Chinese – ohdenny

Overseas Seafood Restaurant

February 17, 2017 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Forest Hill, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Overseas Seafood Restaurant is a Chinese restaurant located along Springvale Road in Forest Hill serving your typical Chinese main dishes but also serving Yum Cha for lunch. For Yum Cha, they offer a wide selection of Yum Cha dishes like Siu Mai (Pork Dumplings) and Congee.

We found the service to be a bit average, which I guess is the norm in Chinese restaurants and especially so when it gets busy for Yum Cha. Food-wise, the Siu Mai had decent flavour but the congee lacked that slight saltiness.

Their Prawn filling wrapped in Beancurd skins was quite tasty. Having a bit of bite with the filling and the slightly sweet fried beancurd skin making a nice combination.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

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The Yam Cake and Lo Bak Go (Steamed Radish Cake) were tasty. The Lo Bak Go just needed to be a bit more crispy, but flavour-wise it was good. It had good radish flavour.
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The Salted Egg Custard steamed buns were sadly overdone. Inside was not runny as it was supposed to be. A disappointment.//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

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The Har Gow (Prawn dumpling) lacked flavour, and required the chilli sauce to add the saltiness to it. Bland.

The dumplings here had a decently tasting filling.

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Last words

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Overseas Seafood Restaurant does decent Yum Cha, and honestly around the eastern suburbs it’s difficult to find great Yum Cha so luckily Overseas Seafood Restaurant is above average at the very least.

Overseas Seafood Restaurant
482 Springvale Road
Forest Hill VIC 3131

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Shanghai Street

February 3, 2017 Posted in Asian, China Town, Chinese, MelbourneLeave a comment

Shanghai Street is famously known for their Xiao Long Bao. It’s one of the very popular eateries in Chinatown. While Shanghai Street is known for their Xiao Long Bao, their menu is extensive with a variety of Dim Sum offerings, dumplings, wontons, noodles, rice dishes and soups as well.

Their Xiao Long Bao has an incredibly tasty filling. It’s similar to that off a traditional Chinese dumpling, with the subtle taste of ginger. However, the bun is likened to that of a BBQ Pork Bun, which is light and fluffy. The combination is great, juicy pork filling with the fluffy exterior. Winner.

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Shanghai Street’s fried rice is also very good. It has this very salty taste to but it’s very flavourful.

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The Pork & Prawn Dumplings with a peanut and sesame sauce is quite interesting. A different combination that I’m used to and not entirely sure I like the mix of peanut sauce with dumplings. To be honest, I’d just have the dumplings with the standard vinegar/chilli oil instead. The filling was pretty good though, as it usually is with pork and prawns.

Last words

Shanghai Street excel in dumplings and they’ll have me as a returning customer.

Shanghai Street
146 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
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Shanghai 1930

August 26, 2016 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

From the outside, Shanghai 1930‘s appearance can be a bit deceiving. However, once you enter its doors you’ll find that it has a lovely contemporary yet traditional aesthetic. Shanghai 1930 offers traditional Chinese cuisine, with Shanghai influences on the menu as well. Their menu has a variety of dumplings to choose from, and many chicken, beef, seafood and vegetarian options as well.

Their Crispy Noodles with Beef was actually quite tasty with tender beef. The sauce that it comes with, however, is quite strong, and leans on the salty side but nonetheless the combination of crispy noodles and beef and vegetables, is a winning combination.

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Shanghai 1930 offer what they call “Grandma’s Secret Fried Rice”, and it’s apparent that it isn’t your typical fried rice. The use of chives and I believe spinach adds to the flavour of the fried rice, and it’s cooked with the traditionally used Chinese sausage.

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If you ever walk past this restaurant, you may notice the image of these dumplings. These are the Steamed Shanghai Dumplings that are fried on the bottom with sesame seeds. The pastry (or dough) reminds me of the dough used in Pork Buns, but a bit thinner. The crispy bottom with the traditional pork and ginger filling is an amazingly tasty combination and I’m so glad I tried it.

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Their soups you can order as one serve or for sharing. The Hot & Sour soup is what you’d expect, and has that lovely balance of heat and sourness, and just enough sweetness that nothing overwhelms the other. Yum.

Last words

While, Shanghai 1930 may not be one of the “cheap eats” in Box Hill, it certainly makes up for it with its delicious dishes on offer.

Shanghai 1930
959 Whitehorse Road
Box Hill VIC 3128

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Crystal Jade

August 5, 2016 Posted in China Town, Chinese, Food Reviews, Hong Kong, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Located in Chinatown, Crystal Jade is a popular eatery for Chinese cuisine. They offer Yum Cha (Dim Sum) for brunch/lunch and your typical Chinese cuisine for dinner and of course seafood amongst many of their dishes. Bookings are essential for weekend Yum Cha but luckily they have two sessions available.

We had Yum Cha at Crystal Jade based on reviews on Zomato, and pretty much picked all our usual dishes to compare it against other Yum Cha places we have frequented.

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The Chee Cheong Fun (Rice Noodles with Prawns) at Crystal Jade was decent, it was lacking in a lot of flavour in the filling, and you kinda needed chilli sauce to add some punch to it.

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Not being of Cantonese background, I don’t actually know the name of this one but it was like this prawn dim sum, that also needed some extra seasoning, even a bit of salt to enhance the flavours would be good.

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The Century Egg Congee (Rice Porridge) on the other hand was great! I love the crispy things they added on top with the fresh spring onions. Great Century Egg flavour, and just how I like it.

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The Har Gow (Shrimp Dumplings) was actually again a bit bland. Goes well with the chilli sauce though which is on the salty side of things, so I guess it balances out. The pastry was also a bit thicker then I’d like.

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This particular dim sum was one of their specials at Crystal Jade, so you do pay a premium for it as it is topped with scallops. It had a nice seafood flavour to it but nothing spectacular.

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Siu Mai is probably my second favourite dim sum item, seems like you can’t go wrong with making it. Or I just haven’t come across a bad one yet.

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Lo Bak Go is my favourite dim sum item, I love this turnip cake and how I know it’s done right is the consistency. Shouldn’t be dense, and shouldn’t be too flour-ry, and with just enough salt, sugar and pepper seasoning and Chinese sausage pieces throughout it. Lastly, it should be crispy outside. At Crystal Jade, it pretty much checks all the boxes apart from the uneven frying which I can overlook because taste-wise it’s pretty good.

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We also ordered the Tofu Fa, it’s one of these desserts that you can have warm or cold. The lady that served didn’t do the proportions correctly, as we found it just needed quite a lot more of that sugar syrup otherwise it can be quite bland. We had to request for a small bowl of the syrup to adjust it to our liking, but at least it wasn’t too sweet as you wouldn’t be able to rectify that!

Last words

Overall, dining at Crystal Jade doesn’t leave a lasting impression. A few dishes seem to be lacking in flavour, and the other dishes, while are good, aren’t any better than the other places I’ve been to.

Crystal Jade
154 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Wong’s Kitchen

July 1, 2016 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

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Not to be confused with Wong’s Lucky Bar, Wong’s Kitchen on Station Street in Box Hill is a Chinese/Cantonese restaurant that most people seem to come for their seafood dishes. Wong’s Kitchen isn’t a very large restaurant, so more often than not, bookings are required.

Crab and egg noodles are probably one of my favourite Chinese dishes as a kid. The crab flavour combined with the wok stir fried noodles is delicious and I could honestly eat just the noodles all on its own. The crab at Wong’s Kitchen is quite nice too, I might add.

One of my favourite vegetables is Chinese broccoli (Kai Lan), there’s something about the crunchiness of the stem and you honestly don’t need much else apart from a bit of garlic.

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According to the staff, their chicken served here is free range. I’m not certain how true that is, but it is a more lean as chicken. Not particularly memorable dish, it’s decent though.

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I remember having Salted Egg Yolk Prawns at Kingsway Seafood Restaurant, which is now sadly closed. The prawns here are quite nice, crispy and have that lovely egg yolk batter that covers the tender prawns. I can’t have too many though because it’s very rich, but I needed to have a few to satisfy my craving.

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A standard dish when we go out to a Chinese restaurant, is their fish. I love sauce that usually accompanies steamed fish, and here it’s just how I like it. The fish was also nicely cooked and fresh.

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Wong’s Kitchen also provide complimentary fruits and Red Bean Sago dessert. Lovely end to a meal.

Last words

While Wong’s Kitchen won’t wow you with it’s ambience or service, it’s food is tasty and doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket.

Wong’s Kitchen
596 Station Street
Box Hill VIC 3128

Nine Taiwanese Dessert House

April 29, 2016 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Melbourne, Restaurant Reviews, TaiwaneseLeave a comment

Nine Taiwanese Dessert House located on Swanston St is similar to Dessert Story, serving a variety of ice-y sweet treats and Bubble Tea drinks. What I love about Dessert Story is their ice machine for some of their “snow” menu options, has this delicious slightly sweet and milky shaved ice. This dessert house also has the same but is it as good?

Their Green Tea Snow Ice, comes with red bean, jasmine jelly, taro and sweet potato balls topped with a scoop of green tea ice cream. It’s decorated with this green syrup of sorts. The snow ice here isn’t too bad, it lacks the same creaminess that the Dessert Story ones have. It’s also very sweet all over, with this sort of odd fake taste to it. The jasmine jelly is nice though, and is the reason why I tried making Ooolong Tea Jelly, not too sweet but with this subtle tea flavour to it.

I liked their Taro Bubble Tea though, but the one they gave us was warm because they just cooked the taro so that was a bit disappointing. At least it’s real taro!

Last words

Maybe their other dessert options are better? First impressions weren’t too great, I might come back again but for now I’d still go to Dessert Story if I had the choice.

Nine Taiwanese Dessert House
268 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Ma Brown

November 13, 2015 Posted in Balwyn, Chinese, MalaysianLeave a comment

When people talk about Ma Brown in Balwyn, you mostly hear about the delicious quail. It’s a very popular choice, but also one that they advise to order at least a day in advance of your booking. Ma Brown serve Chinese, Malaysian cuisine and even on a busy night, service isn’t actually too shabby.

You can order the quail either Spicy or just with Salt & Pepper, however, they do advise the spicy one is the more popular selection. The quail here is fantastic, it has that nice crispy exterior but tender and lovely sweet and spiciness from the marinate. I could probably just order this alone, if I was feeling a bit devious, it’s that good.

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That’s not to say Ma Brown’s other dishes aren’t good. Surprisingly, the Sweet & Sour Prawns was also a winner. Lovely subtle tomato flavour with chilli and the prawns were nicely cooked as well.

The Tofu & Mix Vegetable Claypot is more of your standard affair, yet still makes for a nice cleanser against the quail and prawns.

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The Sambal Beans was probably my least liked dish, the sambal was quite overpowering and overly sweet and definitely cooked with too much oil.

Last words
You may come here for the quail at Ma Brown, but you’ll leave satisfied with many of their other dishes. Not the best ambiance but it’s the food that counts here and won’t make a huge whole in your wallet.

Ma Brown
190 Belmore Road
Balwyn VIC 3103

RaRamen Box Hill

August 28, 2015 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

RaRamen is probably my favourite dumpling place in Box Hill. I have tried the popular ones like DC Dumpling, David & Camy and Luyang but RaRamen trumps them all. Their other dishes aren’t too bad too actually, and RaRamen in Box Hill Central also offer free slushies if you so fancy.

Their Shanghai Fried Noodles, like most other restaurants, are on the oilier side of things but flavour-wise it’s pretty tasty.

RaRamen’s Mixed Pork & Vegetable Fried Dumplings were on this occasion fried very crispy but the filling is the one to beat. The Pork Dumplings have that lovely pork flavour and the hint of ginger that complements the pork. The Vegetarian option has become my favourite dumpling (of all time), it has this incredible combination of glass noodles, egg and I believe, chives.

Luckily, you don’t have to dine there to get your dumplings fix. You can also buy frozen dumplings and fry or steam them at home at your own convenience!

RaRamen Box Hill
Box Hill Central
1 Main Street
Box Hill VIC 3128

Pearl HarbourFront – Toronto Series

December 19, 2014 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant Reviews, TorontoLeave a comment

If you are seeking some Dim Sum (Yum Cha for us Aussies) in Toronto with scenic views, or as scenic as Toronto can get. Then Pearl HarbourFront caters to you. My sister took us here one morning and while it didn’t amaze it or anything, it was a pretty good meal all in all.

The carts come around frequently and there’s your usual dim sum, such as dumplings.

Or the more interesting sorts.

Your dim sum in bamboo steamers. A prawn dumpling steamed or fried usually is a winner for me, especially if it’s in that translucent pastry.

I never know what any of these dim sum are called, I just point and they provide but this beef one is one of my personal favourites. With a bit of chilli sauce it’s fantastic.

Chicken wings, because why not.

Chee Cheong Fun, wasn’t all that great to be honest and I’m not even a big fan of it and I could tell.

The steamed sticky rice in banana leaf was also a slight disappointment, lacking in flavour.

Saving the best for last is my all-time favourite dim sum dish that is ordered without fail, Lo Pak Ko (Surprise! I know another Dim Sum). A great Lo Pak Ko in my tastebuds is slightly crispy outside from the pan frying, and soft inside with a good mixture of Chinese sausage and turnips, with just enough salt to give it that something extra. Here it almost lives to my high expectations but I’m always happy to have it.

Impressions

Pearl Harbourfront doesn’t steer too far away from the norm, and its food also it’s something I would say was amazing. However, its array of Dim Sum I would say is above average on taste, but I do recall it being a bit pricier than I’m used to.

Pearl Harbourfront
207 Queens Quay W
Toronto ON Canada M5J2M6

Noodle Factory – Montreal Series

October 31, 2014 Posted in Chinese, Food Reviews, Montreal, Restaurant Reviews, SingaporeanLeave a comment

Noodle Factory in Montreal’s Chinatown is one of the more favourable restaurants in Chinatown and it’s one of the reasons why we were curious to dine there.
Noodle Factory is a incredibly small restaurant, but nonetheless a popular eatery. As being in Chinatown it serves Asian cuisine, and in particular offers a variety of noodle dishes to choose from.

Noodle Factory’s Singapore Fried Noodles reminded me of those Chinese Food take-away meals, with it’s generous use of curry powder. It isn’t something I would order again though.

Their Beef Hor Fun was interesting in that the noodles itself were not the soft flat rice noodles I’m used to. The noodles here are a bit denser, with more bite so it’s actually quite different to the Beef Hor Fun’s I’ve tried before. Flavour wise, it didn’t standout or have the signature “hot wok” flavour you would tend to get with this dish. However, for just a meal to fill you up this would be sufficient.

Impressions
Maybe my tastes are just so disparate from the locals considering the positive reviews by most compared to mine. Or we just lucked out with the three dishes we tried.

Noodle Factory
1018 St-Urbain
Montreal QC H2Z1K6
Canada