Categories
Chinese

Mr. Buffalo BBQ 牛鲜生中式烤肉 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

The concept of a “Chinese BBQ” restaurant is a bit foreign to me, as to the best of my knowledge Chinese food culture doesn’t traditionally include a kind of setting where you sit down in front of your own hot plate and grill your own food. Chinese BBQ, up until now, referred mostly to Cantonese BBQ, where meats are pre-roasted by the restaurant and cut and served to order, whilst other forms of BBQing, like cumin-coated lamb skewers, have also existed, again being prepared in the kitchen prior to being served.

Calling what is essentially a Korean BBQ restaurant “Chinese BBQ” just because it is run by Chinese people seems to be a bit of a misnomer, otherwise 90% of the sushi restaurants in Sydney should be calling themselves “Korean Sushi”.

There were, nonetheless, some more “Chinese-esque” flavours to be had at this Chinese-themed Korean BBQ restaurant (mainly the aforementioned lamb and cumin).

The food was good and reasonably priced. The giant piece of squid that we barbecued was more of a novelty than anything else.

In some sense, this was more of a Korean BBQ+, and could reasonably fulfil the niche that Korean BBQ offers, with additional flavours on offer.

We waited an exceptionally long time for a table, and were rewarded with a round of free drinks, which was very nice.

Mr. Buffalo BBQ 牛鲜生中式烤肉
Shop/6 Unity Pl, Burwood NSW 2134

Categories
Korean

Dragon Palace Galbi Korean Charcoal BBQ – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

One of my fondest memories from 2015 was having Korean BBQ, possibly for the first time, with my then-best friend and current fiance at Se Joung in Campsie, next to Woolworths Campsie on Evaline St. Though almost all mention of this restaurant has been scrubbed from the internet in the seven years since, long time internet food people like Grabyourfork’s Helen Yee and Aimee Chanthadavong still maintain primary evidence that our boozy KBBQ meal here, where we sat cross-legged on floor mats and had our food cooked for us by Koreans who only meant to protect us from our own incompetence was not merely a fever dream.

Alas, on our recent visit the restaurant space had been renamed into Dragon Palace Galbi Korean Charcoal BBQ and revamped, and probably not for the better.

Perhaps as a holdover from past uncertainties where there were two extremely similarly named Korean BBQ restaurants in the same suburb, the woman who picked up the phone at Dragon Palace Galbi Korean Charcoal BBQ answered with “Dragon Palace Galbi Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant next to Woolworths Campsie.” Having customers intending to go to your restaurant Se Joung but ending up at local competitor Se Jong must have really left a mark.

There was nothing particularly bad about our meal, but probably at least a little due to nostalgia, the experience of dining just didn’t feel the same. We ate close to closing time, and there were only two staff left by the time we were there. If there was still traditional mat seating on offer, it was in an area that we couldn’t see from where we were.

Helpfully though, ordering was online via a scanned QR code. We had this vague wagyu beef, not-further-characterised, which was pretty good.

We also had some pork jowl, inexpertly cooked by us on this grill. They offered to bring us the pork cooking grill to avoid flareups, but we wanted to maintain variety throughout the course of our meal. There was sadly not much greenery offered with the pork. It would’ve been nice to get some perilla and some lettuce to wrap it in.

This short rib soup was also alright.

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Our experience was confounded by nostalgia so difficult to rate accurately, but I do think that the meat was of a higher quality (though more expensive) than Se Jong on London St (the extant one, not the one that was where this current restaurant is).

Dragon Palace Galbi Korean Charcoal BBQ
Shop 3/68-72 Evaline St, Campsie NSW 2194
(02) 9789 1588

Categories
American

Yum Burger – Five Dock NSW Restaurant Review

One of the first meals we had in our new place was from Yum Burger, a convenient 0 minute walk around the corner from the Five Dock Coles, and a relatively price-conscious choice for two new mortgagees.

The Classic Aussie Burger ($12) does what it says on the tin. It features a single beef patty, a slice of American cheese, red onions, lettuce, tomato, and some barbeque sauce all sandwiched between a bun. It was of adequate size and flavour for the price – definitely a solid budget pick, but did not do anything to astound.

The hot chicken burger ($14.50) was a bit tastier, owing to the inclusion of jalapenos, chilli mayo, and hot sauce, which all matched well with its healthfully grilled chicken breast fillet. I would not mind having another right now (he says, as he has chicken in the air fryer going in the next room).

The hot chips ($4.50 – small) were thick cut and crispy but ultimately difficult to judge as I didn’t have them immediately after they were cooked (I finished my shop first).

Thoughts
The fit out is sleek, clean, and modern, clearly updated in the last few years comparing its current appearance to old photos from Google Maps, though a bit of the pictorial information has been lost from the backlit menu board.

Unfortunately there’s no double patty option on the menu – even the even the “man burger” option announces its manliness through a lack of vegetables and the addition of bacon, but no extra beef patty. Though the portions of meat in the burgers were adequate, a bit of extra meat often goes a long way, and something I feel many wouldn’t mind paying for.

The people working there seem to be the owners however so I suspect they have a bit of latitude when it comes to off-menu additions.

I’ll probably be back.

Update October 2025

I was walking buy and saw an ad out for fried skewers. I had 5 lamb skewers for $7, not really knowing what they would be like. They ended up being less Chinese than I expected them to be (to be fair, there was nothing really indicating Chineseness apart from the guy who runs the store being Chinese), though not completely non-chinese.

The meat was juicy and mostly lean, with one fatty bit but overall less fatty than most Chinese skewers. The flavour was umami with a slight hint of sweetness and saltiness – difficult for me to put my finger on, but definitely not the chilli and cumin that I had hoped (with no good reason to). Not the best, but definitely inoffensive and good value.

Yum Burger
Shop 5/133 Great N Rd, Five Dock NSW 2046

Categories
Nepalese

Everest Momo – Westmead NSW Restaurant Review

I ate at Everest Momo with the best intern (now resident, and by the time this gets published honestly she might be a consultant by then) in Western Sydney and didn’t love it.

Luckily, the restaurant has since closed down, so the amount of effort I have to put in is going to be limited to the following 2 pictures, and the above vibe.

Of the two, I far preferred the fried momos to the wet ones. The fried ones at least had some structure to the wrapper, whilst remaining moist on the inside, whereas the wet ones were just wet all over.

To be honest I wonder if momos are just not for me. (Or if it’s just Everest momos that are not for me). Chinese dumplings are just more suited to what I like. Apologies to my Nepalese friends.

Everest Momo
Shop 6/151-155 Hawkesbury Rd, Westmead NSW 2145

PERMANENTLY CLOSED

Categories
Chinese

Taikoo Li – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

We were the only diners at Taikoo Li at 4PM on a Tuesday, which was weird to us at the time because there’s quite a bit of real estate for just two Asians, but less weird to me now that I think about the way our schedule differs from that of the average Burwood human.

We had this very good braised pork belly with preserved veggies & chilli with rice ($15.80). The moist fattiness and umami flavours of the pork melted into the rice, stretched and complimented by the pickled chillis and other green pickles. Though the helping of rice was relatively large, the dripped through braising liquid from the pork belly, as well as the selection of delicious pickles meant that there was enough yummy flavour for us to finish it in its entirety.

The braised sweet duck (half) ($20) was not bad, though nothing in particular to write home about. I think I would still prefer your average Cantonese roast duck, but it’s good to have some variety once in a while.

The spicy boiled beef (Sichuan boiled beef) ($17.80) was a huge serving for the price, and great with rice, which was an additional $2.50. Can recommend for 水煮牛肉 fans.

The pork dumplings with chilli on side 8pcs ($10.80) tasted good, but were disappointing in their own way. They had a meat only filling, which was flavourful, as well as a dipping sauce that was savoury, oily, and not very spicy, which were all winning ingredients for success. What made me sad however was that some of the dumplings still had raw dough in them, which made it difficult for me to want to eat them, despite their good taste. I also dropped two out of eight, which was completely my fault, but this meant that the ratio of cooked to raw dumplings available for me to eat decreased even further.

Overall thoughts: I agree with my friend PMR that this is good quality, Chinese cuisine. Oddly enough, he and his partner were also the only customers when they ate, also at 4PM on a weekday.

Taikoo Li
47 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134

Note 2025: This restaurant may have moved to 150 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134