Wokking Inn - 282 North Road, Eastwood

Gung Hei Fat Choy!  Happy Chinese New Year!  It's the first day of the year of the snake and so I think it is only apt to write about another new Chinese restaurant my family and I dined at.  Despite it also being Mercedes Benz Fashion week in New York.  I would love to share some pics of that but it's fair to say that my food posts outweigh the fashion and also get more reads. . . .  So here is a review of this awesome little restaurant in Eastwood.

We wanted to go here at the end of last year but it was closed for renovation so we went here for my sister's and auntie's birthday a few weeks ago.  My mum knows the owner Helen and knew that they had some pretty awesome entrees and dishes that we had to pre-order.  We didn't want to miss out on the night!

 

Mango and Prawn Spring Rolls, $60. This was the pre-ordered house special entree. It was special indeed! The pastry was really light and crispy kind of like roti bread but the deep fried version and a little sweet but had some salt sprinkled lightly on top. The dipping sauce was mango puree. They were very generous in size, one per person, although I could've eaten 2!

 

You had to see the inside, nice big juicy prawns and fresh mango slithers with a subtle white sauce which was a Chinese style mornay sauce? Kind of.  The mango inside was sweet enough you didn't really need the sauce. 9/10.

 

 

Dried Scallop Poached Chicken, $38.  This was another pre-ordered dish.  It is a course that is served cold.  The display of the whole head always causes a stir amongst us young ones, so my brother covers it with the coriander but to our amusement our Grandad unknowingly eats the coriander and the head is revealed again!!!  Aargh!  Anyway I like this dish cold, it makes it more of a summer dish.  The chicken and soy sauce is flavoured with other spices and is a different take on the Shaoxing wine drunken chicken dish we always have.  7/10.

 

 

Pippies in XO sauce served with crispy vermicelli noodle pancake.  I love this dish although pippes are not the meatiest of sea foods, this dish makes up for it in flavour.  The sauce is thick and salty and the vermicelli noodles are used to mop up this. The best bits are the cripsy edges which always get eaten quickly. 9/10.

 

8 Treasure Whole Duck, $78.  This was the piéce de resistancé!  The dish was massive.  It was so different to anything I have ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant before.  The waitress had cut into the duck before I could snap it unscathed.  The body of the duck was so soft and I was like c'mon what is this? It had no bones and was so so soft to cut up!  The skin was soft and the treasures inside were all so soft as well.  It must have been slowly cooking for ages.  The meat was so tender and flavoursome.  The stuffing comprised of water chestnut, shitake mushrooms, Chinese sausage, lotus root and some other ingredients which I don't know.  The duck was surrounded by baby buk choy which made it a more visually pleasing dish.  8/10.

 

Sweet and Sour Pork.  Always a favourite.  The sourness builds the appetite.  The sweet cuts into the fatty bits of pork, which weren't too fatty at all.  The batter was light and crispy.  The addition of pinenuts was new.  Delicious.  8/10.

 

Chilli Soft Shell Crab.  This was my choice.  The little crabs were yummy and the batter which I was expecting to be really hot as it had three chilies next to the dish on the menu wasn't as hot as I wanted it to be despite the dish being covered with a variety of chillies.  It was a generous sized dish though.  7/10.

 

 

Re-hydrated scallops with enoki mushrooms and snow pea sprouts.  The vegetable dish of the night served in a broth which was unusual. The scallops were subtle tasting but added a nice saltiness to the veges.  7/10.

 

All these dishes were eaten with white rice and we were so full by the end as there was so much food, the servings were big.   We all got a take-away container for our lunches the next day!  Yay!

 

Wokking Inn is a hidden jem.  It is quite expensive compared to the other local Chinese restaurants I go to in the suburbs, but it's also a great change of the style of Chinese we are used to.  All up it was $360 for 10 people which is very reasonable by Sydney standards but twice the amount for a regular Chinese suburban meal.

 

Warungs in Nusa Lembongan, Indonesia

Nusa Lembongan is only 25 minutes away from Bali by speed boat.  It is a small island that makes for a peaceful getaway from the hustle and bustle of Bali.  The islands main income is seaweed farming which mostly goes to the Asian cosmetics industry.  You can see it through the crystal clear waters of the island.  The beaches here are much nicer than mainland Bali and  lends itself to activities such as surfing, snorkelling and diving.  

 

While spending time taking in the nature and the quietness we of course had to eat.  Again we opted out of the resort restaurant for every meal and wandered the island for local warungs.

 

 

The first one we went to is called Pondok Baruna Warung.  This is what we had:

 

Gado gado, $3.  Lightly blanched vegetables with tempe (soy bean cake), tofu, egg with peanut sauce.  Standard dish, the peanut sauce was smooth and rather sweet.

 

Vegetable soup with noodles, $2.50.  A broth which was a bit more flavoured with onion.  The noodles were vermicelli.  A more filling entree, still very yummy.

 

 

Kare Ayam, $3.70.  I had to try a curry.  It was very mild and not very hot which I was a bit dissappointed about.  It was like a mild Chinese curry.  The addition of the side sprouts and beans were really buttery and to me was the best bit about the dish. 

 

Ikan Bakar, $4.  Fish fillet grilled and served with Sambal Matah (chillies, shallots and kaffir lime leaves).  This was much better than the chicken.  What made this dish was the Sambal.  It was so intense and hot but went so nicely with the fish.  We weren't sure what type of fish it was but it was of medium firmness and tasted a bit like ling fillet.  The hot chilli lingered around for the whole meal. 

 

There were lots of other dishes here on offer I just wish I had more time to go back and try them all.  Everything is just so cheap and healthy.



Warung 99 Mealhouse - Chinese style, this was stated on the wall.  This was another warung where we had our final lunch before heading home.  It was also like a shopfront selling groceries.  The menu was small with all the traditional items listed, but as we found out, did very much have the Chinese twist to it.

 



 

Ayam Goreng.  Yay! . . .  No!  I was expecting fried chicken as that was what it said on the menu but to our suprise it was fried chicken softened by a heap of Chinese spinach in a typical Chinese style gravy.  It was still tasty though despite the look of it!  It had the flavour of this red spice that I can't quite put my finger on, will have to ask my mum about it but it usually is pared with chicken. 

 



 

Vegetable soup with meat.  The meat we presume was pork bits.  The soup was really refreshing and packed with spinach.  It was reminiscent of what my mum cooked us at least once a week to build up our immune system.  It was definitely less flavourful as the past Indonesian soups we had.  This soup is usually just a heap of greens, garlic, and meat bones with some sesame oil boiled in water. 

 

You can see we also ordered Nasi Goreng, which was just standard. The meal was overall a bit disappointing, but at least we tried a different take on Indonesian home-style cooking we would never have otherwise had.

 

I didn't copy down the prices but it was cheaper than the other warungs, which is ridiculous! 

 

We motorbiked around the island and there were other local places to eat and lots of goodies to be tried.  If we ever go back I'm sure things would change as it is a fast developing island attracting more and more visitors.  I recommend going before it turns into Bali.

 

 



Warung Eny - Bali, Indonesia

Forget about Chinese from Hong Kong I'm hooked on Indo food.  After getting back from our Bali holiday two weeks ago I am wanting to write about the latest things that have gone into my belly.

So Indo food isn't that big here, if you compare it to Thai, but there are some good places to eat it in the suburbs of Randwick and Kingsford.  And to true lovers of Indo food at least there are those places to go to.

Instead of eating at our hotel every night for dinner, we wanted to get out amongst it and eat local food in Seminyak.  I don't get the point of eating Italian when you can get excellent and cheap Indo food when you are in Indonesia!

I didn't take pics of every meal, just the interesting ones.  And sorry photos are crap as I have no photo editing programs at the moment.

We walked to Warnung Eny after finding some good reviews on Tripadvisor.  It was close to where we were staying.   A "warung" is a small family owned shop selling anything from lollies to being a small restaurant.  This was like a little shack front with an open kitchen and about 10 tables. Eny is the woman who owns it and was there serving the customers.  Athough we wanted a local joint it was mostly tourists eating there, but it was still authentic feeling. 

Despite it being hot and us sweating still in front of the three fans they had going, we still ordered the vegetable soup.  We hadn't eaten that many veges since leaving home, you know airport food and lots of rice and noodles already, that we so needed something nutritious.

Vegetable soup, $1.50.  This bowl of liquid was so tasty and buttery for some reason.  We just hoped it wasn't msg, but we didn't have that,  dry thirsty feeling in our mouths afterwards.  Maybe it was just really a well boiled broth with special Indo seasoning?!  The veges, some carrot, mushrooms and spinach were all boiled to a soft consistency, very easy to down, instantly we felt a bit healthier!

Serombotan - green veges with shredded coconut, $4.  Mostly green beans, water spinach and bean sprouts, so delicious!  Loved the presentation on the banana leaf and the hand cut tomato flower!

Ayam Goreng - fried chicken, $3.50.  So good!  This was the first one I had and it was truly delicious, so crunchy and the special touch of buttery garlic sauce on top.  The garlic was chunky but not at all strong as I had expected.  Again it had a buttery taste to it.  I could've had two serves! 

The whole holiday anywhere that had Ayam Goreng I ordered it, and to my suprise each version was quite different.  But this one was the first and the best.

Whole fried snapper with garlic sauce, about $13.  So cheap!  We saw the man scaling and gutting the snapper while we waited and then took it outside to grill over the hot coals.  Again it was topped with that aromatic garlic sauce.  It was fiddly to get all the meat without the bones, but it was well worth it, so tasty especially with a fresh squeeze of lime.

Here is the menu for you to look at all the delicious dishes they had to offer.  I wish we had more time to taste everything here.  So cheap too!  10,000 Rupiah is approximately $1 Aussie dollar.



The family cooking away in the open kitchen.

Ok, so below are pics from our second visit to Warung Eny. 



Bali salad with avacado, $2.  Simple salad with iceberg lettuce, sprouts, tomato and avo with a beautifully balanced dressing mainly made of fish sauce, sugar and lime I think?!   

Nasi Campur, $3.   This is traditionally a dish of rice topped with a variation of meats and veges, depending on which part of Indonesia you are in.  This one had water spinach, curry chicken, fried fish and tofu and the "Tum Bali".

 

Tum Bali, crushed pork with spices steamed in banana leaf, $4.50.  This was tasty but it wasn't steaming hot which I think it should've been, so I was a bit dissappointed it wasn't fresh from the steamer.  It was salty and much like an Asian meatball.  

Fish simmered in curry, $4.50.  This was a light and very soupy curry.  The fish was dense like swordfish.  The spices were mild and more like a laksa tasting curry, lots of tumeric.  Still great.  I never had this taste before.

Giant grilled prawns, $11.  These were the biggest prawns I have ever seen, they were more like mini lobsters!  This time I went outside and took a photo of them cooking on the grill.  The meat was quite tough like lobster.  We thought the bigger one wasn't cooked through enough so we left it on the plate.  Apparently when the plate was taken into the kitchen when we were paying the bill it caused quite a stir!  We must have been stupid tourists wasting precious food!  But we just didn't want to risk getting sick!  As we have been to hospital in Thailand from eating undercooked seafood. 

Lawar Bali - Bali vegetables with sliced tiny baby coconut, $3.50.  Again the veges were beans and sprouts and with the added coconut was really tropical tasting.  Seasoned with fish sauce and topped with fried garlic, this was a great vege dish, I could've eaten more of this too.

I would recommend you going to eat at Warung Eny for traditional Indonesian food.  I really wanted to have the special of Babi Gulung, which is suckling pig, but you have to pre-order that the day before!  I was very disappointed.  Next time. . .

Hong Kong - Hot pot yumminess!

So it's been quite a while since I have had time to blog.  New job, holiday to Hong Kong and China and then another work trip again to the same countries!  Lucky I like travelling and Asia!  I'll post the interesting experiences only, there were too many little things I ate, which were fabulous but I didn't take photos of everything despite being a snap happy person!

Here is a post about hot pot lovin'!  Even though it's the middle of summer now, I think this will still interest you.   It was supposed to be winter in HK but it wasn't that cold.  Neverthless we, my dad and I went hot potting with some good friends who are locals.  They took us to Gold Medal Hot Pot, in Jordan on Austin Road. 

Seafood fresh from the tanks in the restaurant for all to view.

The sashimi chefs slicing with precision!

 The variety of different stocks to choose from.

A sample of the dishes on the menu.  It's not just hot pot things either.

To start there is a whole tray of condiments that you customise you plate of soy sauce with. You do this first as they take the tray away as it takes up too much room.

The condiments from top left:

Coriander, fresh garlic, shrimp paste, seasame seeds, shallots, green and red chillis, fried garlic, chilli oil/paste and the last in the bottom right corner, have no idea what it was.

This is totally fresh King Prawn sashimi!  I've never had prawn sashimi.  The idea of not cooked shellfish scared me.  But it is just that fresh, it won't make you sick at all.  It was so sweet, delicious with a bit of wasabi and soy.  I think you can even see these suckers in my photos of the fish tanks above!  I even think the antennae things were still moving!  Uggh!

There are so many different stock soup bases to choose from to get the hot pot going.  This was one was tomato, beef and potato base.

This was the beef to flavour the stock, put in right at the beginning to flavour the stock. I ate a piece at the end and it was very tender. Don't eat this at the beginning as it would be hard still.

Some dumplings,we got a few types, some beef and seafood balls and dried tofu.

Fresh tofu.

Close up of the seafood balls.  The red ones on the bottom are the beef ones, my favourite.  Very dense but very flavourful after being cooked in the stock.

This fish is grouper.  The huge fish is only available on Friday's, Saturdays and Sundays, so that they make sure the whole fish is consumed.  On a weekday, not all of the fish would be eaten by customers and therefore won't be fresh.  I didn't really like this, especially not the tough skin.  It tasted a bit dirty and fishy.

These wierd looking sheets of curled tofu were so delicious.  They are hard and crispy but once you dunk the lovely things into the stock and it soaks up and softens up, it is an interesting texture, half soft and soggy but still has bite to it.  It tastes like salty tofu.  I'm going to look out for this in Chinatown next time my family decides to have a hot pot.  So good!

Thin pork slices.  Very yummy, cooks in seconds!  Dunked in the soy mixture, it is so tasty.

This is razor clamfish.  I've never had or seen it in Sydney, but only on Rick Stein's cooking show.  It is a very popular seafood here.  A quick dunk in the stock and the white flesh curls up, with a quick dunk in the soy it goes into my mouth.  It tastes like sweet calamari.  Quite nice.

Thin beef slices, so delicious and only take seconds to cook.

Of course compliementary fruit.  A small orange cut up beautifully in it's own peel ready to eat.

Also this dessert, the mochi ball.    l love these!   I can't believe we got this, it's just like an after dinner mint in individual wrapping, so cute!  Mine was green tea!  Lucky me!  I loved it.  Great way to finish off a hot pot.  I was so full at the end of it all and I needed something sweet.  I thoroughly liked the different variety of things to cook here and it is super affordable too!