Holy Duck! Regional dinner series

March 12, 2019March 15, 2019Leave a comment

Peking Duck always draws crowds to a Chinese restaurant and Holy Duck! have taken it to the next level, with their whole duck feasts that will serve the masses at a reasonable price. Not only this, you can order an array of Chinese meals, primarily duck based but plenty of other quality dishes too. This highlights them to be one of the masters of modern Chinese Cuisine.

In addition, they are now offering diners a journey through China with their regional dinner series. To keep the dining experience exciting, the specials menu will change every two months to focus on a different province. Holy Duck! aim to highlight the distinct characteristics of each region. This month it is highlighting the flavours from Sichuan.

The Hainan Chicken was superb, beautifully poached, soft and tender $22. So good, we wish we ordered a double serve and would love to try this again!

From this menu, we also tried the incredibly Moreish crispy battered golden shrimp, stir fried with dry long chillies, Sichuan pepper, celery and broad-bean sauce ($28).

The duck at this restaurant is a must and we obliged, with a serving of duck pancakes, that left us praising Holy Duck! The roast duck is mouthwatering and succulent. What better way to enjoy the duck than rolling a few pancakes and filling them with generous portions of the delicious duck, greens and hoisin sauce.

Some of our other favourites from the dinner menu were the pork and prawn dumplings as well as the scallops on zucchini medallions.

We loved all of the food we tried and we are keen to return again soon. As the regional dinner series is rotating, we can try some new things then. Don’t miss out on the regions still to come, focusing on Cantonese (Apr/May), Hunan (June/July), and finally Shanghainese (Aug/Sep).

The restaurant is hip, buzzing with diners. It’s a great place to enjoy a shared meal and a few drinks, right in the heart of the vibrant Kensington St.

Holy Duck! Kensington St.
Address: 10/2 Kensington St, Chippendale NSW 2008

Phone: (02) 9281 0080

Stay in touch with Holy Duck!:
Website: www.holyduck.com.au

Facebook: facebook.com/holyduck.au

We’d like to thank the venue for their hospitality and to originalspin for the invitation to dine.

Canton Kitchen – new to Castlecrag

March 10, 2019March 19, 2019Leave a comment

A new modern Cantonese restaurant has opened in Sydney’s North Shore, in Castlecrag’s Quadrangle Shopping Village. It offers a menu showcasing Cantonese classics with a modern twist, a new take on traditional Chinese food.

Photo – supplied

The dishes on offer have seen chef Jason Chan fusing together traditional flavours with new ones to give it that twist. You’ll find hot and sour, sweet and spice and we personally love that numbing sense, to be found in particular on those chicken wings.

Photo – supplied

The venue is spacious with Chinese poster art adorning the walls and hanging lanterns from the ceiling. It has a fun vibe to it, and a contemporary feel to its decor. They also take group bookings with two private function rooms, and 10 course banquet menus for groups of four and up. We tried much of the food on offer so we are testament to this being a good choice.

We tried pretty much all the food at the tasting, so good, we kept going back for more. The food is brilliant. Below is a list of the menu items we tried. The beef ribs are spectacular, worth the drive there for these alone. Our favourites were the beef ribs, chicken wings, mushroom stir fry, and of course the dumplings!

Entrees

Steamed dim sum platter – we loved the truffle mushroom in particular

Photo – supplied

Silken tofu with house made vegetarian xo sauce & shiso on a betel leaf – this was a crowd favourite

Steamed Venus bay blue tail prawns, garlic and vermicelli

Photo – supplied

Hot & Numbing chicken wings – kept us going back and back for more

Mains

“Typhoon shelter” style tempura vegetables – so interesting! A nice light batter over a variety of veggies

Photo – supplied

Sweet & sour Kurobuta pork, pickled lotus root & pineapple / crispy skin and moist meat. Thoroughly enjoyed this one – their version of sweet and sour pork

Photo – supplied

The Grandma’s sticky Mongolian lamb ribs were outstanding- melt in your mouth

Photo – supplied

The Mushrooms, morel, tofu, sugar snap and truffle was a lovely stir fry. Great as a vegetarian option.

Singapore chilli king prawns, Fragrant sambal, heirloom tomatoes – the sauce is like that on a Singapore chilli crab

The Riverine beef short ribs, black bean sauce, pickled celery & onion was the absolute winner on the night – we would eat this every day

Seafood Mapo tofu, Lobster, Alaskan crab, king prawns

Canton kitchen special fried rice, chorizo, squid, prawns & saffron – quite a strong seafood flavour to it

Dessert

Fried ice cream, coconut caramel sauce – extremely generous serving!

Coconut sago, fresh fruit, lychee popping pearls & sorbet topped with Persian fairy floss

We were so so full by the end, but loved it and and cannot speak more highly of the food on offer. Quality Cantonese food with inspired flavours.

Canton Kitchen:

Address: Quadrangle Shopping Village, 100 Edinburgh Road, Castlecrag NSW 2068:

02 9958 3288

www.cantonkitchen.com.au

Opening Hours:

Monday closed

Tues- Thursday 5.30pm – 9.30pm

Friday 12pm- 3pm / 5.30pm – 10pm

Sat 11.30am – 3pm / 5.30pm – 10pm

Sun 11.30am – 3pm / 5.30pm – 9.30pm

The Gardens, by Lotus

March 9, 2019March 11, 2019Leave a comment

Lotus Dining have recently taken up residency in the Chinese Gardens of Friendship, Darling Harbour. It is a tranquil setting, surrounded by a beautiful Chinese themed garden with fish filled ponds and Chinese art, right in the heart of the city.

Relax and unwind in this oasis, perhaps order a tea from their extensive list, whilst listening to the pitter patter of the water fountain. Enjoy the serenity of the dining space, where there are plenty of great spots to select your table and enjoy a bite to eat. Make your preference next to the koi pond or by the fountain or perhaps in the garden beneath the trees.

The tea room itself is an intricate structure made up of wooden pillars and beams supporting a traditional Chinese tiled roof.

Hanging from the roof are decorated carved lanterns. It is the perfect surrounding to enjoy their aromatic, ethically sourced, loose leaf teas at $5 a pot. Mellow cream oolong tea, flavoured with mallow blossom, safflowers and almond pieces was our favourite, or the China lychee, black Chinese tea with mellow sweet lychee flavour was also lovely. There’s plenty of choice and the pot makes for a few cups to enjoy with your dumplings. If you are not into tea, do not fret, there is a range of wine and beer as well as hot chocolate, coffee and milkshakes.

The food at lotus dining is of high quality, with some of our favourite dumplings in Sydney. The steam baskets arrive at the table carrying dim sum delights including the ever popular har gao, these glutinous opaque white parcels give a glimpse of the delicious banana prawn filling inside, with a serving of three, there was a chopstick battle for the extra portion. Defeat was quickly forgotten as we had a variety of dumplings to choose from.

The steamed fresh scallop siu mai with three pieces were great, no hiding the filling within this dumpling, the scallop peeping out, enticing you to eat it promptly.

The steamed shitake mushroom dumplings were in a thin veil, so thin the tasty mushroom and corn filling could not hide from what was to come, satisfying our need for more of these culinary gems.

The most flavoursome of the lot was the Sichuan style prawn and pork wontons, the chili and sesame sauce providing that flavour kick.

Another dim sum crowd pleaser is the trusty spring roll, the king brown mushroom version will please all, especially the vegetarians.

There were plenty of great options to share on the light lunch menu and the prices are very reasonable. We sampled the vegetarian options, all full of flavour and generous portions.

The Salt and pepper classic tofu salad included crispy fried tofu, soft in the middle, with smoked chilli having the tastebuds tingling with joy, this was served with a fresh herb salad at only $13.

The refreshing cold noodle salad was neatly served with the individual ingredients portioned separately, egg noodles, seasonal vegetables, a variety of mushrooms and a soy and sesame dressing that you could add to taste $13 to mix or not mix that was the question?

We also ordered the steamed asian greens sauced with soy and sesame oil a big portion and a simple classic dish at $11

For those of you dining with your family, there’s a kids menu with meals from $8 including popcorn chicken, fried rice or a dim sum basket.

As I’m sure plenty of diners are, we were ready to finish with something sweet and a selection of macarons certainly did the trick. They offer flavour changes and on our visit it was passionfruit and chocolate, these took our fancy at only $8 for 3. The crisp outer shell and soft filling made for a lovely taste and texture.

We also tried the iced lemon mousse, with bits of granola. It’s a sharp cool dessert to settle the meal. This one is also vegan friendly.

Be sure to make a booking, this spot is ever popular with tourists and locals alike. Definitely the best spot in Sydney to enjoy some dim sum, a stunning garden setting with the city skyline as a backdrop. Include the amazing food on offer, and it makes for the perfect lunch outing.

We’d like to extend our thanks to the venue for their hospitality and to The Atticism for the invitation to dine.

The Gardens by Lotus

In the Chinese Gardens of Friendship

Pier st, cnr Harbour St, Sydney

Lotusdining.com.au

Mama Mulan for your next event!

September 19, 2018September 19, 20181 Comment

Having opened it’s doors in June, an elegant interior of free form art provides an irreproachable setting for celebration and purlieu.

The vision of their menu is one that triumphantly reimagines Chinese cuisine. The impact on classic dishes many have come to know and love as staples in this food is subtle, yet compelling. Second generation restaurants you could call them, as the palette of the multi-ethnic Sydney dining culture is ever evolving.

(Mud Crab)

“Mulan” meaning wood orchid or magnolia blossom, said to represent femininity, power and strength in Chinese culture. Mama Mulan, therefore a place of warmth, love and passion setting the tone of what to expect in your dining experience. Chef Marble Ng (ex Lotus) has created a menu focused on the Shandong regions of northern China.

(Signature Dan Dan Noodle soup with pork, chilli and peanut sauce)

The ingot shaped dumplings are preserved in their usual crowd pleasing form. An appropriate introduction to the Mama Mulan dining experience while saluting the old belief of wealth and prosperity, the handmade pot stickers of pork and cabbage, spicy wontons with pork and watercress and pork xiao long bao set the standard of what to expect.

The setting for our dining experience takes place in Mama Mulan’s Den – the largest of its private dining spaces easily seating 16-20 guests. It attracts alot of natural light and has it’s own private balcony.

In contrast, the Magnolia and Blossom Rooms have a roundtable configuration for 8-10 people. Great versatility in the number of functions and gatherings the space (total capacity 180) can accommodate as we enter the peak planning season of Spring/Summer celebration.

Offering a range of banquet menus and dishes, expect to spend anywhere between $41-$100 for a three course experience.

There are some very interesting ideas in Chef Marble’s menu. The sashimi is available only in lobster, the unexpected salad pairing of pear and cucumber, the use of rockmelon in duck pancakes and mushroom as the hero in their spring rolls, in its ambition to make its mark and cement itself as the definitive in north shore Chinese, they’re definitely playing a different game to many in the area and making us re-think our ideas on this cuisine.

Location:

The Concourse, Level 1 above Willoughby City Library, Chatswood NSW 2067

(02) 9157 1488

reservations@mamamulan.com.au

Online Reservations:

https://www.opentable.com/r/mama-mulan-reservations-chatswood?restref=53168

Joseph Lloyd, Contributor

images supplied

Memories in Shanghai – Passionate in Sydney concert

June 18, 2018June 18, 2018Leave a comment

Dragon boat Chinese Restaurant in Harbourside shopping centre, Darling Harbour hosted a VIP event to support and promote the show “Memories in Shanghai – Passionate in Sydney” – the show for traditional music star, Yang Xuejin who is here to bring the sound of folk opera to Australia.

Performing for one night at Star City, on Monday 18th June, Yang Xuejin’s friends and supporters visited Dragon Boat for a celebratory dinner.

The restaurant was set up for a beautiful dinner, complete with wine and lucky door prizes.

We started off with an traditional entree: the bbq plate with roast duck, bbq pork, beef shin, and jellyfish.

We then shared fried rice, beef and snow peas (that had a wasabi flavour) and mushrooms.

Guests heard from some speakers and a musical performance.

Dragon boat is the perfect location to host his event, with plenty of space and views of Darling Harbour. Fireworks are also visible as well as the lights of Vivid.

What an enjoyable event to experience and it’s amazing to see how the restaurant supports and showcases China’s fine food, music and culture.

We were lucky to receive some tickets from the venue to listen to this show.

Organised by the Australia International Culture Industries Association and held at the Star Event Centre it was a rare chance for audiences in Australia to be delighted with the music of Yang Xuejin.

Yang Xuejin, hailing from the Yunnan Province, is known for the song “there Is a Beautiful Place”, amongst numerous others. She performed a solo concert of her classic songs.

Extremely experienced, she is a graduate of Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Professor and master tutor of the Vocal Opera Department there.

She has performed around the world including at the Champs Élysées in France and even in the Golden Hall of Vienna.

Known for singing Chinese folk songs. She performed a number of these songs at her special concert, showcasing her sweet and sincere voice which ha broad vocal range. Some songs were gentle and others quite upbeat and poppy.

She entertained the crowds and the show was a lovely demonstration of her beautiful voice.

The orchestra was conducted by first class composer and conductor Tu Bahai. The MC of the event was Wang Yong.

The Shanghai pop music orchestra also showed their talents on the viola, trombone, cello, saxophone and more.

We also heard from the group of Yong Sopranos, graduate students who were also hugely talented.

Thanks to Dragon boat restaurant for the invitation to dine and tickets for the event.

Panoramic views @Dragonboat Chinese Restaurant

June 15, 2018Leave a comment

Dragonboat Chinese Restaurant must have one of the best locations around. Situated on the second level of the Harbourside Shopping Centre, if you get one of the prized seats on the balcony, you can enjoy the panoramic views of Darling Harbour, the Sydney Skyline as well as fireworks on weekends. At the moment you also benefit from the seeing the Vivid lights.

Classed as fine Chinese/Asian fusion, their menu is extremely extensive and surprisingly not expensive considering its location. Their menu boats traditional Chinese items, as well as specialising in seafood.

Spring rolls, prawn crackers or Dim Sim (and more) are on offer for the entrée, but we ordered our favourite – Sang Choy Bao, which was super tasty and our waiter served this for us. We felt like VIP’s.

We also had some beautiful boiled handmade pork dumplings, packed with flavour.

There are plenty of seafood options, from scallops, calamari and prawns to Abalone. The seafood is so fresh, you can see it live as you enter the restaurant. There are even lots of live lobster options.

We had the stir fried beef with Szechuan sauce, mixed vegetables and fried rice. You can never beat fried rice! This was popping with colour and as tasty as always.

Poultry, Noodles, Soup, Vegetarian and even a kids menu is available, so there really is something for everyone.

They do have a private dining room, complete with Chandelier, which you can rent for events, as well as some private balconies. They have a minimum spend and also a set menu ranging from $30-$75 a head.

I must add that one of the best things about this restaurant is William. William is the manager of this restaurant, and not only is he efficient at his job and an excellent host, his personality is awesome. He loves to crack a joke and in every interaction made our experience enjoyable.

If you’re having an event or even just a weekend booking over lunch, it is highly recommended to book. I have it on good authority that it is booked out every weekend.

Level 2 Shop 445-451/2-10 Darling Drive Harbourside Shopping Centre Darling Harbour NSW 2000

*Special Car Park Rate in Darling Harbour, $16 for 24 hours parking!

Email: info@dragonboatchineserestaurant.com

Phone: (02) 9282 9922 | Mobile: 0432 698 119

Peking Duck and more @ Quan Jude

June 8, 2018June 9, 20181 Comment

Quan Jude is a new Peking Duck Restaurant, located on the corner of George street, in the World Square Complex. It’s a mix between a traditional and modern Chinese Restaurant. Whilst you’ve got traditional menu items served on your lazy Susan, there’s modern decor and a super trendy cocktail bar.

It is an internationally recognised brand, having begun in Beijing in the 19th century, they have opened their doors in Sydney and Melbourne. Known for their duck and serving over 2 million duck a year. We know why – the duck is superb and the serving demonstration certainly is a spectacle. The chef rolls out the trolley, carves the duck and lays it out in a pattern on a duck platter and serves it with duck pancakes and it’s accompanying sides of shallots, cucumber and soy bean sauce. The duck was nice and juicy and the crispy skin made for a perfect meal to start. For other entrees, the spring rolls were amazing.

It isn’t just duck though, we were presented with a huge range of dishes to sample. With a Northern Chinese influence, the food was tasty and servings are generous. Some standouts were the salt and pepper flounder, Shrimp fried rice, Australian scallops with salad, King Prawns with vermicelli in a hot pot.

Another spectacle was the Beggars Chicken, complete with a hammer to crush the shell, revealing your chicken inside.

The vegetables were amazing, in particular the mushrooms with carrot and snow peas. The menu here is huge, and you will find it difficult to just select a few!

Drinks wise, we tried two cocktails, my favourite two – an aperol spritz and espresso martini. So you can have it all here – your traditional Chinese food and modern drinks. We were impressed at the quality of these cocktails.

They have splashed out on the interior. It’s a huge space that could seat approx 200 + diners, there’s smaller tables, private dining areas and a bar to perch yourself at. You can also watch the chefs in action. Beautiful themed artworks adorn the walls.

One of the things that made this Chinese Restaurant stand out were the performances taking place in the atrium of the restaurant. There were Bian Lian performances: Chinese dramatic art with colourful costumes as well as an amazing tea pouring ceremony. This really gave Quan Jude a wonderful atmosphere.

Finish off with a couple of desserts and fruit and you’ll be completely satisfied!

We enjoyed our dining experience and thank you to Quan Jude for their hospitality. Thank you to Sydney Dinner and Events for the invite and The Society Group for hosting.

Hulu: a progressive Chinese restaurant

May 29, 2018June 3, 2018Leave a comment

Hulu Restaurant is a progressive Chinese restaurant, recently opening their second restaurant in Darling Harbour in the King St Wharf precinct. It is a large waterfront space, freshly renovated with quality wood finishes. The space is nicely styled with leather chairs in black and teal and large round marble tables with gold centerpiece and, to keep partly with tradition, a lazy susan to complete the show. Perfect for a group dining experience whethere it be a work function, family get together or a catch up with friends.

We start with our drink orders and they have a list to suit all. We decide on the mojito and berry crush cocktails.

We are soon also fronted with some of their signature dim sum, the tasty pan fried Mushroom and the cute little nemo dumplings filled with prawn and fish, a school of clown fish looking dumplings, served in the steamer. Then the deep fried pork buns: a true revelation. We love the usual fluffy steamed pork buns, but these are next level and made fresh in house.

After whetting our appetite with the dim sum, the meal continued with a seafood offering of Garlic king prawn, the sweetly toasted garlic enhancing the flavour of the prawns, giving added texture. Hulu also specialises in crab, with the chef continually experimenting until reaching perfection. Utilising his French cooking background and Malaysian influences to create the Hulu green crab in cream. The perfectly cooked crab presented in a bowl of decadent and rich cream and served with mantou buns to soak it up.

Lucky we were dining in a group, as sharing the meal allowed us to sample much of the menu. The cashew chicken was served in in a fried taro bowl, the tea smoked duck with an intriguing smokiness we haven’t experienced with duck. The home made tofu with enoki mushrooms and eggwhite suace another option rich in flavour.

It was a spectacle when the pork belly arrived, wrapped in leaves, foil and backed in a clay casing. This pork dish with all of its layers would be perfect for a foodie pass the parcel. The outer clay casing opened up at the table, the pork unwrapped and carved in front of us at the table. The flavor of the pork intensified by the 8 hour cook time.

With plenty of food sampled, a light dessert was in order. The osmanthus cake was a jelly dessert with a tea flavour. The sago and melon dessert impressed with its freshness, a great palate cleanser.

We enjoyed our visit to Hulu King Street Wharf. A great location, plenty of space and some tasty modern Chinese food. Thanks for the dining experience and hospitality.

Hulu at King Street Wharf
19 Lime Street
King Street Wharf
Sydney
Ph: (02) 9299 9889

Beijing Legend for great Chinese food

May 17, 20182 Comments

Beijing Legend or New Taste of Chinese Cuisine is a great Chinese Restaurant in Pyrmont. Tucked away beside the Pyrmont Point Hotel, be sure to look out for it. Inside it’s decor is as you would expect at a local Chinese Restaurant. Grab a seat and a menu and you’ll find it hard to make selections with so many great dishes. Half the menu is the traditional Beijing/Northern Chinese style, the other half -Westernised local favourites.

Our order started with the cold dishes and the fresh tofu with shallot. Silky with a creamy texture and nicely seasoned. You can also get a number of small cold dishes as entrees and a huge range of chefs recommended dishes.

The King Prawns are a must order – with salt and pepper and honey flavour. The batter was beautifully crispy and crunchy, the sound of each bite comparable to walking through a crisp pile of leaves in autumn. Probably the best batter you will find anywhere, not oily at all

The western menu boasts entrees that you might expect at your local Chinese restaurant such as spring rolls and dim sum, soup, as well as dumplings. We decided to go for dumplings since they are handmade in house – we sampled the squid ink and seafood dumplings and a there’s myriad of other selections such as pork & cabbage, beef and onion, Lamb and leek, vegetarian. They also have the familiar options of beef with black bean, satay sauce or Mongolian lamb

The King Oyster mushroom dish was super flavoursome, a great vegetable option. The shredded pork sounded delicious so we chose it, it was served with bean sprouts and chives, with paper thin pancakes on the side to make your own.

We were recommending the KungPao chicken, which was so good. Served with cashews and sichuan chilli, giving it that distinct flavour described as numb.

Beijing Legend is a great Northern Chinese style restaurant and reasonably priced. All items sampled were very tasty and that batter will definitely have us returning. Hunt this restaurant down and give it a go.

Beijing Legend

14/80 John Street, Pyrmont, Sydney

A taste tour @Chinatown

October 7, 20172 Comments

We were lucky enough to attend another wonderful food tour, by ‘Taste Cultural Food Tours’. A unique cultural experience in the heart of the Sydney CBD where we could sample a range of Asian foods in Chinatown, Sydney. Here we tried cuisines from China, Malaysia, Korea and the Philippines.

The tour runs every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and it is a walking tour over the duration of 3 hours. It is perfect for anyone wanting to sample Sydney’s Asian influence, as you get to sample the food whilst having an educational experience. As it is in the city, it would also be perfect for the tourist.

The tour was professionally run by the tour guide named Patrick, who is a student of University of Technology Sydney City Campus, and a frequent visitor of the nearby Chinatown precinct who gave us a lot of insights into the foods, business and history.

One of the features of the tour were that each food place visited was family owned, and has been open for many years, with an emphasis on supporting these hard working and family owned businesses.

The tour allowed us to sample a range of signature dishes and experiences from a number of Asian cultures, as well as learn about the various pieces of street art and monuments, and their significance to the area.

Stop 1 – Petaling street. which is a Malaysian restaurant sampling the Roti Canai, which is Malaysian with an Indian influence. The bread was warm, soft, flaky, fresh, and dipped in the mild sauce for a great taste.

Stop 2 – Emperors Cream Puff. Talk about an institution. It still gets huge queues here and no wonder why. They are amazing, The best bang for your buck dessert in Sydney. Warm, custard filled doughy balls where you can get 3 for $1.

Stop 3 – Topo Tea. We got to have a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, using Oolong Jasmine Tea. Such a relaxing experience as Joy, who was dressed in traditional Chinese attire took us through the smelling, preparation, cupping and tasting of the tea.

Stop 4 – Sparrow’s Mill. Simply delicious was the Spring Onion Korean Fried Chicken. A beautiful crispy batter chicken pieces, with soy sauce and spring onion.

Stop 5 – China Town Noodle King. A beautiful place for hand made dumplings and noodles, with its origins from Northern China. We tried the boiled and pan fried pork and chive dumplings which both had incredible flavours.

Stop 6 – La Mesa. We experienced some traditional Philippino desserts which included the Cassaba, Fried Banana, and my favourite which was the Leche Flan.

A very enjoyable tour, which is perfect for anyone wanting to sample different Asian foods, whilst having an educational experience learning about the history of Chinatown.

http://www.tastetours.com.au/

We would like to thank Lesley from Taste Food Tours for the invitation to join the tour and where_do_i_eat_pete for the write up.

thewhereto

food | travel | lifestyle

Tag: chinese

Holy Duck! Regional dinner series

Canton Kitchen – new to Castlecrag

The Gardens, by Lotus

Mama Mulan for your next event!

Memories in Shanghai – Passionate in Sydney concert

Panoramic views @Dragonboat Chinese Restaurant

Peking Duck and more @ Quan Jude

Hulu: a progressive Chinese restaurant

Beijing Legend for great Chinese food

A taste tour @Chinatown