standard.

Yang Guo Fu Ma La Tang Kingsford
520/522, Anzac Parade, Kingsford, NSW
+61401035858

Yang Guo Fu Ma La Tang Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Latin American

Nighthawk Diner – Alexandria NSW Restaurant Review

Formerly a collection of food trucks and now a real life restaurant, Nighthawk Diner in Alexandria delivers a collection of exciting pa-American flavours. This review will be for delivery via DoorDash, given our attempts to minimise outside contact during the COVID-19 respiratory pandemic.

Nighthawk Diner Nachos

The Loaded Nighthawk Nachos ($12) were fresh and delicious. We thought the tortilla chips were crispy and maintained good structure throughout the meal. The cheese and salsas were tasty but not too tasty. Can recommend.

Nighthawk Diner Beef Taco

The Slow cooked Beef Brisket Taco ($8.50) was absolutely brilliant. The fresh tortilla added a really premium component to the meal, and the mixture of vegetables, beef, and chilli and red pepper salsa was optimal. Can really recommend this one.

Miami Cuban Sandwich

I thought that the Miami Cuban Sandwich ($18) with citrus pork, bacon, pickles, American cheese and chipotle mayo was far too heavy and salty. The sweetness of the hoagie roll and the saltiness of the fillings worked well in harmony but every bite was so filled with salt and oil that it was ultimately ruined for me. I understand that salt and oil in excess is a hallmark of American food but even then I don’t think this was objectively good.

Ultimately I think Nighthawk Diner has a diverse menu of pan-American dishes. I would not hesitate to order here again. 4 taco cats out of 5 taco cats.

Nighthawk Diner
662 Botany Rd, Alexandria NSW 2015
(02) 9636 5039

The Nighthawk Diner Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Categories
Asian Fusion Café Chinese

3 Ronin – Chippendale NSW Cafe Review

UPDATE: See my thoughts on their Pho here

3 Ronin is a new Asian-fusion cafe in Spice Alley (Central Park Sydney) with a limited but exciting menu.

The Quinoa & Rice Congee with Poached Salmon, Slow Egg, Shallots & Radish was the highlight of the meal. It was a successful exploration of umami, combining both Winter and Spring themes. We really felt like the congee warmed us up from the inside out, while the coriander and cripsy sour radish provided a fresh Spring feel to it. The salmon reminded us of thick cut, raw smoked salmon that was lightly poached in the warm congee soup, and provided a well balanced protein load for the rest of the dish. The “slow egg” was a highlight of the dish, and something I had never experienced before. The egg yolk was not cooked, but firm and didn’t spill. Absolutely perfect.

I’ve been off baos ever since I had my first baos from a food truck in New Zealand last year, a very bad collection of oversauced disasters. The Waygu Bao ($17.50) was however very good. The brisket was nicely cooked too hard and not to raw. The meaty flavours mixed well with the pickled cabbage and aioli. An overall hit.

This cheesecake style thing was just fine.

Overall i can recommend 3 ronin. I’m a sucker for Asian fusion brunch and the congee is definitely worth a try.

UPDATED: See my thoughts on their Pho here (spoiler: it’s good!)

3 Rōnin
26 Kensington St, Chippendale NSW 2008
0411 616 167

Categories
Bakery Café

Kurtosh – Randwick NSW Restaurant Review

My partner has been trying to get me to go to Kurtosh for a good six months. I was never keen as I’ve had a lot of baked goods in my day, but one day we found ourselves at Kurtosh after we travelled to Albee’s Kitchen only to find it closed.

Kurtosh’s slab cakes are cut from the slab and sold by weight, which is handy because it means you can get a few small pieces of different cakes to try at any time. These were reasonably good but not memorable enough for me to even remember what they were. I think the white one was tiramisu.

The smashed potato roll ($3.80) was good.

One thing that was memorable about Kurtosh was the extra-slow extra-poor service. There were two people working in the store that day, and I think we definitely got the less capable one (although it may have just been an off day for her). It felt pretty unusual being asked to repeat our order 3 times while we were the only people being served.

I think that if you work in Randwick you will eventually find your way to Kurtosh at some point. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve just done a 12.5 hour night and the person who’s serving you has too it has the potential to get pretty dicey.

Kürtősh Randwick
20B/20C St Pauls St, Randwick NSW 2031
(02) 9314 5353

Categories
Japanese

Ramen Kaio – Crows Nest NSW Japanese Restaurant Review

Ramen Kaio is a new ramen restaurant that has opened up this month in Crow’s Nest. I was put onto Ramen Kaio by a guy who was previously big in the NSW HSC online forum space in 2010-11. He now works at PwC and I don’t know if he’d appreciate me putting his name on here.

The long and short of it is that Ramen Kaio has some of the best chashu I’ve ever had, and definitely the best that I’ve had in Australia. The chashu absolutely melts in your mouth, and according to their Facebook page they flame sear their meat just before serving.

I had the spicy ramen with level 3 spiciness and extra chashu. The level 3 was not as spicy as I would have liked, but I had to accommodate my partner who is less spice tolerant. The soup flavours were good, and I also enjoyed the included bamboo and bean sprouts which I thought I would have to pay extra for. I can definitely recommend getting extra chashu. It’s not that there’s not enough in the standard dish (indeed there is, they purposely cover half the bowl with it), it’s just that it’s so good.

Ramen Kiao Black Garlic Ramen

The black garlic ramen was my partner’s pick, and one that we were less enthused by. The flavour was good, with a rich cooked garlic taste, but unfortunately we found the ramen as a whole to be too oily. I suspect that’s part and parcel of getting a black garlic ramen, and if it had been less oily it wouldn’t have been so garlicky. I would not get this particular dish again, but understand that others may like it.

I found the gyoza at Ramen Kaio to be underwhelming. There were only 4 for $7 or $8, and the flavour was quite mild and unexciting.

We also had the karaage chicken at Ramen Kiao. I liked that it wasn’t as battered as most, and the large chunks of chicken, but otherwise it was not special. My partner liked it less than me.

Overall I think Ramen Kaio does one thing well, and that’s their great cha-shu. None of the other stuff we tried really stood out. I’d recommend giving the place a visit, just for their cha-shu ramen alone. Save your money and skip the sides and the $9 beer.

Ramen Kaio
98 Falcon St, Crows Nest NSW 2065