This was a good meal which was made slightly more difficult than it had to be due to language barrier and a terribly translated menu.
We had this handmade tofu brain (手工豆腐脑), $5.50 which was quite good. The only actual Tianjin style doufu nao I’ve had in Australia, reminiscent of early childhood memories that are only barely hanging on. It was the savoury variety with soy sauce, pickles, and shallot and even though it wasn’t what my partner grew up with (her people seem to have a sweeter gingery variety), both of us enjoyed it.
The Tianjin pancake, also known as pancake fruit 煎饼果子 ($8), depending on which version of the menu you look at, was not bad and quite inexpensive for what it was. It was no better or worse than other jianbing guozi in the local area. The deep fried dough stick/ fuel strips/ youtiao 油条 ($2.50 supplement) are of course a necessary addon to any jianbing guozi order, while we chose not to add heat the dog / hotdog / 热狗 for $2, both because I was already warm enough and the man explained it was just a sausage from Costco.
The the leek egg pie 韭菜鸡蛋馅饼 ($3) was not bad, though had less egg than I would have liked and also a less strong chive flavour than local competitors. The wrapper was also thicker than those available at for example Jinweigu in Campsie, so overall I would not get it again.
The pork pie 猪肉馅饼 ($3) was otherwise relatively good, here with the same filling to wrapper ratio as the leek egg pie, but more appropriately so given the saltier filling.
Overall
A reasonably good, well priced outlet for Tianjin style food. The banner translations are very silly and need to be updated to what’s present inside on the tables (helpfully enough only visible once you’ve already ordered your meal.)
Pancake King 煎饼王
Burwood Plaza, Shop 61/50 Railway Parade, Burwood NSW 2134
