Kam Fook Seafood Restaurant: Chinese, Bondi Junction (19 Feb 2012)

Shop 6010, Level 6, Westfield Shopping Centre

500 Oxford Street, Bondi Junction NSW 2022
http://www.kamfook.com.au

Vegetarian shark fin available

Thanks to Phoebe Netto from Good Business Consulting for inviting me as a guest with my family to Kam Fook Seafood Restaurant in Westfield Bondi Junction near the cinema. I've visited once before for yum cha which I remember being quite good so I was keen to sample their a la carte menu to see how they'd compare to restaurants like Golden Century which have a similar extensive menu including live seafood. Most of the menu choices was left up to the restaurant to choose which started with a Mixed Seafood Soup Supreme ($12 per person) which included sea cucumber my dad was keen to try and met with his approval. It also included vegetarian shark fin made in Japan which the restaurant has introduced as an option for customers to be more ethical and seemed to have a similar taste and texture to what I was expecting.

A hot pot of Snow Crab ($88 per kg) with pork mince and vermicelli had nice flavours and was certainly easier to eat than the harder shelled mud crab but its reconfirmed my beliefs that eating crab in general is a lot of hard work and my preference now is lobster for its meatier chunks of meat — although crab does have that prized sweeter taste. The Salt & Pepper Chilli Stuffed Squid ($28.80) had a nice coated flavour although unfortunately weren’t as tender as hoped and a touch rubbery. Hopefully a revisit to try the Salt & Pepper Squid will be more successful. We received a Prawn dish ($33) with decent sized prawns cooked well but I wasn’t too sure what it was called. The Kam Fook Fried rice ($16.80 lunch, $28.80 dinner) was cooked up with black squid ink for something different. The squid ink flavour was very subtle and more for presentation I found. Squid was substituted for scallops which were one of the highlights in the dish making me want to try salt & pepper scallops next time.

We chose the Shredded Beef Peking Style ($24.80) which was well-flavoured although I would have preferred it more crispy like they do at Bambusia and the San Dong Chicken ($22.80) was a bit light on flavour but thankfully the meat fairly tender. A crispier skin and more fried chilli would have been welcomed. I was hoping the dish was more like the Sang Tung Chicken at Kingsford Chinese Restaurant but I’m thinking it might be a different style of dish because they’re spelt differently? The Mango pancakes ($11) had more cream than mango but still nice although more mango ratio preferred. The Banana fritter ($9.50) was very good with a thin and crispy batter as hoped and one of the better ones I’ve had although would have preferred with vanilla ice cream. The Green tea ice cream ($6.50) was well-liked and the Deep fried red bean pancake ($11) had a very crispy outer skin and interesting flavour inside worth trying which was a new dish experience for me — would have been great with some ice cream too.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Extensive live seafood menu, Plenty of seating, Free Westfield parking, Spacious and relaxed decor, Vegetarian shark fin available

CONS: No deep fried ice cream on menu, Menu seemed expensive but dishes were generously sized

BABY ON BOARD: Plenty of room to move, Baby change table available in toilet

MUST TRY: Snow crab if you can afford it and don’t mind the hard work eating, Banana fritter, Deep fried red bean pancake, Revisiting to try more of the menu including Peking Duck Pancakes

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Peanuts and chilli condiments

Mixed Seafood Soup Supreme ($12 per person) included sea cucumber, squid, vegetarian shark fin, dried scallop and mushroom

Snow Crab ($88 per kg) with minced pork and vermicelli hot pot

Salt & Pepper Chilli Stuffed Squid ($28.80)

Prawn dish ($33)

Kam Fook Fried rice with black squid ink ($16.80 lunch, $28.80 dinner)

Squid ink used for rice

Shredded Beef Peking Style ($24.80)

San Dong Chicken ($22.80)

Complimentary fruit of orange and watermelon

Fortune cookies and chocolates

Mango pancakes with ice cream ($11)

Banana fritter with ice cream ($9.50)

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Green tea ice cream ($6.50) - good

Deep fried red bean pancake ($11)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Live seafood menu prices

Seating

Lobster in the tank — hopefully next time

Baby change table gets a tick

Nice flowers in the toilet gets a tick

I always love spotting some Engrish on the menu

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Lotus Asian Restaurant: Asian, Marrickville (4 June 2011)

393 Illawarra Road,
Marrickville NSW 2204
http://www.lotusrestaurant.com.au



Right food in the wrong location

Thanks to Charlotte Foot Public Relations and owners Chef Danh Cao and Kim Nguyen for having me as a guest of the nicely fitted-out Lotus Asian Restaurant. A 7 pm family booking on a Saturday night is met with an unusual empty restaurant while just down the road I noticed the cheap and cheerful looking Old Thang Huong Restaurant was packed. The atmosphere is thus a little quiet and eery and our thoughts wander to ‘I hope we’re not the only ones tonight’. Thankfully towards 8 pm more couples come in making it a bit more cosy and lively. With so many tempting dishes on the menu covering Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Chinese dishes it was hard to choose what to try but also a bit worrying that the restaurant was trying to cook too many cuisines and wouldn’t be good at any. Thankfully, with surprise, there were plenty of dishes I’d happily order again. The dish presentation actually reminded me of Banana Palm in Coogee.

I sometimes worry when I see tea cups with handles in an Asian restaurant although the Jasmine tea ($2 per person) is made with loose leaf tea and served in an iron teapot. Most of the entrees were as expected but I wish they came with more sauce and perhaps put in a shallower dish instead of Chinese tea cups (which I think should be used for the tea) would make it easier to dip into. I liked the presentation of the Sang Choy Bao of chicken ($8, 2 pieces) although a bit more meat filling would have been appreciated. The Malaysian-style grilled satay chicken ($7.50, 3 pieces) was perhaps not as smoky as hoped although nicely tender. Braised pork belly with green papaya salad ($12) and Grilled Thai beef salad ($12) were vibrantly fresh and tasty. The Special fried rice ($12) was a bit of a let down due to the absence of a noticeable amount of Chinese sausage and BBQ pork but the prawns were decently sized. Everyone enjoyed the M. B. S. ($12) of mushroom, bean curd and snow peas and the Massaman curry of beef with potato ($14.50) was tender and decently flavoured.

The Crispy braised duck with chili tamarind sauce & steamed wombok ($16.50) might be considered one of their signature dishes and was well liked for its flavour although I wished the meat was deboned and sliced up for easier sharing. I really liked the generous sized and crispy Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin ($18.50) but could have benefitted with more sauce. The Bo Luc Lac ($16.50) was well-flavoured and tender — would have been great wrapped in some lettuce with herbs. The Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk ($18.50) came with decent sized quality prawns which were properly deveined. Desserts are reasonably priced considering how well-presented and delicious they were. Fried coconut ice cream ($6.50) comes with a self-pour passionfruit sauce worthy of a fine dining experience. The Black sticky rice pudding ($6.50) had the right consistency and taste with its light texture although more coconut sauce would have been good. I wondered if the perfectly battered Banana fritter ($7) could have somehow been more elegantly presented but was still enjoyed with the yummy coconut ice cream.

Lotus definitely seems to hit the mark for decent quality dishes at a reasonable price in a nice restaurant setting but with only one chef in the kitchen I think fast service during busy times will be its biggest challenge to keep the customers happy. Being located so far away from the main eatery strip means it lacks exposure but I guess this will make it easier to get a table, for now. I could see a restaurant like this being very popular in Newtown, Randwick, Surry Hills or Coogee. I wish it was located closer to home for me. A few small details like keeping the kids toys out of sight and not having a kids DVD playing within ear shot of the dining room would go along way in making the whole customer experience even more pleasant and consistent with the look and feel of the restaurant.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Nice décor, Quality ingredients, Tasty dishes, Nice presentation, Reasonably priced considering the décor and quality, Extensive menu with tempting choices, Free street parking

CONS: Not much sauce provided with entrees, Kitchen service can be slow when busy due to only one chef, Located away from the main eatery strip, Kids toys in sight which doesn’t match the nice décor, One unisex toilet

WORTH TRYING: Braised pork belly with green papaya salad, Grilled Thai beef salad, M. B. S., Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin, Bo Luc Lac, Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk, Desserts

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Jasmine tea ($2 per person) — different sized cups with handles.

Lemon Lime Bitters ($3)

Fresh Vietnamese rice paper rolls with chicken & fresh herbs ($7, 3 pieces)

Steamed pork with shiitake mushrooms & water chestnut dumplings ($9.50, 5 pieces)

Thai fish cakes with sweet chili ($9.50, 4 pieces)

Spring rolls ($7, 3 pieces)

Sang Choy Bao of chicken ($8, 2 pieces)

Braised pork belly with green papaya salad ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Grilled Thai beef salad ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Malaysian-style grilled satay chicken ($7.50, 3 pieces)

Special fried rice with Chinese sausage, prawns, BBQ pork, egg & shallots ($12)

M. B. S. (mushroom, bean curd & snow peas) ($12)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Massaman curry of beef with potato ($14.50)

Crispy braised duck with chili tamarind sauce & steamed wombok ($16.50)

Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with Nam Jin ($18.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Could have been more Nam Jin sauce — only a little bit served

Bo Luc Lac - French-Vietnamese wok fried beef with garlic & black pepper sauce ($16.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Braised prawns with chili, pumpkin, lemongrass & coconut milk ($18.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Steamed jasmine rice ($2 per person)

Fried coconut ice cream with passionfruit sauce ($6.50)

Black sticky rice pudding with coconut sauce ($6.50)

Banana fritter with palm sugar syrup & coconut ice cream ($7) — perhaps there's a more elegant way of presenting the banana fritter? I was thinking cut in half lengthways and then crisscross stacked.

Chef Danh Cao

Kim Nguyen

Menu — simple and easy to read although for some reason reminds me of an onboard Qantas menu

Cutlery kept slipping into the rounded bowl plates so watch out for this

Nice seating and decor

Clean unisex toilet

Back area to toilet was a bit messy with kids toys and prams which doesn't match the nice decor front of house

Back door open and closed. Much better look when closed and it stopped the cold breeze coming through too.

Outside street entrance

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