Tag: pipis

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
Chinese Malaysian

Hokkien Kia – Campsie NSW Restaurant Review

My visit to Hokkien Kia was foretold by both Malaysian and non-Malaysian friends alike, who knew I could not resist a strong recommendation for some good Asian food.

This Duck Egg Fried Kuey Teow ($15.80) is the thing of legends. My friend BCSY, a real life Malaysian, describes this as the closest thing to Penang-style CKT as you can find. I had an extraordinarily large amount of char kway teow during my first two years of med school from a small restaurant near to campus called Pinewood Noodle & Sushi Bar, and while that was a formative culinary experience for me at the time, this CKT clearly blew that and every other CKT I’ve had out of the water. Highlights of this particular char kway teow were the huge prawns and the excellent wok hei flavour, but the most impressive part was the addition of deep fried pork lard, adding crispy and deeply umami morsels into each mouthful. I don’t know that the duckness of the egg was a particular must have, but I’m told it’s part of it. Either way, this is certainly an impressive char kway teow and a must try from Hokkien Kia.

I’ve never had roast pork in laksa before, but Roast Pork Curry Laksa ($15.80) was actually quite good. The laksa had good curry flavour, while the crackling roast pork was of a high quality, with good crispiness to the skin and worthy to be sold on its own at any Cantonese/Hong Kong style BBQ restaurant.

The Kam Heong Pipi ($22.80) is another specialty of the restaurant, with pipis stir fried in an excellent umami and seafoody sauce of dried shrimps, curry powder, shallots, and garlic. It was very fragrant and a little sweeter than XO pipis, with a good pasty texture to the sauce that added an extra dimension.

My partner thought this iced teh tarik ($4.80) was a bit too sweet and not her favourite teh tarik ever, not that she’s had that wide experience with the drink.

COMMENTS
I really enjoyed Hokkien Kia’s duck egg fried kuey teow, with its excellent wok hei quality and the absolutely delicious deep fried pork lard making it extremely dangerous to anyone looking to avoid an early cardiovascular death. Whilst the other dishes we tried didn’t wow me so much, Hokkien Kia remains a strong recommendation from me for the strength of its char kway teow alone.

Hokkien Kia
254 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194
0403 889 139

Categories
Chinese

Yummy Seafood Chinese Restaurant – Beverly Hills NSW Restaurant Review

There aren’t that many restaurants that take new customers at 1AM, but Yummy Seafood Chinese Restaurant in Beverly Hills is one of them. To the annoyance of the restaurant’s staff, we ordered only one dish between the two of us. Looking around us however we saw multiple groups of young Chinese in their early 20s eating lobster in the dead of night.

500g Pipis in XO Sauce with vermicelli ($44.80)

I’ve been wanting to go to XOPP or Golden Century to try their XO Pipis for some time, but a whole constellation of reasons have meant that I have yet to go. I took the opportunity of eating without my seafood-averse girlfriend to order the the Pipis in XO Sauce ($59.60/kg – market price) with vermicelli ($15 add-on).

The meal was really just OK. The vermicelli was nicely fried, and the XO sauce which coated the pipis and noodles added a good slightly spicy flavour to it. The pipis were fresh from the tank but honestly didn’t taste that fresh or flavourful.

We were served watermelon and orange after our single dish meal and hurried out with some looks just as their closing time of 2AM hit. (There were some high rollers still eating.)

3.5/5 late night special

Yummy Seafood Chinese Restaurant
477 King Georges Rd, Beverly Hills NSW 2209
(02) 9580 0788