Tim Ho Wan - Burwood

I'd been dubious about Tim Ho Wan coming to Sydney for a really long time. Not just the crazy cues but also the outrageous prices. However, for today - my craving for a vegetable dumpling won out. It also helped that there were close to no lines at lunch hour (around 12.30pm).

We weren't super hungry, so we only ordered a couple of dishes. First and foremost, the spinach and shrimp dumplings ($7.80). This had the most amazingly thin crystal dumpling skin super delicious and plentiful spinach filling. YUM! I could eat plates and plates of this I think.

As per all our yum cha experiences, the pork and prawn dumplings had to be ordered ($7.80). This was a huge disappointment. Really dismal looking. Really not any better than siu mai from elsewhere.

The rice rolls with sesame sauce was pretty tasty. Silky smooth rolls drenched in a sweet sesame sauce. Can't really go too wrong.

The last thing we ordered was one of their specials - the crystal shrimp roll with century egg. I've never steamed rice paper rolls before. Now I know that it just becomes really sticky. An epic slab of prawn meat with a small slice of century egg and fish roe. Hubby quite liked this dumpling but I felt like there was waaaaaayyyyy too much prawn meat in this.

I think that Tim Ho Wan in Burwood is not bad. Extravagant prices aside, the service, ambiance and wait times were all quite reasonable.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 28/40

Tim Ho Wan (Burwood)
Ground Level Westfield Burwood
Cnr Burwood Road and Wilga Street
Burwood NSW 2134
Tel: 0426 788 708

Ramen Ikkyu - Sydney

A couple of our friends tempted us with the promise of delicious ramen. As I have an almost insatiable craving for ramen - we were there! I hadn't been to Ramen Ikkyu before but my friends assured me that the chef (originally from Blancharu) married the perfect broth with the perfect noodles.

When we got there, the head chef was present - cheerful and helpful in demeanor when he saw me struggle with finding the food items that I wanted. Or... did he just find me too slow in ordering?

Our friend talked up the amazingness of the pork rib - supposedly a massive slab of meat. How could hubby resist? When it came out, the pork rib was indeed MASSIVE. It was also super succulent and tender and really really tasty. With a slight charred, bbq flavour, it was a melt-in-your-mouth piece of meat. The rib came with a rich soy-based soup. I think that the pork rib's fat dripped into the soup, making it the soup rich, thick and porky in flavour.

pork rib ramen

I opted for a less epic option - the Ikkyu Salt. The 'paitan soup' is slightly lighter than the tonkatsu soup base of other ramen places. This soup was lighter but still rich and concentrated. It tasted more chicken-like compared to pork which was interesting. Initially, the soup was slightly less satisfying that the tonkatsu soups, but halfway through the noodle slurping, the richness of the soup really got to me. The noodles were good and the egg and bamboo shoots were likewise deliciousness. The bbqed pork meat is also completely delicious! (although I did prefer the chunkier rib pieces that hubby had).

ramen ikkyu salt

Although free kaedama (ie. extra portion of noodles) is offered, none of our party of four required this. However, we couldn't resist but to share some gyoza. The gyoza is pretty succulent and not really charred. There's this thin layer of batter that joins the gyoza together which unfortunately doesn't add much to the dish.

gyoza

All up, this was a pretty delicious feast. We were all ramened out by the end of it (and in search of something sweet :P).

Ramen Ikkyu
Sussex Centre Food Court
Sussex Street
Haymarket, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9281 0998

Mandoo - Adelaide

A Korean restaurant with Pete Evans' tick of approval? That's Mandoo - a dumpling restaurant in the city of Adelaide.Walking past it, we couldn't resist but to go in and test it out.

We couldn't really decide which dumplings we wanted - and so, we opted for a dumpling hot pot with a mix of chicken, pork, kimchi and vego dumplings (amongst a heap of other yummy ingredients). We were first served with several simple side dishes - pickles, kimchi, and seaweed. We were also presented with a mild chilli mixture ... a bit of gochujang, sesame and shallot? I have to say - this chilli mixture kind of saves the dumplings as the dumplings themselves don't seem to have too much taste.

side dishes

chilli sauce

Our dumpling pot came and it was amazing! Thin slices of beef, tofu, rice cake, udon, mushies, fishcake and dumplings. YUM!!!! also loved the broth (i think it was a beef broth?). Pretty awesome.

dumpling hot pot

All up, it was a pretty good feed. I'm not convinced that it's the bestest dumplings I've had, but the hot pot was enough to leave us both satisfied and happy :)

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Value for money - 27/40

Mandoo
Shop 3, 26 Bank St
Adelaide, 
South Australia, 5000
Tel: (08) 8231 3303

Din Tai Fung (2) - Sydney

We were in the city and I really wanted dumplings. The first place that came to mind was Din Tai Fung at World Square. Being the 'rush hour' of dinner time, we were expecting a long wait - and there were the crowds waiting outside the restaurant to support this idea. However, fortunately for us, being a company of two, we were given a table within 10 mins.

We wanted a different their appetiser of asian veges (black fungus etc) but they ran out for the night. As such, we opted for the water spinach with garlic instead. This was tasty but nothing amazingness.

water spinach with garlic

For some odd reason, hubby wanted fried rice. Fried Rice??? That's something I can easily cook *sigh*. Oh well, whatever he wants. We ordered fried rice with deep fried chicken cutlet. The chicken was pretty tasty.

fried rice and fried chicken

On to the good stuff - the dumplings. The Xiao Long Bao (steamed pork bun). As expected, the dumpling skin was super thin, and the soup that came with the pork felt clean and not too oily. Satisfied my dumpling cravings :)

Steamed pork dumplings

The other dumpling dish I wanted was the pork and vege dumpilng. This exceeded my expectations. It was chockablock full of chopped veges (which I LOVE ... but not everyone's cup of tea) with a tiny bit of pork. YUM :)

pork and vege dumplings

I always like a dumpling feast. It is slightly pricier here (as expected) and the service slightly lacking (also as expected)... but it's a relatively good feed anyway.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Din Tai Fung
Level 1, Shop 11.04
World Square
644 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9264 6010

Tim Ho Wan (2) - Hong Kong

Tim Ho Wan has moved since our last visit and since it was summer and quite hot, cabbing it to the place was much more convenient. This led to us being able to just beat the lunch crowd :)

We ordered their famous baked barbeque pork buns which was really delicious. Soft and flaky bun with steaming hot and tasty barbeque pork pieces inside. Could do with a few more of these!

baked barbeque pork bun

The chicken feet was also quite tasty - steamed and flavoured perfectly well.

chicken feet

The siu mai (pork and prawn dumplings) were chockablock full of flavour and absolutely deliciousness! Simple dish... yet it hits just the right spot!

siu mai

Likewise,the har gow (prawn dumplings) were filled with super tasty and crunchy prawns. The pastry is really thin yet strong enough to encase all that yummy prawn.

har gow

We also had the turnip cake and the steamed pork ribs. Both were good but I guess, wasn't that much more spectacular than the norm.

raddish cake

steamed pork ribs

I think that Tim Ho Wan serves dim sims which are just that tiny touch better than your average yum cha. But as the prices are likewise reasonable which makes this a gem :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 31/40

Tim Ho Wan
G/F, 9-11 Fook Wing Street
Sham Shui Bo
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2788 1226

Din Tai Fung - Hong Kong

The Din Tai Fung in HK is a Michelin Starred restaurant. So when we felt like dumplings in the middle of TST, we couldn't resist but to give it a try. As it was already past the usual lunch hour when we got hungry, and so we didn't have to wait long to be seated.

We ordered a Shanghainese appetiser of soy bean with preserved veges and bean curd noodles. It was absolutely deliciousness!!! I do understand that it's not to everyone's taste though.

soy bean preserved vegetables with bean curd noodles

After his Shanghainese trip, hubby raved on and on and on about this awesome truffle chicken soup he'd had at the Din Tai Fung in Shanghai. Hence, when we saw this on the menu here, we absolutely had to order it. It was very clear soup with a really intense chicken and truffle flavour. Intense much!

chicken and truffle soup

We also ordered two types of steamed buns. We ordered the pork and crab roe steamed pork buns and the melon with prawn dumplings. The dumpling skin on both were really thin and yet, malleable enough to not break under your chopsticks. Both dumplings were really tasty but in different ways. The crab roe one was really crabby-type sweetness but the melon one was subtly sweet. Both were yummy though :)

pork and crab roe dumplings

melon and prawn dumpling

melon and prawn dumpling

So this place was pretty good food-wise. No we didn't receive top-notch service and the bill took forever and a day to come but they still got the michelin star somehow. Wasn't too expensive for a good dumplings meal :)

Ratings: 
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 30/40

Din Tai Fung
20 Canton Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2730 6928

Ramen Zundo - Sydney

After a relatively stressful afternoon, hubby and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice hot bowl of ramen. We decided on Ramen Zundo in World Square as we had not been there before and were surprised to find quite a few patrons on the cold Monday night.

We ordered an egg each - this was absolutely gorgeous with a slightly runny yolk. Hubby got the Zundo Red whereas I opted for the Zundo Black. The Zundo Red was their famous tonkatsu based soup with spicy chilli oil. Hubby said it wasn't very spicy - I beg to disagree. Zundo Black was the tonkatsu based soup with garlic oil. It was absolutely deliciously garlicy, porky, collageny goodness. The noodles were cooked well. Loads of veges (if you like bean sprouts and cabbage) and the necessary seaweed accompaniments. Hubby also liked the pork pieces in it. I really really loved it!

soft boiled egg - $2

Zundo Red - $11.80

Zundo Black - $11.80

On the side, we also ordered gyoza. These were just average though - nothing to write home about.

gyoza - $7.90

Hubby and I were both quite impressed by the ramen here. Would definitely return when we're in the area.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Ramen Zundo
Shop 10.30 World Square
644 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9264 6113

Lynn's Shanghai Restaurant - Sydney

We went to Lynn's Shanghainese Restaurant one evening and we really really wanted their Peking Duck special (only $28.80 on Mondays and Fridays). Unfortunately, for the two of us, there was absolutely no way we could eat a WHOLE DUCK and a main dish (which is their criteria for the special). And so, we had to settle for the other yummy sounding dishes on the menu.

We ordered a crispy smoked fish ($9.80) as I was really missing the Shang-style 'fun yue' that my uncle (which is Shanghainese) used to make for me. Unfortunately for me, this smoked fish offered something completely different to my uncle's version. This was crispy skinned fish with a thick sweet sauce. It was OK... but I still miss my uncle's type.

Crispy smoked fish - $9.80

 We also ordered a braised pork in soy sauce hot pot ($19.80). The pork belly was tender and the sauce was sweet and quite nice. I quite liked the egg in the hot pot too. However, I must admit, the picture made it look more awesome than it really was.

 Braised pork in soy sauce hot pot - $19.80

I don't know why I do this. I get disappointed every time I order steamed vegetable dumplings ($7.80) and yet, every time I see it on the menu, I really want to order it. Alas, I again fell for the trap - ordered it, and was disappointed.

steamed vegetable dumplings - $7.80

A bit better than the steamed vege dumplings was the Shanghai steamed crab meat and pork bun ($11.80). The dumpling pastry was paper thin yet was elasticy enough to not rip when touched with chopsticks. The pork was tasty but the hint of crab meat was really subtle - almost undetectable. Can't compare this with dumplings from overseas, but for Sydney standards, I guess it's not bad.

So whilst I was super excited about trying out Lynn's, I was a bit disappointed. The service was crazily slow - close to impossible to flag down a waitress - and the food was average. May come back for the peking duck special...maybe.

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 25/40

Lynn's Shanghai Restaurant
199 Castlereagh Street
NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9267 7780

One Dim Sim - Hong Kong

Michelin Star Yum Cha place which opens past midnight? We were so there! One Dim Sim is located in Mongkok officially - but is much more accessible coming out of the Prince Edward MTR station. We got here after an epic day of travel from Sapporo back to HK with the absolute worst HK airport customs experience I've had EVER. So it was late, around 11pm ish and I was super hungry.

So there's fluro lights for their sign. The tables are also quite packed up inside. No table cloths - just your generic hard table tops and chairs. You simply just tick the things on the menu that you want to eat, and they steam it to you on the spot. Unfortunately, as we got there quite late at night (they close at 12.30am), a few of their dishes (e.g. baked bbq pork bun) was already sold out. Nonetheless, we took our pick- and the dishes came out a bit quicker than we expected.

pork spare rib and chicken feet rice

har gow - prawn dumpling

siu mai - pork and prawn dumpling

sprouts and prawn dumpling

steamed beef rice noodle (churn fun)

The food was OK. The dumplings probably could have used a few more minutes in the steamer and bits of it was slightly cool. But there was really nothing too special about these dishes - they were quite similar to the standards you get at yum cha at other restaurants in HK, if not a little sub-par. Tim Ho Won, the other Michelin Starred yum cha place we went to in previous years was much more impressive. So I guess, if you're looking for a yum cha place in the dead of the night, yeh - come here. But if you're having yum cha at normal yum-cha having times, this is not really excellent enough to entice me to trek over here (unless you're in the area already).

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26/40

One Dim Sim
15 Playing Field Road
Mongkok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2789 2280

Jonga Jip (2) - Eastwood

Just to take a breather from blogging about European food... one of the first meals we had upon our return to down under was Korean in Eastwood at Jonga Jip. The reason why we picked this restaurant out of the plethora of Korean restaurants available to us was due to the amazing amounts of side dishes this place offers - Yes! All 10 side dishes!!! Ok, so the price of each meal here is a tiny bit more expensive compared to other Korean restaurants on the street... but 10 (10!!!) delicious side dishes more than make up for that price difference methinks.

a gazillion of delicious side dishes

Hubby orders the beef rib soup. It comes out sizzling hot with an egg cracked on top. It is absolutely mindblowingly stomach soothing and delicious. It's flavoursome yet doesn't leave behind that gross MSG feel in your mouth.

beef rib soup

On this particular day, my mind was singing that 'mandu, mandu mandu, mandu' jingle and so - expectedly, mandu (dumplings) were ordered. I had them steamed instead of fried. Whilst in my mind, I was expecting like 10 dumplings to come out - I was greeted with huge happy family of lotsa lotsa little dumplings. It was exactly what I needed that day :)

dumplings

 Jonga Jip is the place to go when you want a crazy variety of side-dishes. Sure there may be a bit of a premium for it, but you'll find me here again and again and again for a reason :)

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

Jonga Jip
87 Rowe Street
Eastwood
NSW 2122
Tel: (02) 9858 5160

Shanghai Memory - Ashfield

My hubby and I decided to eat out one night and headed for Ashfield. There, we seemed to have spotted the new kid on the block - a Shanghainese restaurant that we had not eaten at or even seen previously. We entered Shanghai Memory cautiously as though there were patrons in there, there were relatively more customers in its neighbouring restaurants. Nevertheless, we were quickly greeted by friendly staff.

We ordered a classic shanghainese appetiser - toasted flour tendons "with full flavour sauce". What this is is really just bean curd type things drenched in sauce and oil and served with other fungi and beans. It's a really tasty dish being kind of sweet and all, but it might be an acquired taste. Me, being half-shang, really love this dish... yet, due to it's oiliness, it's not something that can be eaten often.

toasted flour tendons with full flavour sauce

My hubby requested pork and vege wonton soup. This was really packed full of MSG. Or maybe it's because I have made this dish since I was a young kid and every time, the home-made version never included MSG, that when I took my first mouthful, I was knocked off my feet. BUT - my hubby seemed to love it. So *shrugz* - to each their own.

pork and vege wonton soup

We also ordered pan fried pork dumplings. These were OK. The flour coating was a little thicker than I would have liked, but it was nicely crunchy on the bottom and flavoursomely porky inside.

pan fried pork dumplings

Last but not least, the waitress' recommendation - spare ribs wrapped in this rice thing which was then steamed. I can't describe it properly, but taste reminds me of the rice dumplings we make for Dragon Boat Festival except that the rice is not the sticky glutinous rice you normally have. The spare ribs were soooo tender they basically shredded and melted in your mouth. It was an interesting recommendation and I could see that other tables had likewise been sucked into ordering this dish.

steamed pork spare ribs

All up, it was a cheap and relatively decent meal. My hubby had a relatively unpleasant experience following the meal - not sure if it was due to the food or the oil, the beers, or just sheer exhaustion... But don't let that stop you from trying to foods - it was kinda tasty afterall.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money -7/10
Overall - 28/40

Shanghai Memory
267B Liverpool Rd,
Ashfield, Sydney
NSW 2131
Tel:(02) 9716 6085

BBQ - Strathfield

My partner and I had decided to eat Korean in Strathfield... but we had quite a bit of difficulty deciding which one.

And so... we headed into one without an English name. Has to be authentic that way ... right? :)


We had a bit of difficulty deciding what to get - the reason being, my partner was sick and I didn't want him to have BBQed food. But seeing that we stepped into a restaurant where the only English bit of the name is "BBQ"...

Nonetheless, we opted for a beef with mushroom and vegetables hot pot ($35). I thought this would probably feed the two of us (as most hot pots are rather large), but my partner decided that he was soooo hungry, he could finish this himself - that's his excuse anyway. I think that deep down inside, he was scared that the hot pot would be too spicy for me and hence, forced me to order something I know I could eat. In this case, it was the korean dumpling soup with various condiments ($13).

What came first were the awesome side dishes. Okay ... so I'm missing my awesome potato dish and my awesome seaweed dish... but these were OK.

side dishes

The beef with mushroom and vegetables hot pot was extremely deceiving. I swear that there was hardly any chilli or chilli powder or black pepper or anything else there but - the soup was spiciness! I could still eat it though - the chinese cabbage is awesome, as with the potato starch noodles. The beef bits weren't bad and there were ample veges - zucchini, carrots, mushis, onion, shallots... the whole lot. It is seriously quite a YUM hot pot. I just couldn't drink the soup (but my partner lapped it up).

beef with mushroom and vegetables hot pot - $35

The korean dumpling soup was likewise deliciousness! Super big fat dumplings worked right up my alley, as did the egg they cracked in the soup and the seaweed and shallot bits sprinkled on top. The soup was subtly sweet and really tasty. In all... this is something I could definately gobble up on a rainy day :)

korean dumpling soup with various condiments - $13

The restaurant is missing the buzzer thing most other Korean restaurants have. The waitstaff struggle a bit with the English, but they try, and they're nice enough. We left the restaurant clutching our stomachs in fullness whilst whisking away paying less than $50, so not bad :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

BBQ
52 Mosely St
Strathfield
NSW 2135
tel: (02) 9701 0608