Chinta Ria Mood for Love – Sydney CBD, Sydney
Are you in the mood for luurrrrvveee? If not you will be when you step into Simon Goh‘s new hotspot Chinta Ria Mood for Love. From the instant we stepped in, I was captivated by the atmosphere and how he really set the mood for something of the more intimate nature. Here Comes the Food
Simon Goh greeted us warmly at the door and welcomed us into his new love den which contained many elements to create the best mood for love. It had a very traditional Chinese feel to it as it is based on the 2000 film In the Mood for Love. The dim atmosphere with drapes and a projector screening scenes and quotes onto the cracked wall added very nicely to the mood. Even the menu has been printed and hand edited to resemble a movie script to reinforce the theme, along with the purposely named dishes which entice and seduce.
Starting off with some social lubricant to get into the mood – Love Bite and Touch Lips
Chai Tow Koay as CK ($11)
A combination of soft and plump chunks of pan fried radish cake and crunchy bean sprouts kick started the seduction via food.
Satay Chicken and Satay Beef
I love satay. From the beautifully tender and tasty marinated diced chicken and beef chargrilled to perfection and then dunked into a smooth and delicious peanut sauce. I could seriously demolish a lot of skewers by myself and would just drink the peanut sauce if I could without be judged…
Achar Eh Achar ($10)
A mix of pickled vegetables with a nice chilli bite to it along with a nice contrast of textures. A great side to snack on while sipping on the cocktails mind I add.
Seduction Rolls ($12)
5 spice minced chicken blend wrapped in bean curd skin and then fried to a crispy exterior while the interior stays nice and juicy. This packs a nice flavour but add a little bit more sweet chilli or just chilli and it packs a nice punch.
Otak O Tak as Brainy ($13)
As soon as these bamboo steamers of spanish mackeral mousse was presented we were excited. The flavour of this otak otak was beautifully with a hint of chilli and the airy texture reminded me of a very well made chawanmushi.
Hug Me Honey ($25)
Tender slices of flavoursome beef have been pan fried with pepper chilli sauce and honey to create a very hearty beef dish.
Prawn Curry
We are given a sneak-preview of a up and coming dish of prawn curry. The thick sweet curry had me hooked from the first taste. I liked the combination with the juicy prawns and smothering the curry on lemak rice (aromatic coconut rice) or flavoured rice (chicken flavoured rice) was absolute heaven.
Monk’s Mushrooms ($18)
A beautiful medley of market fresh mushrooms cooked in a ginger sauce and topped with crispy fried goodness to add some crunch to it. A must for all mushroom lovers which should be everyone!
Amah Ginger Chicken ($18)
Amah’s slow cooked ginger wine chicken with shiitake mushrooms is a classic dish which is done very well at this place. Juicy and tender chicken thighs have been slowly cooked to allow the flavours permeate the meat properly.
Quack! Quack! Kiam Chye ($25)
If you couldn’t tell from the name, this is a duck dish that has been brased with preserved vegetables. I sometimes find duck a bit too fatty but this one is just right.
Durian panna cotta ($9.8), Kueh Rolled me Green ($8.8), On me on me all day ($8.8) and Pandan Sago ($8.8)
We are all very stuffed from the savoury dishes but we cannot leave without trying dessert! A delectable platter of the desserts were presented to us to share. I think everybody’s eyes lit up when they saw this too! I am an avid avoider of durian so I did not try any of that but the others approved of the flavour of it. The kueh dadar were packets of coconut palm sugar rolls wrapped in a light pandan crepe which were tantalizing but would had been better if the crepes were warm in my opinion. The ondeh ondeh were made from sweet potato stuffed with delicious palm sugar syrup (could always do with more palm sugar syrup filling) and rolled in shredded coconut which added that extra awesomeness to it. While the pandan sago was my favourite with the delicious and creamy sauce of coconut milk and palm sugar syrup.
Mmmmmm sago balls
I really adore the atmosphere here and I think Simon has done a great job creating the mood for luurrrveeee.
Here Comes the Food dined here as a guest of Chinta Ria Mood for Love
China Ria Mood for Love
Level 6/ Shop 6009
Westfield Sydney
188 Pitt St
Sydney, 2000
Ph: (02) 8072 8888
FFichiban
November 3rd, 2011 at 5:23 pm
Great pics!!! Just remembering how good the otak and mushrooms are. I think I need a return visit shortly.
November 3rd, 2011 at 7:42 pm
desserts look awesome! can’t wait to go try it out
November 3rd, 2011 at 7:44 pm
So … what happened after dinner?
November 3rd, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I tend to avoid durian too but am sure the husband would happily devour what I won’t. Is that the definition of love?
November 3rd, 2011 at 11:11 pm
The food looks fab and Sydney definitely needs more concept eateries like this.
November 4th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
Warmly indeed
Good food with good company! The satay were delicious!
November 7th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
ohhh i just went to mood for love yesterday! loved their monk’s mushrooms and the durian panna cotta was surprisingly good.
November 11th, 2011 at 12:35 am
That prawn curry looks so good! Heh reminds me of peanut butter
December 4th, 2011 at 4:10 pm
Wow, the otak otak look stunning.. interesting presentation. I love the movie too!
December 6th, 2011 at 11:23 pm
I love the name of the cocktails
January 5th, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Didn’t realize this existed! Looks fabulous