Din Tai Fung

So after being in Sydney for almost 2 years, I finally visited Din Tai Fung, a well known dumpling place that is famous with not just the Chinese but with the local Australians as well. We arrived early for dinner so there was not much of a queue although inside was already packed with customers! When we left, the line outside was LONG!

So, their menus basically consist of dumplings, noodles, taiwanese rice, side dishes, a range of hot and cold desserts. I haven't blogged about this other restuarant called Chef gallery but comparing the both of them, Chef gallery had more variety of food whereas Din Tai Fung probably specialised in xiao long baos (soup dumplings) and noodles. Both resturants however is nice and I would definately come back again (early) to get sits!

Their xiao long baos were so juicy and smooth, and their noodles had a nice texture and was delicious!

Their famous xiao long baos:

Fried rice with pork chop:

One of my favourite noodles, Zha Jiang Mian:

Like I said at the start, there was a line and if there is a line it's normally pretty decent! The service is quick and efficient so that the turnover can be higher for customers standing in the cold to go in! Not a place to go for a quiet night out or have desserts to chill with friends, you'll have to move somewhere cosier and not where their actions seems to be rushing you out!

Address:
644 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Phone:
(02) 9264 6010

Website:
www.dintaifungaustralia.com.au/

Burwood

I've been very lazy with taking pictures of food lately wherever I've tasted new places. However I thought i'll just post some of the new places I've tried over the last few months of being here in Sydney and thought it was pretty yummy and would definately return again! I've tried 3 restaurants in Burwood & my favourite at the moment would have to be

Botoli Restaurant, Burwood
66a Burwood Rd, Burwood

They do a range of food & each dish that we've ordered was satisfying and we were pretty impressed with it. They do a yummy steam tofu egg dish with century eggs inside, DIY paper rice wrap springroll like vietnamese style, tasty noodles, eggplants etc etc. This place is good to come with a group of around 4-5 to really try a range of food there. The deco inside is pretty dull but have been here twice already and each time we were happy with the service and food.

If you feel like hand made noodles and dumplings here is a simple pretty decent price meal to have try:

Beijing Station Noodle, Burwood
Address: 135 Burwood Rd, Burwood

They do yummy hand made noodles and because I really like dry noodles such as mee pok, kuching mee, zha jiang mian etc I really liked the dish I ordered with is fried beef noodles. The picture will defintely do it justice because the way I just explained it was pretty boring lol!

They also do beef noodles soup which was very tasty and tasted abit like bak ku teh and the taiwanese beef noodles soup. So if you like that this noodles is definately worth a try. Being a Beijing restaurant they do also do pancakes (jian bing) which was very fresh and soft and I really liked it & thought how nice it would be with some curry! Other dishes they make include dumplings fried, pan fried, boiled and are all very tasty!

I'll definately want to go back again, it's quite a small little place & it was packed when we got there so definately seems like a pretty popular place!

I must remember to take some pics when I dine there again!! arrghh =p

Kam Fook

Kam Fook is one of the more famous chinese restaurant to eat as recommended by cheapeats in sydney. We visited the chain in Chatswood and inside was pretty grand. The food was not bad but the price was towards the high end. Too many choices to select so here were a few dishes we ended up with.

They gave us complimentary soup at the start which was deliciously sweet.

Superior tofu with seafood claypot


Mushrooms and vege


Fried duck with mashed taro




There were a few couples that dined in there and only ate half their dishes and tapao the rest home. I think it is rather common for couples to do that because it is quite hard to cook for 2, however, with the price of this place I dont think anyone can come in everyday! At the end when we got our bill we also found out that we were charged $2.5 per bowl of rice and about $2.50 per person for tea! There's so many extra cost that we were amazed by....

After dinner they gave us some free desserts such as fruits, cookies and my fav red bean soup =)

Victoria Noodle Restaurant

We have finally found a place with bake rice and the usual drinks of red bean or my fav mixed coffee and tea!!! OMG!!!


Shredded pork Preserved vege vermiceli:


Baked fish fillet with garlic sauce


Baked chicken with portugese sauce on spagatti


This place reminds me of Iano in Auckland many years ago while I was still at uni, I would go there every week to eat, or just drink and try to study in the midst of all the noise! It closed down sadly and I was never able to find another HK place to dine as nice as that. So when we were introduced to Victoria Noodle Restaurant which is hidden underground from the main road I was so happy!
I will definately be back again but the thing is there is so many other HK cafes to dine I must see which one is the best! They don't have my satay beef sandwich which I quite enjoyed the one in Auckland!
This place also does chinese, malaysian and thai cuisine but I'm not sure if i'll go there for that...honestly, with so many places to try it's only a matter of being brave and going in!

Eastwood

Last night, we had dinner at this new suburb that we've never been to called Eastwood. It reminded me a little of howick area where the place is full of chinese restaurants. It mainly consist of chinese and hong kong style crusine so if you're looking for jap or korean you won't find too many around here.


We went to this small hong kong shop called BBQ One and apparently it's recommended in the cheapeats book of Sydney.


One meat on rice cost $9.80 and 2 meat on rice cost an extra dollar. They also sold laksa, dry noodles and their service was quick and free soup came with it too! I think my dad in law will like this place because of the roast meat =) It's pretty crammed and you smell after you leave....

Roast pork on rice


After dinner we crossed the road to have dessert. This place is called Taste of Shanngjai restaurant There were about 2 bubble tea place and this dessert store stood out because of the red bean display. This place sells very shanghainese food...there were so many types of buns, noodles, peking duck, and sweet desserts. The list goes on and so it's definately a place where I'll come back again and it's packed even at 9pm!
Here are some items off their menus just to give you a taste of what they have:

Rice cakes with preserve vege


Stir Fry noodles with prawns


Double filling of sesame and red bean in one sticky rice ball


This is the red bean dessert I had

Red bean + Herbal jelly + Ice cream


Vanilla ice cream on the top


Loads of jelly and red bean swimming in the sea of milk


This was sweet, lots of coconut milk so next time i'll probably ask for less milk. Also if you don't select regular size they automatically give you big which is quite big especially after dinner.

Honey melon drink served with herbal jelly and basil seeds


There were other drinks on the menu such as chendol, ice kajang, cheng teng, sago gulaman and the usual bubble tea, frappes, ice cream etc etc....definately a place to visit if you want your asian desserts.

I'm so glad we checked out this area coz now I can bring you to check it out when you come =)

SiChuan Restaurant

SiChuan is a restaurant that is becoming popular compared to enjoy inn. I remember always going to Enjoy Inn for both Yum Char and dinners along Great South Road. Now however, SiChuan is newer, cleaner and better parking avaliable and the food is rather good too!

I came to SiChuan for my brother's wedding reception and the food was really good. I love thier cold dishes, their crayfish, and other popular dishes.

Tonight, we came here to celebrate Lizzy's birthday and had peking duck yum yum!!! It was the first time for them to try this place and they enjoyed it - good price, good food!


Did not take other dishes so here is overall:


I would recommend the spicy and salty squids too as they are always popular in many restaurants:


SiChuan

Location:
329-333 Remuera Road
(09) 523 303

KongFu Tea Restaurant

If you are looking for a cusine to satisfy your chinese cravings and maybe be a little adventurous you should try this place. In fact, if you know of any nice places to have beef brisket noodles or authentic chinese food please let me know. I would like to try some.

Here are some of the dishes we had with family last night.

Duck:


Tofu:


Eggs:


Egg plant and vege casserole:


Cold fish dish: Very fishy hence you have to dip it into the bean sauce (not for the faint hearted!) - Jokes


Beef brisket: Very tender and the gravy was so declicious you can just have that with rice and you'll be satisfied! My cousin Daniel honestly could not stop talking about the gravy which was more like soup.


Steamed Chicken ribs:


Crab with glutinous rice underneath:


Egg omelette that has oysters inside: One of my fav dish because it tasted like Ochien back home in Singapore yummmmYYYYYy!!!


KongFu Tea Restaurant

Location: 440 khyber Pass Rd, New Market
Closed Mondays

Atmosphere: 9/10 because it's quite hidden along the busy Khyber Pass Road and inside is quite dark compared to the bright lights in other chinese restaurant.
Price: N/A
Food: 8/10 but it really depends on your taste and how adventurous you are to try new food! i-e the cold fish was interesting!!!