Alpha Gourmet Cafe, Circular Quay, Sydney (3 April 2017)

38 Pitt Street, Circular Quay NSW 2000

Multi-cuisine cafe

Now first is it Hainamese or Hainanese? It's the first time I've seen Hainamese Chicken on a menu.

Hidden inside a building shared with Australia Post I would have never expected to find a decent Asian eatery here with breakfast specials signage of coffee, toast and bacon and egg rolls. The look of this place is a bit old school cafe with plenty of seating for dine ins. A plethora of ad hoc tacky menu signage greets you at the service counter. Boss Lady keeps the ordering efficient and kitchen in check. Once given your order number raffle ticket you can take seat and they'll bring and serve your dish when ready. Apparently they've been around for 9 years and it's the first time I've really noticed this place after working in the city for more than 20 years. I go for the Egg noodle soup with crispy chicken ($13). The chicken has a decent crispy skin as hoped and the meat is fairly moist but I have had better. The piping hot soup is very flavoursome with a good amount of al dente egg noodles. The dipping sauce is more mild in heat than you'd expect from the fiery red presentation. It's a decent feed from an unexpected cafe that has Australian, Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese on the menu along with sandwiches, burgers, fresh juices, chicken schnitzel, grilled fish and even a Lebanese wrap and Beef Stroganoff. I do wonder if they do a decent job of the Vittoria Coffee they're serving up. Another time perhaps with that bacon and egg roll breakfast special for $5 or $6.80 with a coffee, I'm curious and tempted.

Ayam Goreng 99: Indonesian, Kingsford (3 Mar 2010)

464 Anzac Parade, Kingsford NSW 2032

It tastes better than it looks

This long-standing student friendly restaurant serves up the very popular crispy chicken of Ayam Goreng ($6) with a no fuss presentation along side the slightly different flavoured Ayam Kalasan Thigh ($6). The skins are crispy as hoped with fairly moist meat although could be better for my liking. Try not to be put off by the small serving of Rendang Curry Beef ($4) which likens itself to a pile (blob) of brown . It’s very tender and flavoursome and has obviously been cooked for a very long time. The cheap Tahu (Tofu) Deep Fried ($2) is simply what you’d expect although something I probably wouldn’t necessarily order again unless I was vegetarian, although you probably wouldn’t be here in the first place if you were.

Equally popular to the chicken seems to be the Sate Kambing and Lontong ($9.50). You don’t often find compressed rice in other restaurants and there’s no shortage of flavour from the peanut sauce, sweet soy sauce and fried onion lathered on top. For an extra hit of flavour add some hot chill and oil in the mix if your taste buds and stomach can handle the fire. Ordering dishes is via writing them up on a piece of paper so I guess if you get the order wrong you can only blame yourself (and your hand writing).

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Very cheap, Tasty options, Mainly Asian customers (so it must be good, right?)

CONS: No fuss presentation of dishes, Can get a little crowded and noisy when busy, Need to write out your own order

WORTH TRYING: Sate Kambing and Lontong

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Rendang Curry Beef ($4)

Tahu (Tofu) Deep Fried ($2)

Ayam Goreng ($6), Ayam Kalasan Thigh ($6)

Hot chill and oil

Sate Kambing and Lontong: Charcoal Grilled Marinated 5 Lamb Satay Sticks served with Peanut Sauce, Sweet soy sauce and fried onion ($9.50)

WORTH TRYING :-)

Self hand write your order

Menu

Help yourself to water in colourful plastic cups

Seating

Opening hours

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China Doll: Modern Asian, Woolloomooloo (23 Apr 2011)

4/6 Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011
Phone: (02) 9380 6744
http://www.chinadoll.com.au



A fulfilling banquet

A celebratory birthday lunch brings me to China Doll for the $69 banquet menu consisting of 8 dishes plus rice and a dessert platter which included 3 choices. To start cocktails were ordered including a refreshing non-alcoholic Younglings ($8) made with young coconut juice and raspberries. My Tanqueray Gin & Tonic ($8) is served in a tall glass but my preference is usually short. The Pomegranate Marguerita ($17) looked good and from all reports hit the spot. A nice bottle of Greystone Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2010 ($55) slowly turned into 5 by the end of the meal.

The banquet started with White cut chicken salad which packed quite a chilli kick reminding me of the overly spicy salads I’ve had at House on Wentworth Avenue. The Steamed half shell scallops are nice although their bite sized pieces don’t last long and I wished they were a bit larger in size. I really enjoyed the Corn & zucchini cakes with a crisp outer shell and tasty filling. The Chilli salt squid resembling chips are tender and spiced to tantalise the palate although I’m not sure if I’m supposed to taste grains of sugar in the mix. One of the crowd favourites was the Pork belly with chilli caramel & nam pla phrik. Just the right about of rendered crunch combined with juicy meat and a tasty coating. I suspect it’s one of their signature dishes that most diners order time after time. Chinese greens retained their crunch and were well flavoured. The Crispy chicken with yellow bean sauce was OK but some of the breast pieces were perhaps too large for my liking and I was craving more crispy skin. I still prefer the Shan Tung Chicken at Kingsford Chinese Restaurant.

I was impressed with how tender the Penang curry of wagyu beef shin was which fell apart effortlessly and its robust flavoured sauce which went well with the steamed rice. A vegetarian substitute dish of Wok Fried Asian Eggplant & Tofu looked good and apparently was well received. The dessert platter to share included some very nice gelato and vanilla bean ice cream. Sago was quite good with fresh passionfruit and the warm sticky rice was well liked with notes of ginger I believe. My Cappuccino ($5) was not the most robust in flavour but thankfully not bitter too. With a final bill of $1042.50 for nine it's definitely not cheap especially when you start adding drinks. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and depth of flavour in the dishes and noticed most of the diners were non-Asian. Thankfully the dish sizes were decently portioned so everyone was feeling comfortably full by the end of the banquet.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Efficient and professional service which was attentive, Water views, Quality ingredients, Banquet menu left most people comfortably full, Vegetarians are catered for

CONS: Can end up being quite expensive especially with drinks, Toilets are upstairs with a highly mirrored entrance which can be disorientating

MUST TRY: Corn & zucchini cakes with coriander sambal, Pork belly with chilli caramel & nam pla phrik, Penang curry of wagyu beef shin

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Younglings: Young coconut juice and raspberries shaken with lime juice and coconut flesh ($8)

Tanqueray Gin & Tonic ($8)

Pomegranate Marguerita ($17)

Greystone Sand Dollar Pinot Gris 2010, Waipara Valley NZ ($55 bottle)

White cut chicken salad with Asian herbs & rice vinegar dressing

Steamed half shell scallops with ginger and shallot

Corn & zucchini cakes with coriander sambal

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Chilli salt squid

The polite last piece

Steamed jasmine rice

Pork belly with chilli caramel & nam pla phrik

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

The polite last piece

Chinese greens


Crispy chicken with yellow bean sauce

Penang curry of wagyu beef shin

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Wok Fried Asian Eggplant & Tofu w Sichuan Chilli Bean Paste (vegetarian substitute dish)

Dessert platter to share

Cappuccino ($5)

Bill $1042.50 for 9 people including drinks

$69 banquet per person

Table setting

Water views

Feature wall decor

Upstairs and downstairs seating

Open kitchen

Toilet vanity — plenty of paper hand towels

Mirrored entrance to toilet — a little scary and disorientating

Covered outside seating

City view

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