Healthy Food: Asian

Saturday, July 16, 2011

MJ's Eating House: Asian Cuisine, CBD Sydney (13 July 2011)

77 Bathurst Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9283 9283

Nicer inside than expected

A late lunch brings me to venture into this hole-in-the-wall entry to discover a much spacious seating area inside. The simple aluminium tables and lightweight chairs are kept clean and the service staff are friendly and welcoming. They even brought me my cutlery to the table while waiting for my order. There’s plenty of choices on the menu except they didn’t have a Malaysian Char Tway Teow I was after so I opted for the Stir Fried Beef Noodle ($10). It’s flavoursome, the meat is tender and it’s a generously sized dish to keep me happy. It could have perhaps at bit more char to the noodles for some extra smokiness but it was decent enough. The menu is a bit more expensive than your usual food court eatery but it’s cooked to order and the surroundings are probably more relaxing too — although I have been here during peak hour lunch time. The $1 bag of prawns crackers might be a must to share next time. There’s a customer toilet available although some paper towels or hand dryer would be much more preferable than the single hand towel available.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Friendly service, Clean seating area, Customer toilet available, Fair amount of seating inside

CONS: A bit more expensive than your usual food court eatery, Tacky and noisy light-weight aluminum chairs and tables

MUST TRY: Revisiting to try other dishes on the menu to compare with other places like the Chicken Laksa ($9.80), Hainanese Chicken Rice ($11), Wonton Noodle Soup ($8.50) and Crispy Skin Chicken ($11)

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Stir Fried Beef Noodle ($10)

Service counter and menu

Straw dispenser with dog photo and $1 bags of prawn crackers

Seating

Condiments and magazines

Customer toilet available although paper towels or a hand dryer would be better than a single hand towel I think

Outside street entrance

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Saturday, April 23, 2011

China Doll: Modern Asian, Woolloomooloo (23 Apr 2011)

4/6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Phone: (02) 9380 6744
http://www.chinadoll.com.au

A fulfilling banquet

A celebratory birthday lunch brings me to China Doll for the $69 banquet menu consisting of 8 dishes plus rice and a dessert platter which included 3 choices. To start cocktails were ordered including a refreshing non-alcoholic Younglings ($8) made with young coconut juice and raspberries. My Tanqueray Gin & Tonic ($8) is served in a tall glass but my preference is usually short. The Pomegranate Marguerita ($17) looked good and from all reports hit the spot. A nice bottle of Greystone Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2010 ($55) slowly turned into 5 by the end of the meal.

The banquet started with White cut chicken salad which packed quite a chilli kick reminding me of the overly spicy salads I’ve had at House on Wentworth Avenue. The Steamed half shell scallops are nice although their bite sized pieces don’t last long and I wished they were a bit larger in size. I really enjoyed the Corn & zucchini cakes with a crisp outer shell and tasty filling. The Chilli salt squid resembling chips are tender and spiced to tantalise the palate although I’m not sure if I’m supposed to taste grains of sugar in the mix. One of the crowd favourites was the Pork belly with chilli caramel & nam pla phrik. Just the right about of rendered crunch combined with juicy meat and a tasty coating. I suspect it’s one of their signature dishes that most diners order time after time. Chinese greens retained their crunch and were well flavoured. The Crispy chicken with yellow bean sauce was OK but some of the breast pieces were perhaps too large for my liking and I was craving more crispy skin. I still prefer the Shan Tung Chicken at Kingsford Chinese Restaurant.

I was impressed with how tender the Penang curry of wagyu beef shin was which fell apart effortlessly and its robust flavoured sauce which went well with the steamed rice. A vegetarian substitute dish of Wok Fried Asian Eggplant & Tofu looked good and apparently was well received. The dessert platter to share included some very nice gelato and vanilla bean ice cream. Sago was quite good with fresh passionfruit and the warm sticky rice was well liked with notes of ginger I believe. My Cappuccino ($5) was not the most robust in flavour but thankfully not bitter too. With a final bill of $1042.50 for nine it's definitely not cheap especially when you start adding drinks. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and depth of flavour in the dishes and noticed most of the diners were non-Asian. Thankfully the dish sizes were decently portioned so everyone was feeling comfortably full by the end of the banquet.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Efficient and professional service which was attentive, Water views, Quality ingredients, Banquet menu left most people comfortably full, Vegetarians are catered for

CONS: Can end up being quite expensive especially with drinks, Toilets are upstairs with a highly mirrored entrance which can be disorientating

MUST TRY: Corn & zucchini cakes with coriander sambal, Pork belly with chilli caramel & nam pla phrik, Penang curry of wagyu beef shin

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