Memoirs of a Foodie: January 2016

Setting foot inside Sushi Train Neutral Bay you will immediately notice that it is a surprisingly sophisticated establishment, especially for sushi train standards. The layout is well thought out with plenty of seats around the lengthy conveyer belt and also an area with tables to cater for large groups such as families. DT and I arrived at noon for lunch and the restaurant was filled with the chatter of diners.

Sushi train

The image of a conveyor belt filled with a variety of sushi will always be pleasing to the eye and to the stomach.

Ippin sake

Washoku Lovers members get a complimentary small-sized sake by showing the membership card. It's never too early for sake right?

Fish miso soup $5.50

A large bowl of hearty miso soup which I managed to finish. I love miso soup and the added salmon improved the overall flavour, and great to have that added protein for more nutrition and make the soup more filling.

Mix sashimi (9 pieces) $14.80

On the wooden platter were generous slices of three types of fish (from left to right: tuna, salmon, kingfish) beautifully presented. The cuts were notably fresh and were pleasant to eat, I especially enjoyed the kingfish due to its stronger flavour compared to the tuna and salmon. The tuna slices were rather thick though and I would have preferred if they were thinner and more consistent in size.

S.A.O roll (salmon, avocado, onion) $4.50

With fresh ingredients and well seasoned sushi rice it's difficult to get this roll (or any roll for that matter) wrong and it's a roll found at most sushi trains that I have been to. I loved the avocado which was an excellent complement to the soft salmon sashimi and the julienned onion added textural crunch and a subtle pop of flavour.

Negi toro ship $4.50

'Negi toro' literally translates to 'tuna with green onions'. Toro refers to the fatty part of tuna and it is high in omega-3 fatty acids. Call me biased as I'm not a sashimi enthusiast but I found it quite bland and I needed to douse it in soy sauce to enjoy it. However the tuna is served raw so the point is to enjoy the soft textures against the sushi rice, nori and the sharp flavour from the green onions.

Fisherman's basket $9.90

Yuri mentioned that it was a new item on the menu and so we decided to give it a try. Not knowing what to expect we received a beautifully steamed piece of salmon garnished with thinly sliced green onions and also slivers of squid could be found on top of the fish. The salmon was fleshy and moist and infused with a lovely sweet and salty flavour which I believe was a mixture of miso, sugar and soy sauce. Getting pieces of squid in the mix was unexpected as they were quite camouflaged but had a nice chewy texture and were flavourful. The julienned onions in the sauce was also particularly good with the salmon. It was definitely a larger dish than expected and therefore decent value.

Seaweed salad

Although I'm not big on the salad front, seaweed salad is a salad I don't think I can tire of mainly because of the delicious sesame seasoning. That addictive chewiness from the seaweed is a trait that makes the salad unique and a joy to eat.

Salmon belly nigiri $5.50

I'm pleased to say that the salmon belly was fresh and wasn't chewy which was great as I've had chewy salmon belly before and it wasn't the best experience. One qualm though was that the rice for the nigiri didn't hold together very well and so a fair bit of rice got separated and remained on the plate as we picked it up with chopsticks. It was an isolated incident as we didn't seem to have that problem for the other sushi dishes.

Grilled hotate (scallop) $5.50

DT and I were in mutual agreement about the scallops being a standout at the sushi train. They were grilled to perfection and literally melted in the mouth and to achieve that effect, the scallops would only need to be seared momentarily to retain its tenderness. The smoky savoury flavours were also to die for.

Duck nigiri $4.50

The sound of duck nigiri was really intriguing but sadly it was the least favourite out of all the items we had the privilege to try. I think we were unlucky that day as I don't think the duck was intended to be overcooked. The sweet hoisin-like sauce combined with mayonnaise redeemed it slightly but overall the duck was too dry and a little tough.

I haven't been able to stop lusting after nasu dengaku since having it at Izakaya Samurai so I was elated when I saw it on Sushi Train's menu. My attitude towards eggplant have done a complete 360 since trying the fried eggplant and pork dim sum from Fortune8 in Cabramatta and then I had all the more reason to love it since discovering nasu dengaku.

Eggplant dengaku $9.80

The size of the plate was a little alarming but at the same time I was happy that it was quite a large portion. The incredibly juicy grilled eggplant was conveniently cut up and and each piece had plenty of the addictive sweet miso sauce and more sauce on the plate to mop up if desired. Eggplant is wholly neutral in flavour with some bitterness lent from the skin but its meatiness and juiciness allows the sweet and savoury miso paste to be appreciated even more.

Miso garlic salmon and scallop ship $5.50

As highlighted previously, the scallops again were really impeccable. Seared fresh scallops with seared fresh salmon and a small ball of sushi rice made a tantalising combination. I highly recommend this one as the flavours which arose from blowtorching were enhanced further with a wonderful miso garlic glaze. I could easily devour a dozen of them.

We would have loved to meet Chef Ken but unfortunately he wasn't there considering we visited on a Sunday.

Sushi Train is a popular franchise but unlike its other locations, Neutral Bay offers a more refined and intimate dining experience with modern timber decor, gorgeous lighting and jazz music playing in the background. They have a solid offering with many dishes not found at its competitors and an a la carte menu so Sushi Train have an advantage in that respect. The service was really prompt and food arrived in a timely manner. I suggest ordering everything as that way the dishes are prepared fresh. Usually you can't be sure how long the dish has been sitting on the conveyor belt and would be especially relevant to fried or hot foods.

Don't forget to become a Washoku Lovers member and show your card to get a free small glass of sake of your choice from the menu at Sushi Train Neutral Bay. Signing up is easily done through http://www.washokulovers.com/signup/ and it's absolutely free.

DT and I dined as guests of Sushi Train Neutral Bay with thanks to Yuri from Washoku Lovers (SDMG Marketing) for the invitation

Cabramatta is home to quite a handful of yum cha restaurants and I usually alternate between Vinh Phat and Fortune8 and occasionally Iron Chef. If you want a nicer and more refined ambience and fairly modern decor then hit up Vinh Phat or Iron Chef, they also cart around your typical steel trolleys to each table. Fortune8 definitely needs an interior revamp and the fact that the space it occupies is relatively smaller means no room for trolleys so expect staff to carry out dishes by hand which does slow down service. In regards to food though, I feel that Fortune8 has a wider range and slightly tastier than its competitors.

Wu gok (taro puffs)

A popular deep fried dim sum which I always order at yum cha. The outer shell was super flaky and crumbly and just so enticing with a second layer of soft and creamy mashed taro encasing perfectly seasoned ground minced pork. The different textures throughout make this dumpling very unique and Fortune8's one didn't taste too rich because it wasn't overloaded with taro but the fragrance of taro was still apparent. Other yum cha places I have visited are more heavy-handed with the taro which may be preferable to some but for me, too much of it makes it a bit sickening.

Ham sui gok (fried pork dumpling)

Another classic dim sum that I get all the time. These had a crisp exterior combined with a soft and slightly chewy inner wall which was of a good thickness. The use of glutinous rice flour in the dough gives it its characteristic bouncy and chewy texture. Fortune8 packed in the right amount of minced pork filling and had a good saltiness to it which contrasted well with the sweetness of the shell.

With the deep-fried dim sum arriving to our table first, mum and I were eagerly awaiting some steamed ones. We commented that the food was coming out quite slowly, but to be fair we did arrive at 10am and they were probably in the middle of prepping all the food.

Mushroom and prawn ball

Finally, some interesting looking siu mai came around which was comprised of a super juicy shiitake mushroom at the bottom with a prawn and pork mince ball and a sliver of lap cheong on top. This was so tasty and full of umami due to the spongy shiitake mushroom which had a really pungent aroma. I liked that the prawns were largely visible and not completely minced which helped add extra texture. The addition of lap cheong elevated the presentation and taste and overall, it was a well-executed dim sum dish and something I would happily have again.

Braised chicken feet

This is one of those dishes where you wouldn't judge the taste from appearance alone. The very thought of devouring chicken feet would make most people shudder but when we're on the topic of yum cha, this dish is pretty much a staple, as intimidating as it looks. While I'm not one to be particularly keen on getting the chicken feet (as they are messy to eat) I can't say that they're not tasty because they really are quite the opposite. There's also no elegant method to eat chicken feet because you're basically required to suck the skin off the bone but that's also how you extract all the amazing flavour. The sheer amount of a flavour comes as a result of the chicken feet first being deep-fried, then braised and finally steamed until the skin literally falls of the bone. The marinade itself is a complex mixture but predominantly consists of black bean sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar and the combination is so addictive with its finger-licking goodness.

Fortune8 delivered a solid braised chicken feet dim sum with plenty of that signature black bean flavour absorbed in to the soft skin which was also easily pried away.

Pork and prawn siu mai

I can't decide whether I love ham sui gok or siu mai more but they would make my top two favourite dim sum of all time. I've found Fortun8's variation of siu mai to be the best so far as it's not full of sinew. Too much sinew peeves me because I hate the feeling when it gets wedged between my teeth and it's such a pain to remove. The texture of the siu mai was also on point as it was firm and not too mushy, the wonton wrapper wasn't stuck to the bamboo steamer either. I love piling on that chilli sauce on most dim sum and it goes especially well with siu mai and har gao.

Har gow

I can pretty safely declare that har gow and siu mai are the two dim sum synonymous with yum cha. Sadly, har gao is not a favourite of mine as I'm not a fan of prawns which I'm certain is a well-established fact. I couldn't leave Fortune8 without giving them a shot though and came as a shock to my mum because she's well aware I despise prawns. I do try to make them more palatable by slathering on a lot of a chilli sauce and it works. The har gow was pretty standard to me with a translucent skin and of a decent thickness, albeit on the stickier side. A thinner skin would have worked in its favour. Inside was a sizeable whole prawn and the ones used were fresh gauging from its bounciness and crunchiness.

You can see how much I love my chilli.

Char siu cheong (BBQ pork rice noodle)

Yet another favourite of mine and I always try to get the char siu variation instead of the prawn one as the BBQ pork lends its delicious salty sweetness to the cheong fun (rice noodle). While it was really tasty, it was somewhat let down by the cheong fun. They were nice and thin but too sticky so the rolls adhered to each other and hence would break apart upon picking them up with my chopsticks. Due to the stickiness, it wasn't also as slippery as I would have liked but the flavoursome char siu mostly made up for it.

Kai lan (Chinese broccoli)

Nothing much to say other than that continuous dim sum consumption can quickly become very heavy on the palate so a plate of kai lan drizzled with oyster sauce does well to break it up. Side note: oyster sauce can potentially make any vegetable taste good.

As you can probably gather from the post so far, my mum and I had a lot of food between us. We managed to clean up the majority of the dim sum on our table except for one har gao and one third of the dish pictured below. It's extremely easy to go overboard with the food as there will constantly be a variety of dim sum brought out and since it's fair to say we eat with our eyes first it's certainly difficult to resist having more dishes added to the table unless you're really bursting at the seams.

Chinese doughnut wrapped in cheong fun

I love Chinese doughnut (youtiao) and especially when eaten with a hearty bowl of congee. Despite how full I was I had to get it because doughnut wrapped with cheong fun, why not? A soy-based sauce for dipping was provided in a separate bowl. Unfortunately, the Chinese doughnut didn't have the crispy exterior I was hoping for which was probably attributed to the cheong fun making it a little soggy but I expected the doughnut to retain some of the crunch. Overall, it was enjoyable however we had to resort to taking it away as there was too much.

If you're looking for an affordable and quick yum cha fix and don't mind a relatively cramped restaurant to do so then Fortune8 would be an enticing option. The dim sum are prepared fresh and there are plenty of unique ones to choose from on their menu. One that I particularly like from Fortune8 is the minced pork with fried eggplant which I didn't get to have on this occasion as it came out too late and my mum and I were pretty stuffed at that point in time.

With the exponential influx of burger places in Sydney the growing competition means better and bigger burgers for all to enjoy so when I heard PLK and Barrio Chinowere joining forces there was no way DT and I were going to miss out. Considering it's only a pop-up, taking up residency at Deus Cafe in Camperdown it isn't going to be around forever; until the end of January but I really hope it's extended or becomes a permanent addition. Honestly, I had only known of PLK's existence and from previous experience, the burgers were pretty fine. Barrio Chino was a new name to me but if PLK was involved that was enough reassurance for me that the burgers would be worth my while and money.

We visited on a Sunday with the knowledge that it opened at 12pm, so we being the people who didn't want to wait in a long queue for our burger fix arrived at 12 on the dot. To our surprise, the place was already in full swing, if we had known that we would have ventured inside sooner as we were just passing time in the car waiting for 12 'o clock to roll around. Good thing the line wasn't too long yet because I was starving.

The cafe was nicer than I had presumed with long communal tables and also smaller ones to accommodate at most four people. Ordering was straightforward, you order and pay at the counter, receive a number and find a table and the food will be brought out to you. It was an efficient, no-fuss system although there was about a 20 minute wait for the food to arrive, but totally worth it.

Double cheese burger $16

Trust me when I say that the burger was not all just good looks. Definitely a burger worth coming back for and will make sure to throw in some bacon next time. So glad we got the double because the beef patty was so close to perfect, let down a tiny bit from not being more seasoned, but that's probably intentional so one can savour them beefy flavours. Make sure when you order their cheeseburger to specify you want the patty cooked medium otherwise it would be served burnt (well done) and why would you want a burnt one?

The patties were soft with perfectly pink insides and draped with a layer of American cheese it was absolutely mouthwatering, especially so for DT because he loves his burgers. As for the milk buns, they were robust and did a good job holding those epic layers together and were soft and fluffy. The lettuce, tomato and McClure's pickles helped to balance out the heaviness of it all while the dirty sauce (a mixture of cheese sauce and spicy aioli) really gave the burger that necessary flavour and oomph to make the entire creation so amazingly good.

Fried chicken burger $14

I couldn't help but compare it to Mary's fried chicken burger which I rank very highly. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations but in saying that it was still a very good burger. I was most impressed by the buttermilk fried chicken because it was so succulent and tender and was similar to Mary's except for flavour. There was green Sriracha mayo in there somewhere but I couldn't taste it which was a shame. I also felt that the lettuce was too intrusive (probably because I got lettuce closer to the stalk which was too hard and crunchy) and would have enjoyed it more if the burger came without it.

French fries with dirty sauce $7

One cannot have burgers without their ultimate companion and these french fries were badass with that smothering of dirty sauce on top. The fries were nice and crisp on the outside while soft and potatoey inside. The cheese sauce and spicy aioli combination was right up DT's alley and I was afraid it would be too much for me to handle but I was wrong. Cheese sauce it was but there was enough spiciness to counteract the heaviness which made it super addictive and hence neither of us displayed any restraint when it came to eating them.

Sadly, this burger pop-up will be finishing up soon and it's not one to be missed as PLK and Barrio Chino have collaborated to produce some pretty awesome burgers, particularly their cheeseburger and that dirty sauce is freakishly delicious too. If you get the fries, you need the dirty sauce to complete them.

Petaling Street is located along George Street in Haymarket/Chinatown area and draws my attention every time I walk by with its bright orange sign and blown up photos of the food displayed at the front. It was on my mind to try for the longest time and DT and I finally found the opportune time to pop by; it made for the perfect quick dinner before seeing the amazing Sam Smith at the Qantas Credit Union in Darling Harbour.

Open view into the kitchen

The window allows passersby to have a peek into the kitchen similar to Mamak where the main attraction is watching the roti canai being expertly made. I can totally understand why there would be a line for Petaling Street as the food served really represents Malaysian hawker food and relatively affordable too.

The interior was not fancy and I liked the casual setting but because the seating space was so narrow it did feel a bit awkward as waitstaff didn't have a lot of space to stand around if they had nothing to do.

Kitchen area

A somewhat visible kitchen with a long timber countertop. The restaurant made good use of the space available to them and more seats can be found downstairs.

The menu at Petaling Street was impressive with a range of entrees, roti, noodle, rice and curry dishes on offer and so much more.

Ice teh tarik $3.80

I don't know where this drink has been all my life. This beverage originates from Malaysia and is more commonly drunk hot but I love cold drinks so we got the cold option instead. I've been to Malaysia I believe four or five times now and embarrassingly enough have yet to have it there. The black tea sweetened with condensed milk was refreshing despite its sweetness and the taste can be compared to bubble milk tea but being a "pulled" tea there was more depth of flavour. I'm so addicted to teh tarik for its distinguishable taste and may be tempted to try and make my own (and fail miserably) or even better find a bottled version of the stuff.

Milk tea goodness

The teh tarik arrived in a hefty metal cup and pretty sizeable too. However, it was so delicious to the point that it was difficult to not guzzle it all in one go. I had to force myself and DT to carefully sip at it in measured intervals in order to have it last throughout the meal. In hindsight we should have ordered two.

Penang Asam Laksa $11.80

Since discovering asam laksa at Papparich I've been on a mission to try and find other restaurants that have this variation of laksa in Sydney. It was a rarity to find these noodles here as curry laksa is more well-known and probably suits more palates than the asam version which is a fish-based soup as opposed to curry-based. Thankfully, more and more Malaysian restaurants have appeared that are doing more authentic dishes and so getting my asam laksa fix has become less of a challenge.

Round rice noodles

I grew up eating asam laksa from Ipoh, Malaysia which has a darker orange soup so I was pretty intrigued by how yellow Penang asam laksa was, to be honest I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be an actual characteristic of it or Petaling Street just makes it yellow. Nonetheless, it really satisfied my cravings for this tamarind enriched soup and I was pleased that it came with thick round rice noodles which cemented the authenticity. They had a slight chewiness and did well to absorb the flavourful soup. Penang asam laksa is sweeter (due to the addition of pineapple) compared to asam laksa commonly found in Ipoh which is more sour. Take caution if you order it because the rich sourness and sweetness combined with some heat might be overwhelming and perhaps makes this dish an acquired taste. DT didn't enjoy it as much as I did and he prefers curry laksa over it.

Roti canai with curry chicken $10.80

I had high expectations for the roti canai but unfortunately was left disappointed. I can definitely say that Mamak's roti canai is leagues ahead. I found Petaling's too dense and doughy and cutting it into smaller pieces left much to be desired even though it made it more convenient to eat.

The curry was decent, it wasn't heavy and erred on being watery but had plenty of flavour. If you like your curry heaped with coconut milk then you won't like this one and it was quite spicy as well (which I liked). I will mention that I do prefer this style of curry to pair with roti canai compared to coconut milk-laden ones. DT is the opposite to me which highlights the fact that everyone's tastes are different. The chicken pieces were pretty moist throughout and flavoursome but two small portions of it didn't seem worth it for the amount paid.

Fried kway teow $11.50

Kway teow is the name for the flat rice noodles used for this staple dish of Malaysia and Singapore. A good stir fry noodle can easily be determined from the amount of "wok hei" incorporated. This Cantonese term literally means "breath of the wok". It's a distinctive aroma that is achieved with not just a hot wok surface but also having the right amount of oil and then cooking it to a specific temperature range. If done correctly a nice "wok hei" comes about and it really elevates and transforms the taste of plain rice noodles with the smokiness.

Petaling Street's fried kway teow was delicious, the noodles had an admirable level of "wok hei" and had a good mix of lup cheong (Chinese sausage), fish cake, scallops, bean sprout and fried egg tossed through. It even came with two large prawns so it was decent value for Sydney standards. There was plenty of flavour too from the soy sauce.

With so many dishes on the menu there's no question that I will be revisiting Petaling Street for more Malaysian hawker food. It's cheap and delicious and along with quick service it's the perfect option if you're in a hurry unless there's a line out the door but I'm sure it would be fairly efficient. Order the asam laksa if you're looking for something new and different to try, but I can't guarantee that it will be enjoyed otherwise you can't go wrong with their fried kway teow. As for roti canai, stick to Mamak or Spice Alley as they are the two places thus far that I have found are comparable to what I've had in Malaysia.

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