Categories
Chinese

Xi’an Eatery 西安诱惑 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

It was the last day before the NSW Dine and Discover vouchers were to expire, and we, along with what seemed like half of the inner-West were lined up on Burwood Rd outside a handful of restaurants still enrolled in the program and willing to accept the vouchers.

We decided on Xi’an Eatery, a place recommended to us by a colleague for its good and cheap food with a reasonable line and an incredibly exhausted workforce who looked like they were perhaps having the busiest and worst day of their lives. Our meal was preceded by an inexplicable half hour wait outside the restaurant as no less than half the tables were vacated and cleaned, before we and the next batch of patrons were admitted. Either fortunately or unfortunately for the staff this was a process marked by significant attrition, as some of our previously unknown compatriots left towards the end of the wait to spend their stimulus-bux further down the street.

Though the outside process was unimpressive, the actual process of dining, from ordering to eating, was incredibly rapid and smooth once we set foot into the restaurant. The staff were flustered but absolutely lovely, probably glad that none of our wave felt the need to engage them into what I can only imagine was an in-depth discussion regarding the origins of the ingredients like members of the previous batch. Food arrived rapidly at our table within just minutes of ordering, and consumed with similar rapidity, hunger being the best sauce.

The Signature Xi’an Pulled Pork Burger (roujiamo – $8.30 including optional coriander) was a specialty of the house, and believed by some specialists to be a marker of a Xi’an restaurant’s quality. I’m by no means a roujiamo expert, but I did find this one to be reasonably satisfying. The filling – mixture of fatty and lean pork – had excellent flavour, moistness, and mouthfeel, contrasting to my other most recent roujiamo at Taste of Xi’an in Wollongong, which I felt did not have as adequate and well distributed fatness. I’m surprised that coriander was a 50c addition, as I feel that the flavour it added was too beneficial to be left out. This must be an option because of the minority of inferior humans who find coriander unpleasant, and perhaps in a thousand years this will no longer be the case. Green capsicum is also a 50c addition, and I regret not getting it. Great filling aside, I did not love the bread, which I found to be oddly crumbly in the mouth.

I really enjoyed how lean these Xi’an Lamb Skewers ($10.80) were, but found them a bit underflavoured for my liking. It was not very spicy, even though the menu threatened it. While some online photos suggest that a bit of chilli powder is served on the side, ours didn’t come with any extra to add on, leaving us with a perfectly tender and lean lamb skewer without much flavour. If I could go back in time I would ask for some.

Another Shaanxi specialty, the Signature Biang Biang Noodle with Pork ($14.30) was one of the best I’ve ever had. The thick gravy was nice and tangy, with a good portion of meat and eggs, while the noodles had a nice Q texture. No complaints here.

The Signature Pork Pan Fried Dumplings ($12.80) were another success in a long string of successes, with a very juicy and meaty filling with good umami flavour, clearly housemade. The cooking style of these pan fried dumplings did however unfortunately lead to some jagged and dry wrapper edges, but not enough to ruin the overall good experience.

THOUGHTS
I had a good and inexpensive meal, and I think so will you. Everything we had was pretty good, and the very nice staff rallied hard in the face of adversity. Recommend.

Xi’an Eatery 西安诱惑
183D Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134
(02) 8056 4600

Categories
Café

Beans & Barrels – Parramatta NSW Restaurant Review

As a champion of the local Parramatta food scene and of all-day menus in general, I was excited to hear Beans & Barrels recommended online, and promptly took my sleep-deprived nocturnist crew comprising of CSJPH (and CSJPH’s SRMO), MJT, ES on a long 10 minute drive and 10 minute walk the next opportunity that I had.

Their all-day menu was quite extensive, with a number of highly customisable options that were available at any time of day.

I had the protein salad ($16), oddly named as it essentially featured all that you see above but without the actual protein components. It is a salad of beetroot humus, cherry tomatoes, spiced sweet potato, shaved fennel, dukkah, rocket, green apple, and lemon mustard dressing – completely inoffensive, relatively fresh, but not quite what comes to mind when “protein” is in the headline. To address this deficiency I added to it some very nice and juicy grilled chicken ($6) and two poached egg ($4) making it a good but $26 salad. I did end up leaving some of the greenery on my plate even having finished my additional proteins, which may either be testament to how much greenery there was (a good thing) or how much more protein was needed to balance it out.

I don’t know that I’ll come back, while good it was just a bit difficult to get to after a twelve and a half hour long night shift, but perhaps it will make its way into the rotation alongside our Parramatta favourites.

Beans & Barrels
Shop 6/180 George St, Parramatta NSW 2150
(02) 9635 3877

Categories
Café Middle Eastern

3 Tomatoes – Ashbury NSW Restaurant Review

3 Tomatoes is an unusually bustling cafe on an otherwise quiet suburban Ashbury street, a provider of a wide an interesting range of food options on their all-day menu as well as a selection of artisan groceries at their counter up front.

The Syrian falafel bowl ($17) with additional poached egg ($3.50) was a green and fresh bowl of sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, sliced radish, unsliced salad leaves, unsliced pickled chilli, and four or five freshly cooked falafels, all drizzled in tahini and parsley. This bowl was an enjoyable and fresh treat, promoting a healthful feeling with each bite of its salad-like ingredients. The falafels were warm and fresh, with a good crunchy external layer and warm, moist, textured interior. The first bite of any fried food is always the best, and while my enjoyment of the falafels waned as they radiated heat into the surrounding environment they remained reasonably good by the end, especially when paired with the mildly sour and mildly spicy pickled chillis. While I was initially concerned by the number of falafel served, they proved to be in the perfect ratio to the salad, and we did not find ourselves wanting for more at the end of the meal. The poached egg, an addition onto the base bowl, was well done with mastery shown in timing. Overall quite good. Very sesame flavoured.

It’s a shame that I don’t have a proper photo of the beef brisket ($18) without it being covered in part by the gigantic extra handmade 3T hash brown ($7). I would have liked to be able to comment on them individually, but the layering of the hash brown within the beef brisket dish made this impossible. The beef brisket dish with date molasses, capsicum, tahini, cooked greens and a fried egg was warm and tasty, if less fresh and wholesome compared to the aforementioned salad. The meat was a particular highlight, given that we have had some relatively disappointing red meats in brunch meals of late (at other establishments). The fried egg, similar to the poached egg, was cooked to a high degree of runny perfection.

The handmade 3T hash brown ($7) was my partner’s compromise after I told her she shouldn’t order the shoestring fries. It was quite large, though I guess if it had been any smaller we would’ve been upset at the $7 asking price. It had an crispy exterior with a moist interior, and was strongly herbed for additional flavour.

The pastel de nata ($4.50) from Tuga Pastries will be reviewed individually in a separate post if I ever make it to one of Tuga’s stores, but suffice it to say it was good, and I didn’t even have to wait thirty minutes in line to eat it.

Sticky Chai ($5.50), Soy Latte ($4.50). Coffee by Will & Co. Good foam on the latte.

THOUGHTS
It’s a very nice, doggy cafe in a very nice and doggy neighbourhood. I’d like to come back. I will admit that I looked online at real estate in the area after I got home. I am in the right age and stage chronologically but not financially. Pegfeeds is why.

A human, in double denim, petting a dog, not in denim.

3 Tomatoes
121 Holden St, Ashbury NSW 2193
(02) 8065 1288

Categories
American Bakery Market Stall

Brooklyn Boy Bagels – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

I’ve not actually eaten at Brookyln Boy Bagels in Marrickville, though I hope to by the time this review has been published. I have, instead, had their Blueberry Bagel ($4.20) with an unusually expensive little tub of cream cheese (I think $3.50? – we spent a total of $7.85 for the pictured bagel and cheese) at one of their many market stalls around greater Sydney.

This bagel was pretty good, man. I don’t know if it was $7.85 good, but as someone who’s never been to New York and doesn’t actually know what a New York bagel should taste like, I was satisfied. I enjoyed the chewy texture, the not-too-sweet, almost savoury quality, and of course the thick layer of expensive ass cream cheese.

My partner went to their bakery in Marrickville the next day and had some kind of everything bagel with lox, inspired by the latest hotness out of A24. I’m told it was pretty good, though she relished the opportunity to eat without having to take a photo.

Brooklyn Boy Bagels
19 Carrington Rd, Marrickville NSW 2204
02) 9158 9555

Categories
Indonesian

Warung Pojok – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

We don’t have that much experience eating Indonesian food so we never really know what we’re doing or if we’ll like it when we go. We recently had the opportunity for a quick lunch at this newly opened local joint, chosen at least in part for its tight pricing given that we are meant to be trying to be good to save up for a deposit on some kind of residential property. We’ve been saying this for years.

We had the Nasi Campur Kalimantan ($16), a plate of oily rice topped with a number of different animal products – charsiu pork, a lap cheong like sausage, soy pork, a sweet chicken drumstick, and egg – , as well as some pickles and some unadulterated sliced cucumber, which I can only assume was provided as an attempt to offset the sheer unwholesomeness of the rest of the oily and processed dish. Though I did think the rice was too oily, this dish was actually very yummy, with an enjoyable variety of components that kept us entertained throughout. I particularly liked the sweet marinaded chicken drumette, and though I wouldn’t have it again, can recommend it.

The other thing we had was this Nasi Padang B ($16), with a fried chicken drumstick and beef rendang. It came out immediately, wrapped in a thick brown paper, ready to go as a to-go portion.

A quick unwrap of the brown paper revealed a further layer of banana leaf which self-unravelled, leaving a layered serving of corn fritter atop beef rendang, a fried chicken drumstick (full-size this time), cassava leaves, curry sauce, and sambal sauce, better appreciated in the below slightly deconstructed photo.

I’m usually not the biggest fan of Western style corn fritters (a shame because my partner really is), but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I think compared to your usual café fritter the batter was looser, with probably a smaller proportion of corn and a softer texture. The beef rendang and chicken drumstick were yum, but because the sambal is nestled in a pocket within the rice I accidentally gave myself a high-dose sambal mouthful at one point which significantly dampened my happiness for the next few minutes. My partner had no such issues.

Overall thoughts
Good price, and good food. A low risk, low cost choice of Indonesian food for the less adventurous.

Warung Pojok Campsie
Shop 5/192 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194, Australia
+61 474 787 827