Alright, quick blog entry. I've been saying I'd blog 4 nights ago, but then, due to the immense amount of uni work this week, and our internet being capped.. it's so frustrating waiting for a page to load, and then after several minutes, you realize it's not going to load afterall. Anyway, internet is no longer capped, so... time to blog.
Good thing it's Friday today. Yesterday after dinner, I slept from... 10pm till this morning, 9:30... haha... think I just made up for all the hours I missed out on sleeping this week.
My sister's gone back to Singapore already.. =( so, about her last full day in Australia (Sunday), we'll start from the morning.
This was at Strathfield, some korean restaurant that was open at 10:15... not many restaurants are open that early because... I assume they go to church in the morning and do business in the afternoon/night. This one was open, so we went in.
Good thing about korean meals: their side dishes. Seaweed, pickled radish, beansprouts, tofu, cabbage salad, potato (which is always the best side dish!) kimchi, and others.
Ack, blurry picture. My brother's cold noodles. It had ice in it to keep it cold, and I think my brother said there were pear slices in there..? Interesting... but could work I guess. They put apple into curry, why not pear into cold noodles?
My sister's miso stock seafood noodles. Came with rice. For some reason, she said it was spicy... but then again, my sister's taste for spiciness is very very very mild. And she's from Singapore =|
Dumpling and rice cake soup. Was meant to be shared between everyone, but it ended up being eaten by my brother only because we were full...
My spicy beef and combination soup.. came with rice too. It wasn't actually that spicy, but when it was hot (temperature wise), it felt hotter than it really is. Lots of mushrooms =|
In between then and dinner time, I went to work while my sister and brother went to other places. Look at my sister's blog for more pictures there~~
Dinner!! I was so looking forward to getting out of work for dinner.. took the train from penno to townhall and walked to world square from there, to Din Tai Fung. My brother called and gave directions of "go up the wooden block of stairs and it's that chinese restaurant there". Actually, all I had to do was go up and look towards the place crowded with people standing outside waiting to go in. It was THAT popular. Having only been open for 2, 3 weeks, their business is incredibly good.
I thought I was late, having arrived at 7:45, but my brother and sister said they were waiting outside anyway, coz they booked for 7:30. Yeah, if you're smart, book beforehand, or be prepared to wait about an hour in line. Not too bad though, you get hot tea to drink while waiting outside as you watch the ppl inside happily eating xiao long baos. The interior... very creatively decorated, with lights almost resembling the bamboo steamers, and walls mounted with the steamers itself of various sizes. Not only steamers, but they have walls of spoons, large-sized chopsticks, sauce bowls and mini soup bowls too. Unfortunately, my pictures of those didn't turn out too well.
My brother came outside to take me inside to where my parents and sister were already waiting at the table. Upon entering, waitresses bowed and welcomed us, and proceeded to pour us tea. Very efficient service, which was really quite abnormal in a Chinese restaurant. They did have many staffs working though, and they really seem to know what they're doing, so not only did the food come quickly, it was also cleared away quickly, leaving your table free for more to come.
Our first dish- also their signature dish. Their xiao long bao are no doubt the best I've ever had. Compared to the frozen ones which I steam at home, these were at least 10 times better. The skin is thin, but firm, and not a single one burst, even when picked up. At first, being all cautious because xiao long bao are such delicate dumplings, we were slowly and carefully picking them up with chopsticks and spoons, hoping against hope that it wouldn't break. And then we realise that it wasn't even necessary- it doesn't break!
Look, I picked it up with my chopsticks and took like a minute or two to get my camera out and take a photo. It was still hole-free when I was done with it too. My sister was scared and put a spoon underneath just in case, but that was not needed. Just looking at it makes me want to go there again =|
Second dish to come was a seafood (crab filled) xiao long bao. It looked exactly the same as the normal xiao long bao, and was just as nice too. This is the third- I forgot what this was called, but it was quite spicy, with pork filling. Almost like a wonton. Shaped like a handbag, it was easy to pick up, and in no time at all, this dish was emptied out too and the bowl carried away within seconds by a nearby waitress.
Fourth- this is braised beef soup I think? Noodles hidden by the dark soup, my dad thoroughly enjoyed this one =)
Fifth- Peanut soup noodle. Upon its arrival, the waitress tells us to put various sauces and mix it for a better taste. This was really nice, one of the best dan dan noodles. My dad used to make this for us at home- with crunchy peanut butter. Maybe he'll learn how to make it like this =D
Sixth- Vegetable and pork wonton soup. For some reason, I couldn't really remember the tate of this one... And I think it was around here when I accidentally smashed a toothpick holder onto the hard ground while trying to put the vinegar back onto the tray. It was a mistake!! The toothpick holder was behind the soysauce bottle and I didn't see it, so I pushed the soysauce bottle to make room for the vinegar and.. it dropped. The din brought about 3 waitresses with dustpans and swept up the mess, followed by apologies. But... it was my fault right?? Why did they have to apologise? =| Felt bad... but seriously, they got rid of the mess so fast, it was as if it has never happened after a minute or two.
Seventh- Their fried wonton which came with mayonnaise. It didn't even feel oily at all, and came to our table crispy and hot (another good point of very efficient service- you can tell the food only just came out and has not been sitting at a counter waiting to be put out for a long time).
Eighth- Hot and sour soup. This was awesome. It was seriously nice. The spiciness did not just come from adding half a packet of powdered pepper, it was actually from the spices they add in, along with chilli flakes and some pepper.
Ninth- (wow, how many dishes did we try out!!) dan dan noodle. With beans and minced meat sitting on top, the waitress recommended chilli oil to be mixed with the noodles before eating. Did so, and indeed, it tastes much better that way.
Tenth- another kind of soup dumpling... getting old and after 5 days, I don't remember what this one was.
Eleventh- poor lonesome bao! We actually ordered 4 I think, but a waitress ran up to us and told us they ran out... and had all but one. We decided to take it anyway, and ordered something else instead... dessert!
I would go back again and try their desserts... they were out of taro and black sesame was unavailable, so, we had the red bean xiao long bao. The filling was piping hot red bean paste~ it was so nice!! =D Never thought there would be a dessert xiao long bao.
Closeup- such a fine piece of work.
For those interested, I've also uploaded their menu. I think it was a little sus for me to take so many photos, and at one stage, a manager-like person came up to our table and asked us many questions, it felt like a polite interrogation ^^'' My brother told him of how we came to know of the place- through NQN, and even wrote down the site for him to visit. He was very nice, fluent in mandarin, cantonese and English, as was all the other staff there. I went to the bathroom and there, a waitress was applying lipbalm. She started talking to me like we were old friends =) Very friendly ppl.
I didn't take photos of the whole menu- my parents were nagging me to eat before everything got cold...
As we were leaving, I took a photo of the chefs busily making xiao long baos and baos in a kitchen stacked high with bamboo steamers~ One of them looked at me and feeling a bit awkward, I waved and he waved back =D
Din Tai Fung- 9/10. Upstairs of World Square. Remember to book before you go. And bring your credit card (and me!) along.
Good thing it's Friday today. Yesterday after dinner, I slept from... 10pm till this morning, 9:30... haha... think I just made up for all the hours I missed out on sleeping this week.
My sister's gone back to Singapore already.. =( so, about her last full day in Australia (Sunday), we'll start from the morning.
This was at Strathfield, some korean restaurant that was open at 10:15... not many restaurants are open that early because... I assume they go to church in the morning and do business in the afternoon/night. This one was open, so we went in.
Good thing about korean meals: their side dishes. Seaweed, pickled radish, beansprouts, tofu, cabbage salad, potato (which is always the best side dish!) kimchi, and others.
Ack, blurry picture. My brother's cold noodles. It had ice in it to keep it cold, and I think my brother said there were pear slices in there..? Interesting... but could work I guess. They put apple into curry, why not pear into cold noodles?
My sister's miso stock seafood noodles. Came with rice. For some reason, she said it was spicy... but then again, my sister's taste for spiciness is very very very mild. And she's from Singapore =|
Dumpling and rice cake soup. Was meant to be shared between everyone, but it ended up being eaten by my brother only because we were full...
My spicy beef and combination soup.. came with rice too. It wasn't actually that spicy, but when it was hot (temperature wise), it felt hotter than it really is. Lots of mushrooms =|
In between then and dinner time, I went to work while my sister and brother went to other places. Look at my sister's blog for more pictures there~~
Dinner!! I was so looking forward to getting out of work for dinner.. took the train from penno to townhall and walked to world square from there, to Din Tai Fung. My brother called and gave directions of "go up the wooden block of stairs and it's that chinese restaurant there". Actually, all I had to do was go up and look towards the place crowded with people standing outside waiting to go in. It was THAT popular. Having only been open for 2, 3 weeks, their business is incredibly good.
I thought I was late, having arrived at 7:45, but my brother and sister said they were waiting outside anyway, coz they booked for 7:30. Yeah, if you're smart, book beforehand, or be prepared to wait about an hour in line. Not too bad though, you get hot tea to drink while waiting outside as you watch the ppl inside happily eating xiao long baos. The interior... very creatively decorated, with lights almost resembling the bamboo steamers, and walls mounted with the steamers itself of various sizes. Not only steamers, but they have walls of spoons, large-sized chopsticks, sauce bowls and mini soup bowls too. Unfortunately, my pictures of those didn't turn out too well.
My brother came outside to take me inside to where my parents and sister were already waiting at the table. Upon entering, waitresses bowed and welcomed us, and proceeded to pour us tea. Very efficient service, which was really quite abnormal in a Chinese restaurant. They did have many staffs working though, and they really seem to know what they're doing, so not only did the food come quickly, it was also cleared away quickly, leaving your table free for more to come.
Our first dish- also their signature dish. Their xiao long bao are no doubt the best I've ever had. Compared to the frozen ones which I steam at home, these were at least 10 times better. The skin is thin, but firm, and not a single one burst, even when picked up. At first, being all cautious because xiao long bao are such delicate dumplings, we were slowly and carefully picking them up with chopsticks and spoons, hoping against hope that it wouldn't break. And then we realise that it wasn't even necessary- it doesn't break!
Look, I picked it up with my chopsticks and took like a minute or two to get my camera out and take a photo. It was still hole-free when I was done with it too. My sister was scared and put a spoon underneath just in case, but that was not needed. Just looking at it makes me want to go there again =|
Second dish to come was a seafood (crab filled) xiao long bao. It looked exactly the same as the normal xiao long bao, and was just as nice too. This is the third- I forgot what this was called, but it was quite spicy, with pork filling. Almost like a wonton. Shaped like a handbag, it was easy to pick up, and in no time at all, this dish was emptied out too and the bowl carried away within seconds by a nearby waitress.
Fourth- this is braised beef soup I think? Noodles hidden by the dark soup, my dad thoroughly enjoyed this one =)
Fifth- Peanut soup noodle. Upon its arrival, the waitress tells us to put various sauces and mix it for a better taste. This was really nice, one of the best dan dan noodles. My dad used to make this for us at home- with crunchy peanut butter. Maybe he'll learn how to make it like this =D
Sixth- Vegetable and pork wonton soup. For some reason, I couldn't really remember the tate of this one... And I think it was around here when I accidentally smashed a toothpick holder onto the hard ground while trying to put the vinegar back onto the tray. It was a mistake!! The toothpick holder was behind the soysauce bottle and I didn't see it, so I pushed the soysauce bottle to make room for the vinegar and.. it dropped. The din brought about 3 waitresses with dustpans and swept up the mess, followed by apologies. But... it was my fault right?? Why did they have to apologise? =| Felt bad... but seriously, they got rid of the mess so fast, it was as if it has never happened after a minute or two.
Seventh- Their fried wonton which came with mayonnaise. It didn't even feel oily at all, and came to our table crispy and hot (another good point of very efficient service- you can tell the food only just came out and has not been sitting at a counter waiting to be put out for a long time).
Eighth- Hot and sour soup. This was awesome. It was seriously nice. The spiciness did not just come from adding half a packet of powdered pepper, it was actually from the spices they add in, along with chilli flakes and some pepper.
Ninth- (wow, how many dishes did we try out!!) dan dan noodle. With beans and minced meat sitting on top, the waitress recommended chilli oil to be mixed with the noodles before eating. Did so, and indeed, it tastes much better that way.
Tenth- another kind of soup dumpling... getting old and after 5 days, I don't remember what this one was.
Eleventh- poor lonesome bao! We actually ordered 4 I think, but a waitress ran up to us and told us they ran out... and had all but one. We decided to take it anyway, and ordered something else instead... dessert!
I would go back again and try their desserts... they were out of taro and black sesame was unavailable, so, we had the red bean xiao long bao. The filling was piping hot red bean paste~ it was so nice!! =D Never thought there would be a dessert xiao long bao.
Closeup- such a fine piece of work.
For those interested, I've also uploaded their menu. I think it was a little sus for me to take so many photos, and at one stage, a manager-like person came up to our table and asked us many questions, it felt like a polite interrogation ^^'' My brother told him of how we came to know of the place- through NQN, and even wrote down the site for him to visit. He was very nice, fluent in mandarin, cantonese and English, as was all the other staff there. I went to the bathroom and there, a waitress was applying lipbalm. She started talking to me like we were old friends =) Very friendly ppl.
I didn't take photos of the whole menu- my parents were nagging me to eat before everything got cold...
As we were leaving, I took a photo of the chefs busily making xiao long baos and baos in a kitchen stacked high with bamboo steamers~ One of them looked at me and feeling a bit awkward, I waved and he waved back =D
7 comments:
Wow, that's a lot of eating O.o Hehehe, you seem to be enjoying yourself even though you're very busy. It's good to know! XD
Final two weeks of uni!! XD You're having exams too right? All the best Jess! And looking forward to you coming back to Sydney =D
Bleh, it's in the city.. City parking sucks!
puubbbblliccc trannsppoorrrtttt
too expensive without student card
it's worth it when there's good food waiting.. =D
It has to be reeeeeeeally good to make up for ticket + food price
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