Healthy Food: Marrickville

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Taste Test: Sunshine Meats – Smoked meats, chorizo and bacon (13 Apr 2011)

Unit 8/10-14 Lillian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204
http://www.sunshinemeats.com.au

Large tasting of smallgoods

Thanks to Jose & Maria Pereira from Sunshine Meats for providing me a huge hamper of smallgoods for taste testing. When you receive 9.462 kg of assorted meats there's only one thing you can do — share it. Their Low Fat Bacon was awarded 3rd place in the NSW at the Australian Bacon Week 2011 and they also take pride in their smoked meats and chorizo. Overall the smoked meats were quite popular which mostly matched their descriptions and were quite moist. The Portguese Chicken had a bit of heat but not as much as expected. The Oven Roast Turkey was probably the least liked and the Double Smoked Ham and Chicken Breast Double Smoked were the most liked. The Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast certainly lived up to its name and distinctive in taste. The Chicken Chilli Chorizo and Portuguese Chorizo Chilli were sampled both cold and cooked. Having it cooked was much preferred. I was expecting them to be more spicy but there was a definite chilli kick. The Chorizo and Chicken Chorizo were more mild on the heat factor but remained flavoursome and juicy after cooking.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Moist and flavoursome smoked meats available, Chorizo was tasty and remained juicy after cooking, Made in Australia from local and imported products

CONS: You get very smelly hands after cutting up a lot of meat

MUST TRY: Eating chorizo cooked for better flavour

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The tasting table

Oven Roast Turkey

Double Smoked Ham

Portuguese Chicken

Chicken Breast Smoked Chilli

Chicken Breast Double Smoked

Lemon Pepper Breast

Chicken Chilli Chorizo

Portuguese Chorizo Chilli

Cooking the Chicken Chilli Chorizo and Portuguese Chilli Chorizo in the Philips Viva Collection AirFryer

Chicken Chilli Chorizo and Portuguese Chilli Chorizo was preferred when cooked

Chicken Chorizo

Portuguese Chorizo

Bacon short cut — 3rd Place winner for Low Fat NSW Australian Bacon Week 2011

Bacon for breakfast

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Marrickville Pork Roll: Vietnamese, Marrickville (28 May 2010)

236a Illawarra Road, Marrickville NSW 2204

Blink and you'll miss it

Possibly the smallest shop in Marrickville yet one of the busiest is this simple Pork Roll shop. Perhaps in need of a good renovation but it's old world charm attracts plenty of loyal customers who are happy to queue. Only six menu items of very cheap rolls which are filled to the brim. The Chicken Roll ($4) and Pork Roll ($3.50) are probably the most popular orders like Hong Ha Hot Bread in Mascot. If you're looking for a cheap lunch then look no further.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Very cheap, Tasty ingredients, Specialise in only a few items, Open 7 days

CONS: Long queues when lunch time, No seating, Take away only

MUST TRY: Pork Roll

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Pork Roll ($3.50)

Chicken Roll ($4)

A well stocked ingredients counter

6 items on the menu at prices that will keep your wallet happy

Opening hours

Number should actually be 236a I believe

Open 7 days

Smallest shop on the block, if not Marrickville

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lotus Asian Restaurant: Asian, Marrickville (4 June 2011)

393 Illawarra Road, Marrickville NSW 2204
http://www.lotusrestaurant.com.au

Right food in the wrong location

Thanks to Charlotte Foot Public Relations and owners Chef Danh Cao and Kim Nguyen for having me as a guest of the nicely fitted-out Lotus Asian Restaurant. A 7 pm family booking on a Saturday night is met with an unusual empty restaurant while just down the road I noticed the cheap and cheerful looking Old Thang Huong Restaurant was packed. The atmosphere is thus a little quiet and eery and our thoughts wander to ‘I hope we’re not the only ones tonight’. Thankfully towards 8 pm more couples come in making it a bit more cosy and lively. With so many tempting dishes on the menu covering Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Chinese dishes it was hard to choose what to try but also a bit worrying that the restaurant was trying to cook too many cuisines and wouldn’t be good at any. Thankfully, with surprise, there were plenty of dishes I’d happily order again. The dish presentation actually reminded me of Banana Palm in Coogee.

I sometimes worry when I see tea cups with handles in an Asian restaurant although the Jasmine tea ($2 per person) is made with loose leaf tea and served in an iron teapot. Most of the entrees were as expected but I wish they came with more sauce and perhaps put in a shallower dish instead of Chinese tea cups (which I think should be used for the tea) would make it easier to dip into. I liked the presentation of the Sang Choy Bao of chicken ($8, 2 pieces) although a bit more meat filling would have been appreciated. The Malaysian-style grilled satay chicken ($7.50, 3 pieces) was perhaps not as smoky as hoped although nicely tender. Braised pork belly with green papaya salad ($12) and Grilled Thai beef salad ($12) were vibrantly fresh and tasty. The Special fried rice ($12) was a bit of a let down due to the absence of a noticeable amount of Chinese sausage and BBQ pork but the prawns were decently sized. Everyone enjoyed the M. B. S. ($12) of mushroom, bean curd and snow peas and the Massaman curry of beef with potato ($14.50) was tender and decently flavoured.

The Crispy braised duck with chili tamarind sauce & steamed wombok ($16.50) might be considered one of their signature dishes and was well liked for its flavour although I wished the meat was deboned and sliced up for easier sharing. I really liked the generous sized and crispy Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin ($18.50) but could have benefitted with more sauce. The Bo Luc Lac ($16.50) was well-flavoured and tender — would have been great wrapped in some lettuce with herbs. The Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk ($18.50) came with decent sized quality prawns which were properly deveined. Desserts are reasonably priced considering how well-presented and delicious they were. Fried coconut ice cream ($6.50) comes with a self-pour passionfruit sauce worthy of a fine dining experience. The Black sticky rice pudding ($6.50) had the right consistency and taste with its light texture although more coconut sauce would have been good. I wondered if the perfectly battered Banana fritter ($7) could have somehow been more elegantly presented but was still enjoyed with the yummy coconut ice cream.

Lotus definitely seems to hit the mark for decent quality dishes at a reasonable price in a nice restaurant setting but with only one chef in the kitchen I think fast service during busy times will be its biggest challenge to keep the customers happy. Being located so far away from the main eatery strip means it lacks exposure but I guess this will make it easier to get a table, for now. I could see a restaurant like this being very popular in Newtown, Randwick, Surry Hills or Coogee. I wish it was located closer to home for me. A few small details like keeping the kids toys out of sight and not having a kids DVD playing within ear shot of the dining room would go along way in making the whole customer experience even more pleasant and consistent with the look and feel of the restaurant.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice décor, Quality ingredients, Tasty dishes, Nice presentation, Reasonably priced considering the décor and quality, Extensive menu with tempting choices, Free street parking

CONS: Not much sauce provided with entrees, Kitchen service can be slow when busy due to only one chef, Located away from the main eatery strip, Kids toys in sight which doesn’t match the nice décor, One unisex toilet

WORTH TRYING: Braised pork belly with green papaya salad, Grilled Thai beef salad, M. B. S., Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin, Bo Luc Lac, Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk, Desserts

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Jasmine tea ($2 per person) — different sized cups with handles.

Lemon Lime Bitters ($3)

Fresh Vietnamese rice paper rolls with chicken & fresh herbs ($7, 3 pieces)

Steamed pork with shiitake mushrooms & water chestnut dumplings ($9.50, 5 pieces)

Thai fish cakes with sweet chili ($9.50, 4 pieces)

Spring rolls ($7, 3 pieces)

Sang Choy Bao of chicken ($8, 2 pieces)

Braised pork belly with green papaya salad ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Grilled Thai beef salad ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Malaysian-style grilled satay chicken ($7.50, 3 pieces)

Special fried rice with Chinese sausage, prawns, BBQ pork, egg & shallots ($12)

M. B. S. (mushroom, bean curd & snow peas) ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Massaman curry of beef with potato ($14.50)

Crispy braised duck with chili tamarind sauce & steamed wombok ($16.50)

Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin ($18.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Could have been more Nam Jin sauce — only a little bit served

Bo Luc Lac - French-Vietnamese wok fried beef with garlic & black pepper sauce ($16.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk ($18.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Steamed jasmine rice ($2 per person)

Fried coconut ice cream with passionfruit sauce ($6.50)

Black sticky rice pudding with coconut sauce ($6.50)

Banana fritter with palm sugar syrup & coconut ice cream ($7) — perhaps there's a more elegant way of presenting the banana fritter? I was thinking cut in half lengthways and then crisscross stacked.