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

The Century - Pyrmont

A family friend had their 90th birthday recently and they invited us to attend their birthday dinner at The Century in the Star. The menu was pretty extravagant, the food was pretty tasty, and the waitstaff were pretty friendly and patient with us. And so, it was a good night all up :)

One of the first courses of the night was the lobster sashimi. It came on an impressive bed of smoking liquid nitrogen - just for the 'wow' factor, but it really didn't need it as the lobster sashimi itself was pretty 'wow' itself in terms of being sweet and super fresh tasting. Being so close to the fish market, we not only got pieces of lobster sashimi, we also got and oyster and salmon sashimi  - both of which were really tasty.

Course two was XO pipis on vermicelli. This was pretty steaming hot and well sauced. Everyone happily chomped on this and there were no complaints. So pretty good dish :)

Lobster braised with ginger and shallot was next. There was a pretty massive plate of lobster and had tons of meat. Funnily enough, this lobster had a more crab like texture - less chewy and more sweet - and so, I quite liked it.

The next course was abalone slices with veges. There was soooo much abalone. All thinly sliced and stir-fried. It wasn't chewy and tough like I expected but because it was so thinly sliced, it was subtly sweet and soft and delectable.

A steamed coral trout was next. Steamed really well, the meat fell off the bone. Pretty good for fish :)

Chicken and noodles, as well as garlic lettuce came next. These were pretty average compared to the rest of the meal. The noodles might have lacked a bit of flavour. Possibly needed a bit more salt or a bit more sauce? But noodles are noodles - and I eat all noodles.

Fruit, biscuits and Chinese 'birthday buns' came next. The birthday girl got the massive bun (which unfortunately was hollow) and the rest of us go the little buns which had red bean paste in it. Nice end to the night really.

The Century @ The Star
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont NSW 2009
Tel: (02) 9566 2328

Good Luck Chinese Restaurant - Enfield

After a super difficult and long long week at work, all hubby wanted was duck and so duck we ate. We'd talked about going to this Chinese restaurant in Enfield for years so I was pretty pumped that we finally could visit 'Good Luck Chinese Restaurant' for their popular Peking Duck.

Between the two of us, we couldn't really eat much more than the duck. (and remember to pre-order the duck at least 1 hr before you visit the restaurant). The duck comes in 2 courses - the pancakes and either the soup or deep fried duck. I don't know if we were tucked in a corner of the restaurant or if we looked young, but we were ignored for quite some time. When the duck finally came, it was gloriously crispy and good looking :)It was tasty and succulent and a little bit oily, but really deliciousness! The pancakes were definitely homemade cos it was a bit thick... and very often stuck together. But the yumminess of the duck makes up for the shortfall.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the extent to which the yumminess ends. Our second course was the soup. It was a bit dismal. Lacked taste. A bit of duck bone, some shallots and a few bits of chinese cabbage... It was slightly not tasty and non-delicious.

We also ordered a small side dish of cold noodles. This was likewise a bit dismal and non-delicious and I would recommend against ordering it.

So I guess that this is a small Chinese restaurant that is really good for Peking Duck (but maybe order the fried version for the second course) and ask others for recommendations for what else to order here (definitely not the cold noodles).

Good Luck Chinese Restaurant
182 Liverpool Road
Enfield NSW 2136
Tel: (02) 9747 4625

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

East Court Chinese Restaurant - Richmond

For my dad's 60th Birthday, he picked to have his celebration at East Court - a Chinese restaurant our West in Richmond. Due to his health condition of late, there are tons of stuff that my dad can't eat. Hence, as we knew the owners of this restaurant, it made it easier for us to tailor the menu to my dad's liking.

For starters, we had a deep-fried garlic stuffed prawn. When it came out sizzling and golden brown, it smelt absolutely amazing! Super garlicy and buttery. Bitting into it, it was really really delicious!  Crunchy and crispy, fresh and really tasty and as I love garlic, I loved this!

Deep fried garlic stuffed prawns

The next starter was the XO vermicelli oysters. We got two large plump oysters each. It was again, really fresh and really tasty :)

XO vermicelli oysters

The next dish was possibly one my favourites for the night. It was a vegetarian dish - with lots of tofu bean curd varieties, shitake mushrooms, black fungus, broccoli etc. I loved it! The sauce as just the right consistency and the right flavour.

buddha's feast

A glutinous rice which was chockablock full of ingredients was served next. Everyone liked the taste of this. It was definitely a good glutinous rice dish.

glutinous rice

An interesting mix of steamed fish fillets, ham and shitake mushroom bought 'wows' to the table because of the intricate carrot sculpture in the middle. I didn't like this as much - ham with fish was a bit odd.

fish with ham and mushroom and snow fungus

Hairy melon swimming in the middle of a sea of dried scallops was served next. It was a good tasty plain ish dish.

hairy melon with dried scallop

The pork chop in Peking sauce was probably a personal pick from dad cos he absolutely loves this.  It was done pretty well here.

pork chop in peking sauce

Dad and all of his guests really appreciated the 8 treasure duck (八宝鸭). The 8 treasure duck is traditional chinese dish where 8 different ingredients or 'treasures' are stuffed into a marinated duck. I'm not 100% sure what was stuffed into the duck... maybe some glutinous rice? lotus seed? chestnut? stuff like that... It's apparently an almost 'extinct' dish.

8 treasure duck

On birthdays, it's tradition for noodles to be had. So a stir-fry egg/hokkien noodle was bought to the table.

stir fried noodles

And though the order was a bit odd, the last dish was a steamed fish. Steamed almost perfectly - we all had some even though we were all soooooo full.

steamed fish

Dessert-wise, there was a fruit platter and a coconuty red bean soup. It's one of the better red bean soups I've had and so, whilst I normally leave these untouched, I finished the whole bowl of it.

coconut red bean soup

My dad had to have these 'birthday buns' (壽包) which is a soft sweet bun with a lotus seed paste inside. Again - tradition.

chinese birthday bun

It seems as though my dad and his friends all had fun here. The food was good and atmosphere was decent. Though my dad couldn't eat all the lobster, abalone, etc etc type stuff, these alternatives were all yummy and tasty.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 31/40

East Court Chinese Restaurant
1st Floor, 144-148 Windsor Street
Richmond NSW 2753
Tel: (02) 4578 1755

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

Law Fu Kee (羅富記粥麵專家)- Hong Kong

Featured in a Honkie magazine wonton noodle soup and congee place that had opened for 50 years. And so, we decided to go and see how it is. Law Fu Kee (羅富記粥麵專家) is in Central and luckily, it wasn't too hard to find. As it was quite early in the morning, we didn't have to wait to be seated.

Law Fu Kee

We decided to order their wonton noodle soup and their sliced fish congee with chinese donut. Like all these places, you have to order in a snap (nil thinking time) but as a result, the food comes really quickly too. The wonton noodle soup was pretty good. Chewy and tasty noodles with small fresh delicious wontons. And the congee looked impressive. It was silky smooth on the top layer which, when eaten with crunchy chinese donuts, was a definite treat. Funnily enough, near the bottom of the congee bowl, the congee got a bit watery and less silky smooth...

wonton noodle soup

sliced fish congee

chinese donuts

So it's not a bad joint for a quick local bite. The congee starts off being really delicious but unfortunately, the awesomeness fades as you scrape the bowl.

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

Law Fu Kee (羅富記粥麵專家)
Ground Floor, 142 Queen's Road 
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 543 3881

Tsim Chai Kee - Hong Kong

Yes, we were after more wonton noodle soup. There's two pretty famous wonton noodle places opposite each other in Central but to solve our decision-making dilemma, Mak's Noodles was undergoing renovations, Tsim Chai Kee was our lunch place.

Like a lot of Chinese places, you really don't get more than 5 seconds to decide what to eat. Hence, whilst under pressure, we quickly ordered a house specialty wonton noodle soup each and their seasonal vegetables which happens to be tong choi with fermented bean curd paste (my favourite!!!).

Wonton noodle soup

Tong Choi with fermented beancurd

Their wonton noodle soup is noticeably bigger (and cheaper) than their michelin starred equivalent restaurants. The noodles were perfectly cooked and the wontons? Crazily massive and filled with more prawns than pork. WOW - really really delicious wontons! Yes, as some others have commented, the soup is a bit cloudier than some others, but it didn't take from it's tastiness :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 29/40

Tsim Chai Kee
98 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 28506471

Bo Innovation - Hong Kong

I believe that we've had one of the most epic meals at Bo Innovation self-labelled 'X'treme Chinese Cuisine'. The two michelin starred, san pellogrino ranked no.90 in the world, restaurant did not have to be an expensive affair... but it did turn out to be. They have three different menus (of different prices) but as we know the dessert chef, he booked up onto the chef's table with the most exquisite ingredients. The restaurant is 'X'treme' as the head chef (Alvin) claims to be the devil chef, and his sous chef is the ghost chef... which in chinese, makes it 魔鬼 chef... which I guess gives them a free pass to play with the food and ingredients as they wish.

First off, we were served with 'house bread' of the chinese kind. Instead of normal bread rolls and baguettes, we get the honky version of the egg waffle (雞蛋仔) with a twist of course! Inside the egg waffle are oysters, cheese and shallots. Crispy and light but super tasty! Some other tables wanted this to take home after the meal too!

egg waffle

 The first palate cleanser was the Mao Tai Sour. This was the strong Chinese liquor with a heap of lime juice and foamed up, served in a traditional cup which makes you look up at the heavens as you drink it. It was nicely soured and not too alcoholy - which was good :)

Mou tai sour

The first official food dish was actually one of my favourites. A twist on the honky style crispy taro dumpling that you would get at a yum cha place. Have to say, with a smoked quail egg, a heap of caviar and gold foil on it, it was one of the craziest crispy taro dumplings I've had. The egg yolk was runny, the taro crispy and the caviour a savoury deliciousness when you eat it all in one bite. Yup - taro dumpling on steroids.

crispy taro dumpling with caviar

The next course was very presentable. Two clear spoons with compressed cucumber, cured mackerel, sesame and 'chinkiang' vinegar atop a rose perfume smokey container. Yes - it is just for show. The foam and the smoke and the everything! Tasty though.

cured mackerel with rose

Hubby loved their play on tradition 'dan dan noodles'. All the elements were there but changed into different textures. The eggs noodles were crispified and coated with chili pepper and pine nuts, adding a bit of spice with the crunchiness. Under the noodles were piles of ikura (salmon roe), sea urchin and squid. Bits of green apple cubes were about along with a foam of preserved chinese mustard (榨菜).

dan dan noodles

The scallop dish was also yum. Large hokkaido scallops were plated with Shanghainese "jolo"sauce, crispy woba (which are Shanghainese rice crisps) and sugar snap peas which my friend claims that he spends hours and hours peeling out.

scallops with jolo and pea

Hubby also loved the next course which was abalone cooked in butter and stock for 6 hours. The abalone was really tender and full of flavour and sat on a bed of al-dente 7 years aged acquerello rice. Accompanying all this were cubed of yellow chicken stock which was full rich and tasty.

abalone with rice

The molecular 'xiao long bao' (steamed pork bun) is one of their signature dishes. It has all the flavours of a xiao long bao but it was just a small liquid sphere of broth which exploded in your mouth. The flavour explosion was quite spectacular and mind-blowing.

molecular xiao long bao

The next course was hitting one of my nemesis - the Tomato. And the tomato it was! It was tomato cooked THREE ways! One was tomato shrunk in 'pat chun' chinese vinegar, cured for hours and hours til all the flavour was intensified. The middle was a small slice of tomato with fermented chinese olives ('lam kok'). The last one, which bought along with it really strong flavours, was the marshmellow of tomato - made from the consomme of tomato - crazy concentrated!

the 'Tomato'

The black truffle "chian dan chee" was also spectacular! 'Chian Dan Chee" literally translates to 'spam egg sandwich' and is a classic dish for honkies.  Of course, they had to put their own spin on this classic honky dish. The spam was dehydrated to a thing crispiness, the scambled eggs were crazy fluffy and cooked in truffle oil, and the toast was buttered and rich. To top it all was a huge pile of shaved black truffle (apparently originating from Tasmania). Yup - could eat this one for breakfast everyday!

truffle chian dan chee

I have to say that I don't remember the next dish much. Perfectly cooked red fish with yunnan ham (a super prized and expensive Chinese ham), mandarin peel, potato, and a dehydrated slice of shiitake mushrooms. An onion puree was poured over it all to round up all the flavour.

red fish with yunnan ham and shitake

We had the foie gras next. This was super duper delish! Soft and creamy and really flavoursome. It came with a dehydrated slice of mui choi (梅菜) and a mui choi icecream . Who would have thought that the sweetness of the mui choi went so well with the sweetness of the foie gras?

foie gras

With everything we've had so far, the lobster became like just another dish. Still, being a precious ingredient, it did excel in flavours when combined with a sichuan chili hollandiase sauce. The lobster came with a chinese leek dumpling and bits of charred corn. The shell-fishy broth was also deliciousness. Well-rounded flavours but not as stand-out-ish as some other courses we've had so far.

lobster with spicy hollandaise sauce

The next course was a play on the Taiwanese beef noodles. They definitely upped the ante with this one with super marbled beef and a crazy flavoursome and tender truffle infused beef tendon in an aromatic consumme. Instead of normal noodles, there were two 'squares' of specially made noodles - one of chinese chive (was green ish) and the other made of daikon raddish (white and spotty ish). YUM!

Taiwanese beef noodle soup

Dessert time was next. The first dessert was a lemon curd cake with a 'baijiu' (白酒) jelly. It was served with a hazelnut chocolate crumble, caramel and a banana yoghurt. Those who know me know that I don't do banana. And this yoghurt was done sooo well, it was soooo full of banana flavour that I had to avoid it like the plague.

lemon curd cake with banana yoghurt

The coffee souffle was a bit better. Freshly whipped up and freshly baked, the coffee souffle was served with chestnut icecream and caramelised water chestnut. Our friend dished this up to us with extreme care.

coffee souffle with chestnut icecream

our friend pouring the syrup on

Being our friend, he shouted us an interesting complementary dish - the 'sex on the beach'. Created by accident by their sous chef, it was a condom shaped jelly with a condensed milky substance in it. The jelly was absolutely tasteless but was had the texture of that thin latexy stuff. Ugh. The used condom was sitting ontop a bed of 'sand' which was sichuan peppered digestive biscuit crumbs, giving it a bit of spice. The sand covered this strawberry jam thing... I guess that's for flavour?

'sex on the beach'

Last but not least was the 'petit fours'. Our dessert chef friend had spent ages inventing this from the Chinese traditional 'eight treasure tea'. (our friend, by the way, is now heading to the Fat Duck and will no longer be at Bo... for a while at least). The eight treasure tea (八宝茶) is made from 8 chinese ingredients said to be Empress Dowager Cixi's secret recipe for beauty, longevity and youthfulness.

The 8 desserts are as follows:
- There was a coconut sphere (molecular gastronomied) sweetened with dragon eye syrup.
- My hubby's favourite steamed sponge cake flavoured with osmanthus.
- Macaron which was rose flavoured, with a lychee and white chocolate filling.
- A chocolate and sticky rice dumpling with lotus seed.
- Chocolate truffle with mandarin peel.
- A marshmellow with crazy red date flavour.
- A tian jin pear crystal bun with blue cheese and wolfberry - an interesting combination.
- And last but not least, one of my favourites of the lot - a chrysanthemum creme brulee.

Of course, there's also the actual 8 treasure tea that went with it all!

8 treasure tea

It was an extravagant meal. Amazing YES! But I think we have to steer clear of epic degustations for a while! (for the sake of our stomachs and our wallets).

We have to say a massive thank you to our friend for serving us a crazily fantastic meal! And best of luck for him at the Fat Duck!!!

Ratings:
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 9.5/10
Ambiance - 9/10
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 36.5/40

Bo Innovation
J Residence  60 Johnston Rd, 
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2850 8371