Kam Fook (3) - Chatswood

Yes - twas, as promised, my third experience of a wedding banquet at Kam Fook Chinese Restaurant within this year (and hopefully, the last).

What was different between this wedding and the previous two?
The married couple was younger.
The banquet had around 320-350 people.
And the banquet food was taken up a notch - more prestigious than the other two.

Honestly though, most of the food was the same. Food quality-wise, it was possibly the best of the three. Service-wise, it had to be the worst. Not only did our waitress look as though someone was treading on her toes the whole night, she also expected us, the guests, to distribute and pack the dishes for her. All she wanted to do was just stand there. *sighz* Guess they don't get paid very much.

So first off, the suckling pig. It was same same.

sliced bbq suckling pig with jellyfish

The next was the deep fried crab claw (as opposed to the "seafood pockets" of previous). This was actually pretty good. Though you had that artificial fish ball type feel (which, by the way, I love), it also had a stringy REAL CRAB feel to it. I was quite taken back and was almost ready to forgive the fact that it didn't come with mayo.

deep fried crab claw

This next dish was an example of food "taken up a notch". Stir fried king prawns with veges and macadamia nuts. Prawns were pretty good - big and tasty. What didn't sit so well as the macadamia nuts (and I got plentiful of them). The thing is - prawns by itself = YUM. Macadamia nuts = YUM. But put them together??? This is probably why serving whole macadamia nuts with prawns is rarely seen. Atleast crushed macadamias would have been more fitting? But I guess having lots of macadamia nuts in the dish makes it more "prestigious" no?

king prawns with veges and macadamia nuts

The next is a common one - sharks fin soup with shredded chicken and dry bamboo shoot. Yes - it was the same as the previous ones and nice pretty much every time :)

sharks fin soup

Similarly with the lobsters - same. Lots. Good if you're a lobster fan.

"supreme" braised lobsters

Then came the sliced abalones and muschroom in oyster sauce. This was slightly more interesting. As we added an extra person to our table - making a total of 14 people, they only had enough bowls of abalone to serve 13. Nonetheless, without too much fuss, they manages to pull off the extra bowl a good 5-10 minutes later. Pretty much out of nowhere and drenched in oyster sauce. Makes you wonder. Either the kitchen keeps spares, intending to eat them themselves, or... perhaps... just perhaps, they yank it from the other wedding banquet that was going on upstairs LOL

abalone and mushroom in oyster sauce

Then was the coral trout. Again - was the same. Pretty well cooked.

coral trout

Instead of the usual non-crispy skinned chicken, we got crispy skinned roasted pigeons instead. A good change for some. A cruel change for others. And no - despite what my partner believes, pigeon is very much different to quail.

roasted pigeons

Steamed fresh prawn rice in lotus leaf and braised e-fu noodles were then served. Interestingly enough, you don't get a rice and a noodle each (as you normally do) but rather, we had to choose. Rice OR noodles. Maybe it was just because our disiniterested waitress couldn't be bothered to dish out more.

"fresh" prawn rice in lotus leaf

braised e-fu noodle

Finally there's the sweet red bean soup, home-made chinese cookies and a large seasonal fruit platter.

In all - there was some variety in the food which was different to the previous two banquets. However, everything did taste pretty much the same. My friend, a virgin to Chinese wedding banquets, was already sick of the taste half way through. "Everything just tastes the same, like they use the same sauce and everything" said she. Many more to come though, thinks I.

Kam Fook Seafood Restaurant
Shop 600, Level 6,
Westfield Shoppingtown,
28 Victor Street,
Chatswood
Tel: (02) 9413 9388