Sightseeing in Sydney

I took my mom on a trip to Australia for some quality mother-daughter time. This was the first visit for either of us, so we spent a lot of time sightseeing…and of course, eating! We mostly ate Asian cuisine because it’s my mom’s preference, and I have to say the Asian food in Sydney rivals (if not surpasses) that of most other cities outside of Asia.

Sydney Harbour Bridge
The stunning Sydney Opera House
My mom has always wanted to eat giant abalone, so we had lunch at Golden Century, one of Sydney’s top Chinese seafood restaurants. It’s pricey, but well worth it. We started off with a bowl of dried scallop soup. Then we had Mud Crab with Ginger & Scallions. I’m a huge crustacean fan and was excited about trying something new. The Mud Crab was EXCELLENT – like a cross between Dungeness crab, stone crab, and blue crab…it was large, yet the meat was succulent and sweet.
Steamed Giant Abalone – more tender and delicate than any abalone I’ve ever had. Beautifully prepared, it reminded me of thinly sliced squid, only sweeter and less chewy. I also didn’t know abalone meat could be white – all the other abalone I’ve had was smaller with a light beige colored meat. This abalone tasted totally different.
Darling Harbour
We then stopped for a “snack” at Din Tai Fung. Originated in Taiwan, Din Tai Fung is famous for their dumplings and has people lined up at their locations all over the world. The quality of their Sydney location is a bit inconsistent, although their dumplings are still superior to other restaurant’s that I’ve been to. The steamed pork dumplings (their most popular) weren’t as juicy, like it had been sitting around for a few minutes too long. However, their steamed crab and pork dumplings were SUBLIME! They were bursting with hot juice from the perfectly steamed crab and pork, and the wrapping was fine and satin-like (pictured). We had also ordered the steamed mashed red bean buns for dessert, but they forgot our order (boo!) and we had to get going.
We had dinner in Cabramatta, the predominantly Vietnamese part of town. I forget the name of the restaurant, but they’re oysters rocked! Plump and luscious with lots of flavor – cooked with black bean sauce (on right) and ginger and scallions (on left).
Recommendation: You MUST also try the pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) in Cabramatta. I had it here for lunch during another day, and it’s seriously the BEST PHO I’ve had (outside of Vietnam). Don’t get the chicken pho, go with the traditional beef pho…the broth had so many layers of rich flavor and heaping with slices of tender beef.

BITE METER: Golden Century – 4.0 bites (out of 5)
BITE METER: Din Tai Fung – 3.7 bites (out of 5)

Kirin Chinese Restaurant – Where’s the Meat?!

I had just finished working out after a long day at the office, so I was feeling especially tired and hungry (i.e. grumpy). But B had a mad craving for Chinese food and wanted this stuffed chicken that he had at Kirin several years ago, so we drove all the way over to the San Francisco’s Outer Richmond for dinner.

We ordered a large bowl of winter melon soup and the stuffed chicken with sweet rice. A whole chicken should be enough for us, right? WRONG.

The soup wasn’t particularly good – it didn’t taste fresh, almost as if it had been made a week ago. The broth was a bit too salty and didn’t have the lovely winter melon flavor incorporated into it. We then had to wait what seemed like half an hour for the chicken to come out…

The dish is basically the skin of a whole chicken that has been fried and stuffed with sticky rice…that’s it. Initially, we enjoyed the combination of the crispy fried chicken skin with the warm sticky rice (not sweet rice as it's named). Then after about two pieces, we started to wonder about the chicken meat. There wasn’t any chicken in the rice - were they going to bring the meat out separately (like they do with Peking duck)? Nope. You never get the chicken meat! How can they charge $30 for a chicken and not give you any of the meat?! It’s absurd. I needed protein…just skin and rice did not to cut it for me. They also skimped on the amount of Chinese sausage in the sticky rice - just a few tiny bits instead of whole slices. No meat, bland, and greasy...never again. Such an unsatisfying meal.

[Note: I probably wouldn’t have been as disgruntled about the stuffed chicken had it been one of several dishes instead of my main course, but I still think it’s a crime to charge $30 for under-seasoned chicken skin and rice.]

BITE METER: Kirin Chinese Restaurant – 1.5 bites (out of 5)