Usually when I meet up with my parents for dinner we usually almost always go to the same 3 Chinese restaurants that have been in rotation for at least 3 years. One of them we have been going to regularly for at least 10 years! So I was looking forward to this night out. New restaurant means new menu! Yay!
Mr Han is in Eastwood which is a suburban China and Korea town. There are a lot of little specialised cuisine restaurants on Rowe Street alone, like a Chilli Hotpot place and a Korean BBQ restaurant, and all looked busy. Must make the time and go to Eastwood more often.
The first thing you notice about Mr Han is that it is LOUD! It was packed even on a Wednesday night, and a nothing inside that absorbs the sound of the 70 or so people jam packed in there. It was also hot and particularly hot after eating the first dish of the night. Fish soup!
The fish soup served 6 and in it was a whole fish, not sure what type but it was swimming in a delicious clouded broth that was fishy yet not too fishy, gingery, garlicky and fresh from the generous amount of fresh coriander and shallots sprinkled on top. In amongst the soup was soft silken tofu and clear sheets of rice noodles. So unusual. Everyone loved it! There was enough for a second bowl too. 10/10 but beware of bones!
We ordered a standard stir fry of greens which I neglected to take a pic of as I was too busy eating.
The stir fried prawns with chilli were awesome! Fresh and full of flavour with chunks of onion to give the dish some crunch with a medium level of chilli hotness. All the dishes were quite generous in size too. I also forgot to take note of the prices, but they were all standard suburban restaurant prices, about $18 for a stir fry I think?? Maybe cheaper. Anyway I rate this 8.5/10.
The pork spare ribs with green peppers and black bean sauce was my pick and it was great! The bits of pork on the bone were perfectly battered, not the stodgy batter of standard food court sweet and sour pork. The sauce had the perfect amount of saltiness from the black beans and also nice and garlicky. The green peppers were pretty hot and left a bit of a lingering burn on my lips for the rest of the night. No-one else ate them except me. 9/10.
The beef and tofu hotpot was also nice. I must say if you don't like the chinese style sauce, which is of a slightly thick, gravy like consistency then you might not like this. I also forgot to take a pic of this dish until it was almost gone. It was tasty but not as much flavour as the other dishes. I might be saying this as my mouth had maybe lost some of it's tasting abilities due to the chillies eaten previously. The bamboo shoots were unusual and not like the standard yellow rectangles you get but hollow and exactly how you would think a piece of cut up bamboo would look like. The tofu was yummy, the fried type but softened because of the sauce. 6.5/10.
We were given the bill before we even finished which meant hurry up and leave so we can get the next seating in. This was fine by us as it was stinking hot, plus the noise of a screaming baby and loudness in general was getting too much.
Overall the food was great authentic Chinese - Shanghai and Szechuan style food, I give it a 7.5/10. What let it down was the lack of air-con and loudness but it was cheap only $110 for 6 people. There were heaps of other dishes that looked good. If you are into the offal, then this is a good place too. Lots of tripe and tongue etc!
