Chi Chi Asian Bar and Kitchen, Canley Heights

9:45 PM | Labels: , , , ,


On a rainy day, you often won't see any rainbows. You evidently feel a little let down, after hours of misery and you get nothing? What am I talking about... Anyway onward to food, Asian fusion is often fairly controversial to foodies. Along with tacos, tapas, produce markets, spit roasts and food trucks, Asian fusion is definitely in. Done right and it's exciting, done wrong it's weird. Straight forward. 


Deviate off the main street full of pho restaurants and cafe's in Canley Heights and you might come across the recently opened Chi Chi's. It's an Asian restaurant of sorts with a vibe befitting of a hip, up-and-coming Surry Hills diner and definitely not one of Canley Heights so you can imagine how eye-catching it would be from the outside. 



It also tries to bring in that other element of a trendy Surry Hills restaurant: the Asian fusion. The inside is decked out with flourescent furnishings and a black and white mural. There's a group table close to the open kitchen so you can see all the action happening along the pass. The menu itself, both the food and aperitif, evidently loaded are loaded.


Son-in-Law Eggs with House XO Sauce 5.9
Despite how widely raved about these eggs are, I can't help but feel that they're a little pedestrian. It's eggs battered and simply fried and dressed in and XO and greens but I can't help but feel that the XO was a little ordinary. Maybe it's all the hype getting to me.


Malay- Style Chargrilled Satay Chicken Skewers served with House Satay Sauce and Cucumber 16 for 12 skewers
Satay chicken sticks were really brilliant. While it's missing on some of that charcoal charriness, at least they didn't arrive burnt, were really tender (definitely not the breast) and rounds off well with the delicious satay sauce.


Fried Wild Barramundi Fillets with Green Apple Salad and Fried Shallots 22.8
Barramundi fillets were nice and crisp and when combined with the apple salad dressed in fish sauce: magic. It feels really fresh and healthy despite it feeling fried and it's a definite crowd pleaser.


Crispy Skin Braised Duck with Orange & Tamarind Sauce 23.6
Can't help but draw a few comparisons a similar orange fried duck dish I had at Billy Kwong 2 years ago to which this dish may have possibly taken inspiration. Despite being drenched in the sticky and sweet, soury tamarind and star anise sauce (5 Ss!, I should be a poet), the duck remains perfectly crisp, well rendered and mostly juicy and tender and I think it might actually be a tad better than the original one at Billy Kwong. 


Stir-fried Mixed Mushrooms with Chinese Wine and Garlic Oil 12.8
You can imagine how texturally exciting this dish was. It has bags and bags of flavour with all its garlicky goodness but suffers from a little overseasoning.


Roti 2.2
Rotis were boring and I'm not sure why I ordered them without curry but it helps alleviate the overseasoning of some of the dishes.


Kaffir Lime Crème brûlée with Coconut Sorbet 10.9
Creme brulee starts off our sweets with a nicely perfumed yet subtle creme brulee with the requisite cracking top and smooth custard that wasn't too sweet at all matched well with a refreshing coconut sorbet.


ChiChi's Tapioca Shot with Coconut Custard, Palm Sugar, Pomegranate and Roasted Sesame Seeds 3.9
Desserts were a mixed bag around the table but it was a general consensus that the tapioca shots, despite being simple, were definitely a highlight. You get a silky gorgeous tapioca and coconut custard in a shot glass dressed with a palm sugar, pomegranate and sesame seed concoction and it's absolutely genius.



Prices are definitely more than you'd expect from the south-west but so is the food. A touch more refinement and it'll be pulling in crowds. Not that it's having any trouble currently. Food comes out incredibly quickly despite a full house and is bolstered with a friendly enough service but can often be a little inattentive and forgetful, especially come bill time. For something a little different that's local to the southwest, look no further than Chi Chi's Asian Bar and Kitchen.


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Chanoma, CBD

8:33 PM | Labels: , ,


Welcome to the world of contemporary tea houses, where the 'matchas' are as artificially green as can possible be. Chanoma is home to a large assortment of green tea combinations, hot dogs and parfaits (fancy term for sundaes). It's located at Regents place which is where all the busy workers like to hang during the lunch breaks.

Matcha 4.9
Green tea is an artform; do it right and you get that wonderful green tea perfume, do it wrong and it's all bitter. They've steamed the milk so it's all wonderfully sweet on top but incredibly bitter on the bottom. I guess the whipped cream and palm sugar syrup does alleviate it but then it loses it's green tea flavour. 


Teriyaki Chicken Japadog 5.5
Their chicken 'Japadog' actually arrives as a fried chicken breast instead of a hotdog. It's hard to eat but the combination of onions, avocado, wasabi mayo and a dousing of sweet teriyaki sauce really gets you going.


Shaked fries with soy and seaweed 4.4
Soy butter and seaweed are a delectable combination and when paired with fries, they were my favourite. They're sort of like Mcdonald's shoe string ones but a whole lot more crispier and yummier. 


It seems to suffer an identity crisis as it figures out, what it does. There's a Mexican soundtrack play in the background oddly enough and with the hot dogs  and sweets and all, its tea focus is relegated as a background. It's fairly decent, serve out some pretty good chips, fairly priced and it's worth a visit for the novelty but it's not quite my cup of 'cha'.


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Tenkomori Ramen House, CBD

5:59 PM | Labels: , , ,


Winter is coming (bet you that's definitely not the first time you've heard that) and ramen noodle bars are becoming hugely popular. As autumn chills get progressively colder, a bowl of hot steaming soup is ever appealing. After mothers day we went all over the city and that very cold night brings us to Tenkomori.



It's definitely busy this time of the year but there's plenty of seats available and I see many others invading the tables of the adjacent Chanoma. It's got the same format as mappen does where you order a bowl at the front and pick up some fried goods along the way.

L Plain Tonkotsu 5.9
The soup bases are where they mostly differ. Tonkotsu ramen has a nice creamy, although almost weirdly milky, consistency that's quite nice. I didn't not like it but it lacks any real depth in flavour which is quite sad. The noodles are nice for what more can you expect from a ramen house as cheap as this. I get mine with a soft boiled egg but I let it steep in the soup for a little too long so it's not as runny as I'd hoped. My bad.


R Black Garlic Shoyu 4.9
Black garlic is garlic fermented in a balsamic mixture so you'd be expecting a sort of sweet soury flavour in this soup which is what you get. It's a clear broth with a heady perfume and probably the favourite on the table.



It's not bad but it's not great either. I'm on a uni budget. I really can't complain.


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Misschu Tuckshop, CBD

11:10 PM | Labels: , , , ,


A quick lunch brings me to Town hall where we find the hugely popular Misschu already busy.


It's very eclectic and trendy and sort of reminds me of Ms G's. I really do appreciate how Miss Chu brought an element of her past and her culture to the forefront of her restaurant. They've got things like their lamps hanging down made from ornate bowls which are really banging as well as a large surrounding sitting area.


Wagyu Beef and Oxtail Pho 14
It's missing so many requisite elements that makes beef pho. The body of the soup is just bland and lacks any depth, the usual massive sizes are not evident here, the wagyu feels wasted and was just chewy, onions are missing, herbs are missing and well... it just didn't feel like pho. For future reference, for all your pho needs, Cabramatta's and the surrounding suburbs are where it's all at. I don't know, maybe I didn't order the right thing, maybe it just wasn't the right Miss Chu to be having it at?


Sashimi Tuna Rice Paper Rolls 13
One would imagine a mish mash of different cultures would produce a calamity and yet their rice paper rolls with tuna oddly works. Unlike the pho, you get a lot going on with Japanese influences of fresh meaty tuna sashimi, the sharp hit of wasabi with the evidently Vietnamese in the coriander, bean sprouts and  dressing of fish sauce. A little too much wakame salad almost overwhelms the delicate fish, ALMOST, but there's no denying the cleverness behind this. Much more successful and rightly so as owner, Nga Chu, has the self given title: 'Queen of Rice Paper Rolls'.


Coconut Mousse 4.5
Their house made creamy coconut mousse with water chestnut jelly was delicious but I question the price tag of $4.50 with what is essentially a 2 medium mouthfuls.  



The owner in suit switches from aggressive to late collectors of food to super nice when taking orders. When someone's missing they'll scream out the name and each time it gets progressively louder. Needless to say, not very desirable to sit at the front. It's certainly odd and she's not one to mess with. I put it down to they're just very busy but still... I've got to admit, despite the substantially larger customer to smaller chef ratio, their preparation and service is the fastest I've seen. You might even get your food 5 minutes after ordering and you have to give credit where credit's due. It's central location makes it ideal for city goers.


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