Chairman Mao Chinese Restaurant: Chinese New Year Dinner, Kensington (2 Feb 2011)

189 Anzac Parade, Kensington NSW 2033

Phone: (02) 9697 9189

Mao’s revolution in Kensington

A family dinner to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the rabbit brings me to this fairly large Hunan cuisine restaurant with predominantly non-Anglo customers and Chairman Mao adornments all around. To the delight of my dad the complimentary tea is very hot which usually gets a tick, especially if they promptly fill the empty pot and is made with loose tea leaves rather than tea bags. Service is well presented and friendly enough to actually want to please the customer which is generally refreshing for a Chinese restaurant. With a bit of Google research I learnt Chairman Mao's original name was actually Mao Zedong and Hunan cuisine is supposedly well known for its hot spicy flavor, fresh aroma and deep color as well as for its liberal use of chilli peppers, shallots and garlic. For some reason many of the dishes ordered tonight were unfortunately also very oily.

The complimentary appetiser of Sliced tofu with chilli is ever so finely sliced and has a fresh chilli kick to it. The Chopped green onion pancake ($3.50 each) arrives quite thin and crispy and serves well as a starter. The main dishes we ordered were quite tasty and different to what we’ve usually had in a Chinese restaurant although we did find them overall quite oily as well — is this to be expected in Hunan cuisine? The large serving of Chairman Mao's favorite braised pork ($16.80) comes with largish chunks of pork in a flavoursome sauce combined with a fair amount of fat attached. Spicy chicken dices braised with tea-tree mushrooms ($25.80) has a moderate heat factor amongst the tender chicken pieces although sits in a pool of oil as well. The Stir fried leek with five-spice bean curd ($14.80) was well liked although just as oily as the other dishes. The Hunan style stir fried rice ($10.80) had a very smoky flavour bordering on being slightly burnt for my liking but had all the right ingredients I was hoping for.

The special CNY menu dish of Steamed whole fresh barramundi with red and green hot chilli ($50) took over 45 minutes to prepare which would have been nice to know beforehand when ordered. It had lots of flavour being covered with liberal amounts of chopped green chilli. It was more expensive than the hand-picked fresh one last year at Golden Century and seemed to use more oil as well. There's certainly some interesting dishes to discover here compared to your usual westernised Chinese fare but be prepared for the very awkward seating, especially if you’ve got long legs and what seems like some liberal use of oil in the cooking.

Other reviews:

• Noodlies

• Sugar's Sweet Blog

• Grab Your Fork

• A table for two

• The Gourmet Forager

• Eatability

• SMH Good Living #1

• SMH Good Living #2

• Daily Telegraph

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Well presented and friendly staff, Tasty and interesting dishes albeit quite oily, Hot complimentary tea, Predominantly Asian customers, Prices seem reasonable

CONS: Very awkward leg room under the tables, Some dishes were particularly oily

MUST TRY: Braised pork at least once
WORTH TRYING: Chopped green onion pancake

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Chinese tea served very hot (complimentary)

Complimentary sliced tofu with chilli appetiser

Chopped green onion pancake ($3.50 each)

Chairman Mao's favorite brasied pork ($16.80)

Oil factor — Chairman Mao's favorite brasied pork ($16.80)

Delicious and spicy chicken dices braised with tea-tree mushrooms ($25.80)

Oil factor — Delicious and spicy chicken dices braised with tea-tree mushrooms ($25.80)

Stir fried leek with five-spice bean curd ($14.80)

Hunan style stir fried rice ($10.80) — had a very smokey flavour bordering on possibly a little burnt tonight

Steamed rice ($2 person) — you could share a single bowl serving between two if not overly hungry

Steamed whole fresh barramundi with red and green hot chilli ($50)

Clean passage way to toilets — so glad they don't use as storage like some places tend to do which can make it an OHS issue

Bill $125.70 for 5 people — Probably could have ordered one less dish

Seating

Wall decorations

Awkward leg room under tables which are also a bit low due to underneath wooden shelf area

Outside during the day

Outside at night


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Din Tai Fung: Chinese New Year at World Square, Sydney (2 Feb 2011)

Corner of Liverpool, George and Pitt Streets, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.worldsquare.com.au

Din Tai Fung

World Square Shopping Centre
Level 1, Shop 11.04 , 644 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.dintaifungaustralia.com.au

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Thanks to Alana Chetner from PPR for inviting me along to see the crowd stopping of the award winning stilt-jumping lion dance troupe, Jin Wu Koon followed by a generous banquet style lunch at Din Tai Fung. The stilt-jumping was very impressive and I couldn’t believe how high they stood above the enthralled crowd below. The deafening drum and cymbals certainly woke up the shoppers throughout the World Square as the lion dance troupe paraded past shops, up and down escalators and collected ceremonious lettuces along the way including outside Din Tai Fung. Hot Dollar even gave a red packaged donation outside their store — let’s hope it was more than a dollar. Check out the video below of the lion dance through Din Tai Fung to the delight of customers — all cameras were quickly out to capture the festivities.

After running along side the fast paced lion dance it was time for a refreshing Lychee mint juice ($6) and what may be considered Sydney’s most precise looking dumplings. I’ve previously tried the Pork Dumpling Xiao Long Bao ($10.80 8 pieces) when they first opened and to be totally honest I thought back then the filling wasn’t as flavoursome as the cheaper Sea Bay Chinese Dumpling on Pitt Street, Chinese Noodle Restaurant in Haymarket or Shanghai Night in Ashfield. I’ve since been told that being Taiwanese in style they can tend to be a bit bland compared to others so it definitely helps to make a dipping sauce of your choice from fresh ginger, vinegar, soy sauce or chilli oil to excite the taste buds. I did however discover the Prawn & pork wonton dipped in a spicy sauce ($8.80 6 pieces) which were comparatively bursting with flavour and reminded me of the Zi-Zhuan dry wonton I once enjoyed from Shanghai Night — I'd definitely have these again.

Our banquet continued with so many dishes including a fairly peppery Hot & Sour soup with shredded pork ($7.80 regular), tender Calamari rings lightly battered ($7.80) and a light and slightly crunchy textured Din Tai Fung Vegetarian Delight salad ($3.80). Other precisely made dumplings were the Crab Meat & Crab Roe with Pork Dumpling ($17.80 8 pieces), Vegetarian Jiao Zi ($8.80 6 pieces) and Prawn & Pork Packed in a Parcel Shao Mai ($9.80 4 pieces) which seemed to hold the most broth inside. By this time everyone was getting quite full mainly due to the very hot weather but mains were still to be served. The tasty and crispy coated Crumbed Chicken Fillet ($7.80) was probably my cholesterols worst nightmare. An unusual combination of Jumbo Prawns with Pineapple ($22.80) seemed to work but I probably would have enjoyed it more without the liberal use of mayonnaise looking white sauce on top. The Sesame Noodle ($10.80) was certainly more mild than the Dan Dan Noodle ($10.80) although I think I’d prefer the noodles in a soup which would have made the dish less sauce heavy and to help keep the noodles from clinging together. The challenging looking Silken Tofu with Pork Floss & Century Egg ($6.80) is certainly an acquired taste — I still have yet to fully appreciate it as I’m not used to eating pork floss but it does have its fans.

A refreshing Watermelon juice ($5.50) helps wash down the savouries in preparation for desserts. I think the Golden Red Bean Bread ($5.80 2 rolls) is worth trying if you like red bean which I prefer to the less sweet Golden Taro Bread ($5.80 2 rolls) although one must wonder why they serve them with a piece of parsley on the plate. My Asian/Western combo of Green Tea and Cookies & Cream ice cream ($6.80 2 scoops) is probably sacrilege and I’d probably have one or the other next time or the Black Seasame ice cream ($3.80) on its own. The service was pretty efficient and at times was hard to keep up with the pace of the dishes being served.

Other food blog reviews:

• Food, booze and shoes

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Free festival samplings in The Square until 11 Feb (check website for event details), Precisely made dumplings, Interesting selection of dishes, A good place for sharing dishes

CONS: Dumplings aren’t particularly robust in flavour, Prepare to wait for a table when busy, Shanghainese style Drunken Chicken and Triple Mango Crushed Ice were sold out

MUST TRY: Lychee mint juice, Prawn & pork wonton dipped in a spicy sauce, Pork Dumpling Xiao Long Bao to compare to all others, Golden Red Bean Bread

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Lion Dance troupe and parade

Lion Dance celebration

Relaxing before the big event

Lettuce being hung outside Din Tai Fung for Lion Dance

Professional photographers getting ready and checking out each others gear before the event

World Square Chinese New Year promotional hostesses

Lion Dance Troupe and Photographers

Group photo time

Musicians with drum and cymbals

The Square drawing a crowd

Lion Dance Troupe perform on stilts

Lion Dance on the move

Parading outside and around World Square

Past the shops

Up escalators

Visiting the One Dollar shop for a red packet

Through the shopping mall

Back up escalators

Making a very loud noise

Din Tai Fung Restaurant

Table condiments of vinegar, soy sauce, chilli oil, pepper to create your own sauce

Guide to enjoy the Xiao Long Bao

Lychee mint juice ($6)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Tina from Eat, Booze & Shoes and Simon from The Heart of Food captivated by the Avocado Juice

Avocado juice ($6.50)

Hot & Sour soup with shredded pork ($7.80 regular)

Prawn & pork wonton dipped in a spicy sauce ($8.80 6 pieces)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Calamari lightly battered and served with a dipping sauce ($7.80)

Din Tai Fung Vegetarian Delight-Vegetarian salad with seaweed, dried tofu, glass noodle tossed with a light sesame dressing ($3.80)

Pork Dumpling Xiao Long Bao ($10.80 8 pieces)

Picking up the Pork Dumpling Xiao Long Bao — be careful not to break it

Fresh ginger with vinegar for dumpling dipping

Crab Meat & Crab Roe with Pork Dumpling ($17.80 8 pieces)

Vegetarian Jiao Zi ($8.80 6 pieces)

Prawn & Pork Packed in a Parcel Shao Mai ($9.80 4 pieces)

Crumbed Chicken Fillet Taiwanese Speciality ($7.80)

Sesame Noodle non spicy ($10.80)

Jumbo Prawns with Pineapple ($22.80)

Dan Dan Noodle spicy ($10.80)

Silken Tofu with Pork Floss & Century Egg ($6.80)

Watermelon juice ($5.50)

Golden Red Bean Bread ($5.80 2 rolls)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Golden Taro Bread ($5.80 2 rolls)

Green Tea and Cookies & Cream ice cream ($6.80 2 scoops)

Black Sesame ice cream ($3.80)

Bamboo steamer feature wall

Kitchen

Inside seating

Outside restaurant

PPR Media Kit goodie box — apparently the goldfish offering is edible, rice cake I've been told


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