Golden Times Chinese Restaurant

Golden Times Chinese Restaurant

Wests Ashfield Leagues, 115 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield

Dad loves seafood especially lobster. Last time he came to Sydney he found an ad in the Chinese newspaper about lobster special at this restaurant and had tried it and thought it was delicious and well worth the money. So this time he decided to bring us here again.

The restaurant is at the Wests Ashfield League Club - it's the most lavish and fancy sports club I've ever been too. Massive building, 2 stories high, chandeliers and all. All guests must become temporary members to go inside for the restaurants or pokies or whatever. Dad said last time they came they had to manually write their name, address etc onto a form, but this time, there are 6 computers in place each with a mini scanner which scans your drivers licence and gets all the information and prints it out onto a slip for you. Out of the 5 of us, only mine had the spelling of the name and address 100% correct - they all had either wrongly spelt names or addresses =P Guess the machine's pretty new still needs some tweaking =P

We told the waiter we wanted a lobster and a coral trout but unfortunately on this day, the coral trouts were very small and since they're priced per fish not by weight, it wasn't worth it. So we decided to try a Parrot fish - never had it before but was recommended to us so we gave it a go. Also got a pot of double boiled soup - more like the waiter made us get it but anyway =P

But it was really delicious - full of flavour! I think I had about 4 bowls - love Chinese soup =)

We got the lobster cooked 2 ways - sashimi for half of it, and fried with stock with underlying egg noodles.

How fantastic does this look! =) This is one of the only places we've been to who will do lobster sashimi - it comes served with ice overlying and amongst the lobster. Guess it tastes best icy cold =) The pieces are like little globules, not like salmon sashimi which can be cut nicely into slices. We initially had some without soy sauce first, and to be honest, it wasn't that special. Just tastes like something from the sea but didn't have much flavour and was a bit chewy. When we dipped it into the soy sauce the soy brings out the flavour of the lobster more, but I gotta say, I think I'm not a fan of raw lobster.

The next lobster dish came and my! THIS was delicious! Cooking it just brings out the lobster flavour so well - and it wasn't cooked in rich flavours like garlic or pepper which would have drowned out the lobster taste. Bouncy meat that can be pulled into strips, and I love the layer of skin which tastes like roe lining the inside of the shell =) Look at my perfectly de-shelled lobster leg ^____^

Next came the Parrot fish - it got deconstructed by the waiter before I could take a photo of it. A very meaty fish - very tasty, if it was overcooked would have been tough since there's not much fat but it was perfectly cooked. P didn't like this though - he said he'd rather have barramundi and he likes my soy better - this soy is not as sweet but it brings out the flavour of the fish.

The only dish we ordered from the menu was the Preserved Egg and Salted Egg with Baby Spinach in Premium Soup $22.80

Very fresh and cleansing - love preserved egg and salted egg! We were soo full by then we had to fill our tummy with the expensive lobster and fish didn't have much room for this =(

Food~
7/10 - I would not normally order such expensive seafood myself but my Dad loves it and yes, was very delicious =)

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite pleasant on this weeknight in a very spacious restaurant

Service~
4/5 - very good service, but then again, we're paying for it =P

C.
xo

Shanghai Stories 1938

Shanghai Stories 1938

Shop 4 The Concourse, 405-419 Victoria Ave, Chatswood

(Ph) 9412 3880

Last time I came to Sydney I came to this delicious Shanghai restaurant called New Shanghai in the Chatswood shopping centre - best xiao long baos and fried dumplings and fried pork buns ever. My parents had just gone back to this restaurant a couple of months ago so this time we decided to try this fancy looking 2 story Shanghai restaurant at the newly built Concourse outside of the Chatswood shopping centre.

I don't know how many bloggers started this post with the line "Shanghai, also known as the Paris of the East, was a flourishing city in the 1930's brimming with elegance and romanticism" - you know why? It's 'cause it's on the website =P But seriously, what a funny name for a restaurant, what happened in 1938 to warrant it being in the restaurant name? Maybe they just wanted a number ending in 8 'cause 8 is just lucky in Chinese? =P

I made a booking for 7pm on this Thursday night, but we were running late so I called them and told them to move it to 7.30pm and they were fine with it, which I was actually surprised about 'cause I thought this restaurant is quite busy.

We all picked a dish to order - I of course got the Shanghai Xiao Long Bao (6pcs) $7.80

Shock horror! One of the XLBs was actually popped! Lucky there was still some soup inside but that's a disappointment =( The Skin was very thin and the soup very full of flavour though.

Mum wanted the Pan Fried Pork Bun with Sesame (6pcs) $8.80

Crunchy bases also with delicious soup and juicy meat inside - love!

My brother wanted the Poached Pork & Vegetable Dumpling in Chilli Oil (10pcs) $8.80

It wasn't that chilli and was nice to have some steamed dumplings for a change which I normally never order.

Dad wanted this starter on the special menu - Szechuan Style Spicy Bean Starch $6.80. Some sort of rice noodles with a very spicy sauce. Didn't really like it, all I could taste was spiciness  =/

Typical of Dad to also want the Slow Cooked Pork Belly Shanghai Style $15.80

We were so surprised how big this was! It's normally like a quarter of this size! And surprisingly it was very delicious! Alternating layers of fat and meat - super soft and drenched in the tasty sweet sauce =)

My brother loves this Shanghainese dish - Prawns & Crackers in Fresh Tomato Sauce $20.80

Pretty much rice crackers drenched in a stirfry - gotta eat the rice crackers before they get soft! Yummy crunchiness =)

And just for some carbs we ordered the Shanghai Fried Rice Cake with Vegetable & Shredded Pork $12.80

This was a massive disappointment =( I don't usually like noodles but I normally love this dish, but these rice cakes were so thick and way too chewy and there wasn't much flavour in the dish. Boo =(

Before the Prawns & Crackers and the Rice Cakes came we didn't feel like we had much food inside us yet - all of the previous dishes felt quite small so we ordered 2 more dishes. Totally shouldn't have we were sooo full by the time these dishes came!

After the delicious buns we decided to also get the Pan Seared Pork Dumpling (6pcs) $8.80

Didn't disappoint us at all! Crispy bases with very thin skin and deliciously juicy meat =)

We saw lots of tables had ordered this dish so we got it to see what the big dealio was - Pan Fried Bean Curd with Prawn $24.80

This was a bit of a disappointment - doesn't look that fancy and it tastes quite ordinary. Just a few pieces of tofu with some prawns on top hmmm.

Food~
7/10 - come here for the normal foods like dumplings which are quite good for value, but not really the main dishes... actually except for the Pork Belly that was very tasty =)

Atmosphere~
4/5 - very nice upstairs in the corner with a view and some sort of privacy - though it meant it was harder to get the waiter's attention 'cause we were in the corner =P

Service~
3/5 - service was quite good for an Asian restaurant, maybe 'cause we were there on a week night and quite late. Although, there was a new waiter there who firstly, gave us the cake still in the box and plastic bag when we said we were ready to have the cake =P then when we asked for spoons and plates gave us tiny cup plates. Another waiter came and apologized to us and told us she was new lol but wouldn't you think when we ask for the cake it'd mean we want to eat it then? lol =P

C.
xo

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier

Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier

80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont

Finally we get to go to Zumbo! Before they opened one up at Pyrmont it was too difficult to go to their Balmain or Rozelle stores so I always made do with other macarons. But this time, I wanted to come here to order a birthday cake as well as try some of the ZUMBARONS!

Of course I had to take a photo of/with Adriano! We asked the other workers if we could ask him to come out to take a photo and she said he was too busy! =O And why is there a "Dine In" sign there when you can't even dine in there! Except for the Dessert Train which is not open at all hours =/

It looks like a Chemistry lab or something - like a real like Willy Wonka! The product of each formula makes different flavoured macarons =)

And various desserts on display =)

I wanted to inspect the macaron flavours carefully before I ordered but the waiter kept asking me if I was ready to order and I felt really rushed =/ why can't I just enjoy the atmosphere of it all! And there are no tables there to eat so it's all takeaway which is not very patron friendly =/

We ended up ordering 2 Zumbarons to share - Salted Butter Caramel and Peach Iced Tea $2.50 each

The Salted Caramel one was actually too salty for my liking - and I normally LOVE salted caramel! The Peach Iced Tea one was quite tasty - refreshing flavours though I can't say I can taste the "iced tea" component of it =P The macarons have a perfectly crispy meringue top and beautiful feet - if only I could master it!

We also got a V8 Vanilla - 8 layers of vanilla $10 to share.

Beautiful layers! Not sure if I could really taste the 8 layers but it was delicious - and very rich, lucky we shared it between the 3 of us =P There were cake layers, mousse layers, crunchy layers, a salty layer - it was delicious eaten all together, a bit of everything! Would have been cool of the "adrianozumbo" plaque was made from chocolate as well or something though =)

I had preordered a cake to celebrate my brother's 21st birthday =) I was choosing between the Decorated Fondant Bar Cake - A chocolate fondant bar cake covered with macarons, chocolate, meringue and strawberries and the Happy Birthday Cake - Flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate sabayon mousse, ultimate chocolate brownie, caramel mou, milk chocolate chantilly and cocoa nib nougatine with a White chocolate and Passionfruit glaze.

We went for the Decorated Fondant Bar Cake $29.50 'cause it looks nicer ^^

The Fondant cake was sooo rich! Could only eat a tiny slice at a time - needed some of the meringue and macarons to break up the sweetness =P It's not quite a mud cake but not quite a mousse either - kinda something in between =)

I also got some more Zumbarons for them to try - (in order) Watermelon & Orange, Passionfruit & Tonka Bean, Blackened Vanilla, Salted Butter Popcorn and Salted Butter Caramel (again).

I loved the Blackened Vanilla and the Salted Butter Popcorn - very original flavours and very delicious! REALLY tasted like blackened vanilla and popcorn - amazing =) Wish I had room to try one of each! For only $2.50 each, given that it's one of the best macarons around, it's really well worth the money! Definitely worth it more than the $3.00 Lindt Delices!

If I lived in Sydney I would definitely frequent Zumbo's Patissier!

Food~
9/10 - delicious desserts! Well that's what they're famous for here =)

Service~
1/5 - felt like they really rushed us when we were choosing the macaron flavours, I just wanted to read them properly before I decided what I wanted! =(

Atmosphere~
1/5 - no tables there for patrons to eat is a real downside, we had to bring our desserts to the foodcourt to enjoy =/

C.
xo

The Eight Modern Chinese Restaurant

The Eight Modern Chinese Restaurant

Level 3, Market City, 9 Hay Street, Haymarket

(Ph) 9282 9988

P's uncle lives in Haymarket so we went to the closest restaurant for yum cha - The Eight. We've been here before, it's pretty tasty and genuine =)

I didn't take a photo of all the dishes we had - like the Prawn Dumplings and the Pork Dumplings, pretty standard.

Spareribs were pretty good.

BBQ pork buns were very delicious - super juicy meat!

For some reason most of the dishes here came in 4s instead of the usual 3. This plate of "salty fruit" had a very crunchy gelatinous outside but the inside wasn't as tasty, there were lots of mushy vegetables =/

Prawn Rice Noodle Rolls - P knows I don't like prawns but he still ordered the prawn one =____=

P was sick so he ordered a Century Egg Congee - I never order congee at yumcha 'cause I always think you can make it at home =P but this little bowl was so full of flavour - especially yummy with the crunchy chips on top =P

Glutinous rice in bamboo leaf - there were 3 in a basket as opposed to the usual 2 large ones. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad, means you don't have to eat as much and means there's more stuff (meat, salty egg, dong gu etc) and less of the glutinous rice which is good =)

Of course have to end with a dessert - egg tarts! I normally like the shortbread crust egg tarts better than the puff pastry ones, but they always have puff pastry ones at yumcha. The egg was very creamy and smooth - yum!

Food~
7/10 - fairly good with a wide range of dim sims =)

Atmosphere~
3/5 - quite a big spacious restaurant

Service~
3/5 - friendly waiters walking around with their trolleys of food =)

C.
xo

Chat Thai

Chat Thai

20 Campbell St, Haymarket

(Ph) 9211 1808

We had come to Chat Thai last time we came to Sydney suggested by some friends and fell in love with their Pad Thai so we came back here again this time with P's friend. We arrived at 6.10pm and there was a list at the door to put your name down, it didn't look that long so we waited but gosh, ended up waiting about 25 minutes for our table of 3 >< the waiters brought us cups of hot tea 'cause we were waiting in the cold =P we were starving by the time we got a table!

What's with all these Thai restaurants having funny cups like this? See Ghin Khao

P really wanted the Fresh Spring Rolls - fresh spring rolls of smoked fish sausages, chicken and crab with caramelised tamarind relish $11.00 I said it was just like normal rice paper rolls, nothing special, but he insisted so we got it.

And surprisingly it was really delicious! Actually was my favourite dish of the night! There aren't that many pieces, but each has a delicious variety of meats (fish and chicken) topped with the sweet tamarind relish and shreds of crab meat - so much nicer than the ones we make at home haha =P

We saw the next table had ordered this curry - it smelt soo good so we got it too. Mussamun Nuea - mussamun curry of slowly braised beef shin and potato $14.00

There's not that much beef in the dish, but it was so soft and tender and delicious! And not too spicy =) Wish they gave us more beef though =P

P's friend said he always orders this noodle dish and was delicious, even though I wanted to get the Padt Thai, they went against my wishes and ordered this dish instead. Padt Si-Ew - stir fried wide rice noodles with chicken and chinese kale in dark soy sauce $13.00

To be honest, actually tastes like a Chinese rice noodle dish, doesn't really taste Thai. Why would you wait 30 minutes for this dish?! *Sigh* Should have gone for the Padt Thai =(



Food~
7/10 - quite delicious and unique Thai food (in general anyway), reminds me of Chin Chin in Melbourne =)

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite cramped and very loud here but you come here for the food not the atmosphere =P

Service~
2/5 - very quick, but I guess since they're so busy they want you in and out quickly lol

C.
xo

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe

91 George St, Sydney

(Ph) 8274 7500

P and I were just strolling along the Rocks in Sydney when he needed to go to the bathroom so we just decided to go in Guylian and have some afternoon tea =P I couldn't complain!

Things are not cheap here - we were thinking of getting the Chocolate Degustation Plate - a selection of Guylian cakes, desserts chocolates, icecream served with a hot chocolate $35 but thought that was a bit too much for afternoon tea, and neither P and I like chocolate pieces so we went for a single dessert and a drink.

We chose a dessert from the counter - Guylian Praline Brulee Tart $8.50

P doesn't normally like tarts but he enjoyed the chocolate hazelnut praline with the creamy fondant layer below - it's like a Belgium praline in a tart! =) The chocolate layer was quite rich so it was nice with the short tart and the creamy fondant layer. Don't know if the raspberry (?) they put on the plate really goes well with it but anyway =P

We also got a Guylian Praline shake - Praliné ice cream with Guylian chocolate sauce $11.00

Bit disappointing it comes in a plastic cup and not a metal milkshake cup or even just a normal ceramic cup? We didn't ask for takeaway or anything. Though it was quite delicious - creamy and chocolatey with chocolate flakes, and very filling!

Food~
5/10 - very rich chocolately foods but quite expensive =(

Service~
2/5 - waiters are very attentive, too attentive actually wouldn't give us a few minutes to decide what we wanted =P

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite peaceful watching the sunset by the window =)

C.
xo

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

86-88 Dixon St, Sydney

(Ph) 9211 0288

We were in Sydney! Unfortunately P caught a cold and felt like some congee. We asked his friend to take us to a congee place and he took us to Mother Chu's in the middle of Chinatown. I've walked past this restaurant multiple times before but had never stepped foot in it.

So P got a bowl of fish congee - doesn't look that special but it was quite tasty and homey. They could have been a bit more generous with the fish though - there were only a couple of pieces in it.

P can never resist a BBQ pork bun - doesn't look that fab and pretty sure it's not freshly steamed.

The BBQ pork was quite juicy but the bun was not as fluffy as I'd like it.

Me and P's friend shared 2 dishes - you tiao wrapped with egg pancake...

...and you tiao wrapped with spring onion pancake

Apparently it's their specialty here... everyone gets it... the table next to us got 6 of these (one per person o_Oa). It's not that special... it's just a pancake wrapping a you tiao lol... though the you tiao was quite authentic, crunchy yet fluffy inside... not like when we have it at home where we just reheat some pre-fried you tiao. I liked the spring onion pancake better than the egg pancake though it was quite chewy... after a whole serve of it my mouth was quite tired from chewing =P I did dip my you tiao in P's congee despite him telling me I'd get sick (which I didn't =P) and that was very yummy =)

P's friend had actually worked here in the past and customers were allowed to bring outside foods in (or they didn't care) but they had changed the rules and when she brought out some dessert she had made in a cooking class for us to try, the waiter very rudely told us it wasn't allowed even though there were no signs or anything =/

Food~
5/10 - was alright, very homey feel, come here if you're homesick =P

Atmosphere~
2/5 - tables are very close together and the wall is made from glass so you feel like you're sitting right next to the people sitting outside =/

Service~
2/5 - very quick, but very abrupt and kinda rude =S

C.
xo