Tag: congee

Categories
Australian Bakery Café

Hearthe – Stanmore NSW Restaurant Review

We were the only Asians at a packed Hearthe on a Sunday morning not long ago, not counting the two in the kitchen, and thus the only people to have their very good congee, though more on that later.

The first item that arrived was the salt bush scone with dessert lime marmalade and cream ($14). The scone itself was savoury, with a light, chive like flavour do them that suberverted expectations of a wholely sweet-spectrum dish.

The cream, whipped well, is always a welcome addition to any scone dish, whilst the “dessert lime marmalade”, which I can only assume is a play on words based on the “desert lime” its made of, was a less sweet, more bitter concoction. My wife enjoyed this dish more than me.

The ham and cheese scroll ($9) was up next. Though plucked from the display cabinet, it was served warmed up, semi-gooeyfying the relatively large high density of cheese within this pastry.

The layers of the scroll were very buttery and dense, contributing to an overall sense of luxury to this scroll, though again, similar to the marmalade, there was an overall hint of bitterness to it.

The rice congee with paperbark smoked barramundi, with karkalla, samphire and finger lime with a toasted croissant crouton ($19) was completely different to everything else on offer at Hearthe. The croissant “crouton” functioned much like a youtiao, though tasted a bit burnt and was on a whole less good than the traditional alternative. The native greens (karkalla and samphire) weren’t that tasty, and the finger lime was not able to be found or tasted.

Looking past the croissant and native greens, the dish as a whole was an extremely traditional rendition of a Chinese congee. The flavour was umami and warming, and just as a classic congee, not overly rich. The flakes of barramundi within the bowl were perfectly proportioned, and permeated through each spoonful. It did a really good job as a congee, much better than many Chinese restaurants we’ve been to, and despite the superficial attempt of being fusion, was deeply traditional in its overall execution, tasting more of shallot and fish than it did of native things. It’s a shame we didn’t see any of the other (non-Asian) patrons ordering it.

The unforgettable cake ($10 for a small slice), was actually much more forgettable than Hearthe proprietor Christopher Thé’s original claim to fame, Black Star’s strawberry watermelon cake. Though it was built in a sandwich like construction featuring jelly and cream between multiple layers of sponge, I didn’t feel that this really made up for the relatively uninteresting and subdued flavour, and it ultimately ended up seeming like too much structural effort for little flavour pay-off. At least it wasn’t too sweet.

The paperbark cake ($10) had a nice, floral and peppery top layer, with a honey-drenched mimille feuille centre and a rich, chocolatey, dense mousse-like base. This was probably the most “native Australian” tasting item on the menu, though overall too sweet for my liking.

UPDATE –
We found our way across the bridge to a community cultural event, where Christopher The was doing some live baking with his kids whilst one of his other kids played music.

We were served these very unassuming tarts with kiwi and mango pearls on arrival.

The music was intermitted by these fresh-out-of-the-oven blueberry cupcakes, which had a taste of self-raised flour. I reiterate add at this point that the whole thing was one professional baker and his kids, who are definitely not professional bakers and just there to do their best to help out.

The cherry strudel with fresh and sour cherries, anise myrtle, and a coffee and wattle seed ice cream turned out to be quite good, despite Christopher leaving his dry flour at home. We enjoyed the tartness of the sour cherries, and that it was overall not too sweet.

A surprise showing of a work-in-progress next generation strawberry-watermelon cake. I think it would be better with less sweetness.

OVERALL
Despite criticisms, I enjoyed my meal at Hearthe, and the little Australian twists present in most dishes. It almost felt like what BUSH should’ve been, and it just happens to have some of the best fish congee around.

If you’re really into classical guitar and live North of the bridge, the live-baking thing could be a thing too.

Hearthe
16 Douglas St, Stanmore NSW 2048

Categories
Chinese

Golden Sands 金沙酒楼 – Hurstville NSW Restaurant Review

My parents have been going to Golden Sands for yum cha for just over ten years now, which corresponds loosely to around the time they made their way out of the West (where my heart still lives).

I find it generally hard to review yum cha restaurants because you always eat so many different things, and for the most part it’s hard to tell good quality from quality that simply isn’t terrible. Through all of my visits I’ve never had a bad meal, which I guess is saying something.

Please enjoy the following as photographic evidence I’ve attended

Prawn and Chive dumplings 韭菜饺 – my go to at any yum cha restaurant that has them available (serious red X next to Vinh Phat Cabramatta). Pretty good, good chive flavour.

These egg tarts 蛋挞 were sadly missable. We ordered them (not off the cart) and yet they still came lukewarm.

These shao mai 烧卖 were fine. I wouldn’t even know an English name for them.

These steamed pork ribs in black bean sauce 豉汁蒸排骨 I actually didn’t enjoy either. I guess thinking back on this meal there was more to discuss and complain about than I had imagined. I thought that these pork ribs were too fatty, too ‘porky’ in flavour, and did not have as much black bean to them. I’m not looking for saltiness – just the black bean flavour itself.

The sticky rice chicken 糯米鸡 was great. Always something I enjoy.

My wife has absolutely ruined me, because once upon a time I definitely would’ve had some of the mixed beef offal 牛杂, but having been with her for over ten years my culinary landscape has contracted.

The century egg and lean pork congee 皮蛋瘦肉粥 was ok, at least that’s what I think it was. I can’t really see any century egg in the photos and my memory fails me. Kind of an unusual thing for yum cha but we had like 10+ people.

The fried dough sticks / you tiao / 油条 were actually excellent. Amazing. So fresh and crispy. So savoury. We got a second order.

The BBQ pork puff pastry 叉烧酥, again not something we normally have, was not too sweet. A bit cool though.

After having the world’s best chang fen 肠粉 at Traditional Cantonese Taste I can’t take any yum cha chang fen seriously any more. I think this was beef?

The braised chicken feet 凤爪 never miss. A true cultural export.

The fried dough sticks wrapped in rice noodle 炸两 is something my wife’s family usually gets at yum cha, not mine. We enjoyed it – more opportunities to enjoy Golden Sands’ fried dough crullers is always welcome.

More chang fen? Why?

DINNER VISIT
It’s hard for me to present too many views when I’m not the one ordering or paying for dinner. Thanks mum and dad.

This abalone/shark fin soup was nothing special. The price to enjoyment ratio just isn’t there.

The lobster with e-fu noodles. No complaints.

This char siu was really good! The roast goose was too.

The beef in this was pretty tender. Nice.

Health.jpg

Health.jpg part 2

I did not enjoy this fried rice. I agree that there was good separation between grains, but thought that overall it was too dry. Definitely not a special special fried rice.

Thoughts
Overall good, but not the best.

Golden Sands 金沙酒楼
Hurstville Times Plaza, Level 2/127-141 Forest Rd, Hurstville NSW 2220

Categories
Chinese

Traditional Cantonese Taste 老广记石磨肠粉店 – Burwood NSW Restaurant Review

Traditional Cantonese Taste 老广记石磨肠粉店 unlocked for me something above and beyond what I understood cháng fěn 肠粉 could achieve.

We had the dried cordyceps flower with pork and egg rice paper roll 虫草花猪肉鸡蛋肠 ($16.50). While I’ve had a couple of different cheungs fun around the place, mostly from yum cha restaurants, I’ve never had anything like this in my life. Though it seems small in this photo, the thing was huge and bulging, of adequate size for the price asked.

It was absolutely packed with layers of tender pork mince, multiple layers of rice noodle sheets, as well as soft egg, with each layer melding into one another to form an ultimate combination of creamy umami. The egg component I think was a true winner, adding moistness, textural interest, as well as creaminess to a dish that may sometimes otherwise be a bit bland. Ultra-light soy sauce was available on-table, but unnecessary.

I did not love the pork and preserved egg congee 皮蛋瘦肉粥 ($12.80). While the bowl was large, I felt that it was too sparsely topped/filled, especially with regards to the only minimal showing of century egg, sliced ultra-thinly to maximise visual appeal without actual mass presence, making the bowl closer to a bowl of plain rice congee than a classical flavourful pi dan shou rou zhou.

The fried bread / you tiao / dough cruller 经典非凡油条 ($3.50) was excellent. Freshly fried, crispy, warm, and soft. It’s a shame that the congee was so unspectacular and bland, as it would’ve made a good accompaniment to a more flavourful zhou.

I really don’t know why I was expecting something different when I ordered the fried egg noodles with beef 干炒牛面 ($16.80). I had pictured, for some reason, some kind of saucy Hokkien mee, but instead what this actually was was just gānchǎo níuhé with egg noodles instead of rice noodles. The dish was large, with a mound of voluminous noodles and a weaker than average meat to noodle ratio. The flavour was light, and I regret not adding some of the tableside soy sauce to the mix. I don’t know if my lack of enjoyment of this dish was due to unmet expectations or the food itself, though it did taste better after a period of fridge time, microwave time, and resting and digesting on my part. Either way, there’s probably a good reason this dish is usually made from rice noodles, and it’s my own fault for being illiterate in Chinese.

My partner always orders a soy bean drink unsweet hot 石磨原味豆浆 无糖 ($3) from wherever it may be available. I did not care for it.

Overall thoughts (interim)
The rice noodle roll with egg and the fried dough crullers are my top picks from this restaurant, though I would be hesitant to recommend the other things that I had here.

Update October 2025
We rarely go to the same restaurant twice, unless it’s really good or it’s been a long time, but we went to Traditional Cantonese Taste twice in four months – not because it was truly amazing (though the rice noodle rolls are), but because there are truly quite few restaurants open for breakfast in Burwood. My wife gave me the opportunity to walk through Burwood for 15 minutes to find somewhere to have breakfast at, and all the places we walked past were either not that appealing, or we’d done them to death. Traditional Cantonese Taste 老广记石磨肠粉店 was the call that she made in her frustration of my indecision.

We had the dried cordyceps flower with chicken and egg rice roll 虫草花滑鸡蛋肠, which was pretty good, but probably not as good as the pork mince version. I thought about what the reason for this difference could be, and I think it’s because the chicken chunks were relatively large, whereas pork mince really lends itself to homogeneity and a melding in of flavours and textures between the egg, rice noodles, and meat.

The Rice with pork ribs, chicken and cured meat clay pot 大四喜煲仔饭（排骨, 滑鸡, 腊肠, 腊肉）*$25.80) was I think a new addition to menu, which since our previous visit has been upgraded from a single laminated sheet to a multi page booklet complete with photos. I enjoyed the rice, first and foremost, with the lightly salty soy sauce and the crispy but not burnt bottom section. The protein components, of which there were 4 different ones, were less enjoyable. I felt that both the chicken and the pork ribs had distinct but different ‘agricultural’ tastes, with a strong scent of the animal. It’s rare for me to ever have a problem with the gaminess of meat (especially unless it’s goat), but this was what I experienced. The two types of cured pork were yummy, and my wife graciously allowed me to have more than my fair share of this.

I tried to get us more you tiao but they hadn’t started them at the time I ordered, and the woman who told me she’d let us know when they turned the deep fryer on failed to let us know. It’s ok. We were full anyway.

Overall thoughts (update – October 2025)
My thoughts remain the same. Rice noodle roll with egg good. Other things, not as good.

Traditional Cantonese Taste 老广记石磨肠粉店
101 Burwood Rd, Burwood NSW 2134
(02) 8528 8962

Categories
Chinese

New Keung Kee Seafood Restaurant (新强记海鲜酒家) – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

I certainly did not love these pipis cooked in XO sauce, on a bed of vermicelli. The pipis were not brought to me to review alive, kicking and screaming and for some inexplicable reason this reduced my appreciation of their taste. Live seafood just tastes more live when you see it live before it is no longer live. I don’t want to go so far as to say that it wasn’t live, firstly because I have no proof, and secondly because I’m sure that mathematically the pipis were alive at some point in their lives. At least the bed of vermicelli was good.

Congee is such a simple staple dish that my parents never put anything into when I was a child, barring rice and water. This particular congee with some lean meat was quite enjoyable, but I feel that it is only my lack of knowledge of what these crispy yellow things are that prevents me from making it at home.

It’s a three cup chicken, a chicken made with three cups of non-chicken ingredients. I personally never go for chicken that’s been chopped in a way where the bones are randomly arranged within the meat, my partner doesn’t mind. This was fine. The taste was good. A positive comment.

My honest conclusion is that there is nothing about my visit to New Keung Kee that would bring me back.

UPDATE, JUNE 2024.

We went back for a late night meal, out of necessity more than anything else. We were in the process of moving into our new home, and hadn’t unpacked the kitchen yet. The hour was late, and this was nearby and open. The meal we had was actually quite good.

The Yuxiang Eggplant was vey delicious, with a more tough Asian eggplant used than the deep purple ones found at the local grocery store. The sauce was a delicious combination of sweet, sour, and spicy, and perfect with some steamed white rice. This meal inspired me to try to make some yuxiang eggplant of my own at home, something I failed miserably at.

These combination fried noodles were also delicious, with a thick eggy gravy draping through the crispy fried noodles, softening them and providing a degree of textural variance in each bite.

COMMENTS

Now I feel that the verdict is to go.

New Keung Kee Seafood Restaurant (新强记海鲜酒家)
269 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194
(02) 8593 1745

Categories
Asian Fusion Café Chinese

STIX – Marrickville NSW Restaurant Review

My partner and I have been eating a lot of good food recently, much to the disappointment of my healthcare team and our mortgage deposit. This morning’s late start for my partner found us at STIX, a farm to table café with a much appreciated all-day menu.

We started with the potato hash ($8). I couldn’t stop her. For what it’s worth, these were great. These were extremely buttery and luscious, multi-layered with a thin crispy of an exterior and a soft interior. Pretty tasty.

The smoked trout rillettes ($24) with fennel and kohlrabi remoulade, celery, pickled eschallot, apricot jam and sourdough toast was next. I enjoyed the taste and texture of this dish, as something I could not dream of making myself. The base of sourdough bread was nice and crusty, with good structural integrity and able to carry the weight of its toppings with ease. The brightness, freshness and crunchiness of the celery was excellent with the more creamy textures of the remoulade and trout rillette. The taste and texture of the rillette, something difficult to make or find outside of a restaurant, were both good, and a reasonable volume was provided with our order.

The poached egg was comically small, though we do understand that when you’re raising the hens yourself there is a spectrum of eggs produced, and it’s not possible to only have 58 gram eggs. Unfortunately the small size of our poached egg may have contributed to its overcooking – I have no photos but it was 0% runny compared to what a normal poached egg is.

The last thing to mention would be the apricot jam, which was just a little bit sweet but added so much to the overall flavour of the dish, complimenting the saltiness and savouriness of the rest of the meal. My partner particularly liked that it was dolloped on in discrete bits, so that some mouthfuls would have some sweetness and others would not.

The very good chicken and sweetcorn congee ($21) was a dish that I felt I could probably make at home, and am in fact probably ethnically and genetically obliged to make at home at some point. It was a really tasty and hot bowl of congee, with a bit of spiciness from some tamari chilli relish, some sweetness from the corn, some ginger, and some saltiness from what I presume is just plain salt. The texture of the rice was very nice and soft, and has prompted me to freeze a bit of washed and soaked rice in my freezer just now so that I can make something similar soon. The chicken was not particularly plentiful, with a shredded grocery store rotisserie chicken kind of quality (though I do not mean to defame – I’m sure it was much fancier than this), but enough for enjoyment. This was ultimately a simple but very well executed dish, one that will inspire me to be a better Asian this week.

I made my partner wait a full twelve minutes after the end of our meal to decide if she still wanted this tea and toast croissant ($9.50). $9.50 is a lot to pay for a croissant. I thought that the earl grey tea cream filling of the croissant was plentiful in volume, but sadly not so in taste. It felt highly calorie dense, fatty and thick, but without the taste payoff that such expenditure should entail. I would’ve much preferred a stronger earl grey taste in this situation, preferably also without as much volume of cream. Filling aside, the marmalade glaze on this croissant was enjoyable, although in my imaginations of Beverly and Betty tea and toast diets (I am, for these six months, a geriatric medicine advanced trainee after all) I had always assumed it was plain toast straight out of the toaster that they were eating. I doubt you would get too malnourished if this croissant were your staple meal.

OTHER THOUGHTS
I don’t know how I feel about a place that only takes card, with a mandatory card surcharge for all payments. It feels like any mandatory, unavoidable surcharge should be built into the menu price from the start, but I guess the gods of the ACCC disagree with me. Pretty good food. Worth a visit.

STIX
20 Chapel St, Marrickville NSW 2204
(02) 9550 2772