There is always a buzz of excitement when a new restaurant opens but it’s even better when it a branch of a place that I have read so much. A branch of New Shanghai (originally in Ashfield) has opened up in Chatswood, Lemon Grove, right next to de Pho. Time to get my dumpling on

The first thing you notice is the big glass display of the dumpling ladies doing their thang!

They had pretty nice alcove pictures but the rest of the restaurant was a typical Asian setting. Loud chatter filled the air as many happy fellow dumplingers ordered and ate merrily. The service was very meh but for these kind of places we come fro the food and not the service.

Here Comes the Food

Bean curd and ’shrooms

A cold plate to start off the meal. It was colder than we expected but it was refreshing combination and put us in the mood for more.

Sour and spicy soup

The one here was not bad and had a good consistency and flavour but it was greatly improved with a healthy dash of vinegar.

Mysterious fried fish

I am unsure as to what this was apart from some kind of fish fried to a crispy but slightly greasy state. My mother mentions that is totally different to what it is supposed to be like but as I have never tried it before I quite oblivious to this fact.

Shanghai flat noodle

This is more like my kind of dish with plump slices of noodle which an very good ‘QQ’ texture. The water spinach was also nice and crispy and went well with the noodles.

Vegetable dumplings

Not bad, packed full of tasty veges and steamed to a soft and fluffy sort of state for good eating.

Shanghai Xiao Long Bao

The star of the show has arrived! We have the crab meat Xiao Long Bao and the normal pork Xiao Long Bao. These were pretty decent with very good quality fillings and juice but the skin was a bit thicker than the ones at Din Tai Fung.  I preferred the pork ones over the crab as they had a better flavour and slightly more sweeter in my opinion. Overall they were quite good value and so I was pleased.

Shallot Pancake

Beautifully crispy outside, these shallot pancakes are a must get. The only quibble I have with them is that they might be slightly too oily.

Sen Jien Bao

These pan fried pork dumplings are my favourite because I prefer the thick doughy taste over the thin skin of Xiao Long Baos. They still contain a juicy and tender pork filling which makes these very tasty. They could have done with a bit more char on the bottom for more crunch and crisp action though.

Mmm tasty

Pan Fried Pork Dumpling

These are basically gyozas with pork filling and pan fried so the bottom should be a golden brown crisp. They were however same as the Sen Jien Bao in that they were were not pan fried for long enough but otherwise they were reasonably tasty.

Fellow dumplingers and customers

Overall it is very handy that they had opened up a shop in Chatswood so that we do not need to travel to Ashfield to get a dumpling fix. Cheap and reasonably tasty food is always welcome ^^!

New Shanghai

Shop ?? Lemon Grove Shopping Centre

427-441 Victoria Ave, Chatswood

FFichiban

Hotels are very good at displaying the better cars outside to “show off” and I was lucky enough to spot a few good ones hee hee

Cafe Mix may be on the 1st floor but Altitude and Blu Horizon Bar have an astounding and breath-taking of the view of the city, espically at nighttime, on level 36

Pretty drop-shaped lights in the lobby (would be better if I waited til dark to take it)

These balls were also very pretty and they still had a tree up wheeee. They also had a duo on the piano and guitar playing sweet and soft loungy/chill music which is perfect when you are just sitting and having a drink in cushy seats.

Chandeliar leading down to the foyer

I really like this piece so swirly and curvy (haha yes I am pro at using arty words… -___-)

The wall leading to the entrance, very nicely done

Cafe Mix is called thus, due to the variety of cuisine stations which provides a mixture of flavours around the world.

Since we are here for the buffet we dig right in… Here Comes the Food!

The first island you see is the exquisite dessert island but I shall talk more about that later

DIY salad bar
I tend to start buffets with a plate of fresh greens like baby spinach and rocket so I don’t feel so bad about all the nutrient-free foods I’ll be eating later hee hee.

Oysters
There were oysters ready to be shucked out of their shells and into our mouths nom nom. They seemed reasonably fresh and tasty with only a squirt of lemon juice required. Next to these oysters were the antipastos of olives, tomatoes and other goodies.

Prawns
This is where I hope to eat my money’s worth! Accompanied by thousand island dressing I should have kept hitting this bar instead of the others haha.

Us being typical asian hee hee

Me being… me ^^!

Moving onto the hot food, this is where Cafe Mix fails to impress me

Western Mix

Roast Potatoes with Sage and Pasta with Bolinas Sauce
The potatoes were mediocre, nothing special, and the pasta was actually not as bad as I thought it would be but since it was pasta (and carbs are filling) I decided not to have too much of it.

Steamed Snapper with Coriander Sauce and Roast Pork with Apple Jus
I did not try the snapper because I am not too fond of the head and I forgot to get it later on haha and the pork was too tough so disappointing. The apple jus was pleasant though, with a tinge of sweetness.

Japan Mix
Fresh selection of nigiri, though I would prefer sashimi as you won’t fill up on rice but I think almost everyone just ate the fish and left the rice anyway :S There were also miso soup and a mushroom soup next to this station which were not bad.

China Mix
A selection of dumplings and typical chinese dishes were on hand. I try not to eat too much chinese at a buffet because I have lots of chinese food elsewhere haha.

India Mix
Curries and naan were what I was aiming for. There was a lamb curry which was pretty tasty but not strong enough in the spice depatment. The naan was light and fluffy and ended up eating more than I should have.

Random plate
Now onto dessert island whheeee!

Milk and dark chocolate fountains on either end and a wide selection of cakes, jellies, pastries, tarts and brulee in between ^^! There is also ice cream on one end so you could make your own combination of desserts yum!

So much yum!

Random dessert shot
I must say, the creme brulee is probably the best dessert there so it is worth it to fight or ask for it haha. The chocolate fountains are also very fun and I admit… I dropped a marshmallow into the dark one haha.

To summarize once again, if you love prawns and oysters and desserts then this is the sort of place for you! Remember to prepare youself for a good stuffing of food and wear some baggy pants hee hee.

Other Hotel buffets:
Corn Exchange Restaurant at Four Points Sheraton – Sydney CBD, Sydney

Cafe Mix
Level 1, Shangri-La Hotel
176 Cumberland Street
The Rocks, 2000

FFichiban

After the disappointing experience at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, I once again ventured to the square of eateries that circumvent the landmark water fountain feature at Westfield Hornsby. This time our group had a hankering for some Chinese cuisine, so we headed to Wok King, which presumably specialises in Peking cuisine from the name.

It’s always a human comfort to see other diners on a Friday night as it gives you some assurance that the restaurant has a decent customer base and appeal to others besides yourself. However, this is as far as the pleasantries went.

Here Comes The Food

You can’t really stuff up prawn crackers. There was no faulting what we were given: had an acceptable oily consistency and wasn’t overly deep-fried.

Deep Fried Shallot Cake ($6) : It was warm, but not hot enough to assure us that these were made fresh in the kitchen. The saltiness to the batter and shallots were a sign that this dish was either: straight from a frozen pack and de-frosted or poorly prepared. Also, it’s clear to us that our dish has been deliberately flattened to make it appear that it’s bigger than what it seems. If I were to prepare this, there would be more shallot filling as what we were given clearly didn’t seem an acceptable standard.

Hot & Sour Soup: You can literally smell this coming out of the kitchen when it’s brought and placed on your table – all for all the wrong reasons. They’ve used an overpowering smoked ham that makes the dish unbearable without ridiculous amounts of vinegar and pepper to musk the deep flavour. I’m certain from my past experiences with this dish that the normal ingredient in place of smoked ham would be ham nonetheless – but definitely not to such boldness that the soup has no distinguishable taste besides ham.

‘Fu’ Tong/Ung Choi (Morning Glory): A combination of morning glory fried with a bitter tofu and salted fish that you can find jarred at your Asian Grocery. There’s little or no scent or taste of ‘fu yu’ which should normally be present if this dish had been done properly. It could pass as just vegetables fried with ginger.

‘Un See Goun’ – Fried($3)/Steamed ($2.50): the steamed bun is sad in appearance and does not have a hot steamy centre when separated into portions. It makes me want to cry. The fried bun is no better, oily leaving your hands almost transparent – not a very pleasant experience.

Shanghai Noodles ($10.80) : “Fried Handmade Noodles with Pork & Cabbage. The only dish we ate that we found enjoyable (or rather couldn’t fault).

Shandong Chicken ($18.80): Hand stripped crispy chicken served with special sauce of herbs, ginger and garlic. One of the members of our group comments that this dish is in fact a dud, a wannabe, a fake, passing off for something that it’s not … the synonyms I could go on forever … Suffocated in lemongrass? Absurd amounts of chilli?

Xiao Long Bao ($7): Bad

End thoughts? Over-priced, disappointing and makes me want to give up hope on the restaurants in the Hornsby area.

Wok King Peking Restaurant
Shop B23 Westfield Shopping Centre
236 Pacific Highway Hornsby NSW 2077
Ph: 9987 2638

a very disappointed D

related posts:
Pho Ngon

Zilver Seafood Restaurant is pretty decent place considering that some Chinese places can be quite seedy. I apologize for the dish names since I am not too sure on some of their translations.

My parents have connections at quite a few places haha so we managed to get a private room. This was very lucky since there was a banquet in the main portion of the restaurant and it was noisier than normal (yes, it is possible to be noisier than normal in a Chinese restaurant).

Pretty light and playing with angle and exposure while waiting for the first dish.

Combination meat platter
A combination of duck, chashu and crispy skin pork. The duck has a lot of fat and not much meat but nice crispy skin. Chashu is always a good choice with its sweet sweet sauce and chewy meat and the crispy skin pork is decent but not the best I have had.

Next came the Emperor crab served 3 ways.

I find crab a bit annoying to eat haha damn you shell. That is why I prefer the deep deep fried style as it is possible to just crunch on the shell as well. But the emperor crab meat is nice and tender and when you extract a large piece of it the feeling of satisfaction takes over. The e-noodles mixed with the roe of the crab is another tasty treat, although high in cholesterol :S but since your splurging on seafood what does that matter

Tofu with vegetable
Soft pillows of tofu with a gooey sauce on a bed of chinese vegetables. I like tofu since they are so airy when done right.

Fruit platter
Nice and sweet just the way I like it.

Dessert cookies
Sesame balls have a glorious crunch to them and the biscuits have a soft crumbly texture. Both are very nice ways to end this meal.

Zilver Seafood Restaurant
Level 1, 477 Pitt St (corner of Hay St)
Haymarket, Sydney

Mon – Fri
Lunch: 10:00am – 3:30pm
Dinner: 5:30pm – 11:00pm

Sat – Sun
Lunch: 9:00am – 3:30pm
Dinner: 5:30pm – 11:00pm

FFichiban