Chong Qing Restaurant - Haymarket, Sydney

Don't judge me, but I almost NEVER visit any of those Chinese restaurants on Dixon St. Chinatown - not so much because they're kind of tourist traps, but because of those annoying waitresses who stand in front of their respective restaurants calling on and shoving menus to unwary potential 'victims' (which are always Caucasian, non-Chinese, or touristy-looking customers).

I also bear a personal grudge against these waitresses, as they always, always assume that I'm not Chinese and shout stuff like "SIR, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME NICE DINNER?? TWENTY FIVE-FIFTY PER PERSON, VERY GOOD VALUE! COME AND LOOK AT OUR MENU!!!"
This bugs me a LOT. How can they tell that I'm not Chinese? I look like a Chinese - but that's not the main point. The main point is, I AM Chinese, I just didn't grow up in China nor speak the language proficiently (okay, I lied. My Chinese is lousier than a fifth grader).

I always complain about this to my friends, but they didn't believe me. They thought that I look VERY Chinese (which bugs me a bit as well, as I love being racially ambiguous, LOL). So, one day, I dared them to do a little experiment.

'twas Monday night, the restaurant strip part of Dixon St was reasonably quiet, so imaginably, restaurants started to get all worked up to fish some wayward customers walking on the street. Therefore, they placed their prettiest, most alluring and seductive waitresses, some even clad in (surprisingly) pretty nice qipaos. Their faces are covered with make-up which are thicker than that of Singapore Airlines' flight attendants. So there they stood, carrying several menus, prepared to pounce at any given time.

My 2 friends and I (one from Hong Kong and another from China) stood near the Chinatown paifang (the Chinese gate thingy) and we had planned to proceed walking along Dixon St one at a time, at the same pace and speed, and see which one of us gets called by the waitress(es). First to go was the Hong Kong guy, and as he walked along the street decked with waitresses standing on both sides of the street, he got called by no-one. Second to go was the Chinese guy, who ALSO walked along the street, passing many waitresses with no-one calling or offering him the menu.

Then came my turn. I walked confidently, in focus and looking straight ahead, creating the illusion that I have a sense of purpose and direction and have no interest on having dinner anywhere. But ho-ho, surprise surprise, the very FIRST waitress I approached SHOVED me her menu and informed me that they've got "Special offer on set menu! STIR FRIED CHILI KING PRAWN only 10 dollars!". I immediately felt irked. But then, stir-fried king prawns for 10 bucks in a restaurant is a pretty good deal, an....wait a minute, *FOCUS, erique, DO NOT GIVE IN! Just keep walking*. Then, after walking past a couple of idle waitresses, another one shoved me a menu AGAIN! "NICE DINNER, SIR! FORTY DOLLARS FOR TWO PEOPLE, COME IN AND TAKE A LOOK!!". Damn. I was seriously pissed. I mean, if I can speak Mandarin, I would tell them to save their sweet-talk to some tourists or Caucasians!

But at least I proved my point to my friends that apparently, as ridiculous as it seems, people CAN tell that I'm not Chinese-Chinese. China-Chinese. Whatever you may call it.

So, we decided to go to this place, Chong Qing Restaurant instead (they DON'T have waitresses standing in front of their establishment shouting menu items, which I very much appreciate)

Pickled gingers, steamed peanuts

-> The free stuff (or rather, the prices of these stuff are built-into the non-free items). I love steamed peanuts. It's very common in Jakarta, where I come from - basically any crowded area has at least one steamed peanut peddler.



-> The two-way steamboat - mild chicken soup and hot soup. The hot one is ridiculously delicious and saliva-inducing. It's tongue-numbing hot as well (lots of peppers), however, you can choose your desired level of hot-ness from the menu (this one was MAXIMUM)

Beef tendon ball & Pork sausages

-> It's just beef balls & sausages, but when cooked inside the hot soup, they becomes freaking awesome. If I don't have a weak stomach, I would eat these hot stuff every single day!

Beef roll & lamb roll

-> Imagine these bad boys soaking all the aroma and flavor of the hot soup...mmm, it doesn't get any better than this...

Enoki & oyster mushrooms

-> These are great, but the real reason why we ordered these is just to show the world that we aren't some greedy, gluttonous carnivores who only eat meat, meat, and meat.

Northern-style pancakes

-> Okay, this thing is indispensable. It's quite crisp on the outside, and soft on the inside, so when you soak these pancakes with the spicy soup, it soaks up the liquid, creating that incredible yet momentary texture of crispiness and moistness, coupled with some pretty intense and glorious flavors and aroma....this is truly the food of Gods. (too hyperbolic?)

Be wary, though - as this is an all-you-care-to-eat restaurant, they tend to shove this a lot to you so you would fill up on carbs and consume less meat. Amateurs might fall for it, but not us here at eatlikeacow!



-> Dessert. Okay, can someone tell me what this might be?? it's kind of like a fungus or algae or aloe vera or something - anyway it's delicious...

Rating (for the whole experience): 8/10

Madono - Haymarket, Sydney

Post-theater dinner. *watched Billy Elliot at the Capitol*

Anyway, the entrance to this restaurant looked convincing enough - the mini Japanese zen-ish garden concept is nice, but the actual inside of the restaurant looks somewhat detached from the entrance decor scheme. The inside interior is simple and minimalist, with so-so lighting and rather boring furnitures. It's okay for casual dinner, but definitely not for a night out.

Service lacks smile, but is prompt enough. Water glasses refilled without asking (for me, that's really important because I drink like a camel storing water in the desert when I eat). There's a serious lack of ambient music inside the restaurant, which really dulls up everything. However, everything was forgiven because the food was quite nice (with some exceptions). Prices are reasonable, too - I'd say it's good value for money because similar dishes in other similar restaurants can cost more.

At the time of dining, the place was half-full, with a big table consisting of very noisy Hong Kong kids. Their sheer volume (especially when they laughed) literally blew the roof - and remember, there was no music inside the restaurant, so all we could hear was their raucous jibberjabber. At some point, I even heard them laughing while banging their chopsticks to their glasses. Seriously.

Salmon maki

-> Surprisingly nice. Everything you'd expect from a nice salmon roll. I love how they roll the avocado outside the rice - it's hard to get this right.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sukiyaki set

-> Nice. the tofu is very fresh and just the right firmness and texture, good fat ratio on the meat, and the sashimi is fresh as well. A good, solid dish

Rating: 7.5/10

Katsudon

-> This one, however, is a joke. The crumb is too fine, it's not warm enough, the eggs overcooked, and the whole dish is not moist enough. Avoid it like you'd avoid being seen carrying Anya Hindmarch's "I'm not a plastic bag" tote.

Rating: 4.5/10

Anyway, this place is kind of nice if you want to have different types of Japanese food at a reasonable price. Based on the few dishes I've tried, it seems that their sushi is quite OK. Too bad the place is kind of depressing and too sterile.

Coca - Ngee Ann City, Singapore

As if the Christmas buffet isn't stuffing our stomach enough, the very text day, we put our tummies in serious health peril with a full-fledged all-you-can-eat Thai suki.





The un-important som tum (papaya salad) appetizer



Several types of meatballs, meat cuts, vegetables, and my family favorite - pork liver & kidney



More fish balls, sotong balls, tofu & dumplings

Waraku - Starhub Centre, Singapore

This Waraku outlet in Starhub Centre (at Cuppage road, behind Centrepoint) is my favorite one, because it's teenage pimply-faced schoolchildren-free. Instead, it's full of yuppies and middle-aged Japanese salarymen during lunchtime (my preferred crowd. Makes me feel so much younger).

In 5 years time, my preferred crowd would be 70-year-old grandmas in Bingo Clubs.











Chicken Kaminabe
-> Hot-pot chicken in paper bowl. The paper is so...magical. Why won't it burn????



Tonpei-yaki
-> A Waraku must-try. Shredded cabbage with pork bits, covered in soft, fluffy omelette and dressed in okonomiyaki sauce and mayo.

Seoul Ria, Sydney

Dinner. Packed as usual, so had to wait for approx. 20 minutes. Almost wanted to gave up when the waitress called my name.



Beef thingy



Spicy thingy



Skewer thingy

PS: A thousand apologies for NOT remembering the names of the dishes...those Korean names are hard to memorize!! *damn*