For this entry we managed to move from Civic to Woden to try a place which Alexi has been keen to visit for some time.
This blog will deviate from the standard entry we make. We initially selected this restaurant because we all love dumplings. Good dumplings with plenty of taste, variety, etc. This restaurant serves more than dumplings but this time we wanted to try both the dumplings and some of the house specials so these will be reviewed separately. There will be no further mention of the BBQ House as we didn’t order it and therefore cannot comment.
When we arrived the place was very busy but after being asked to wait while a table was cleared we were seated at a table which was being wiped. We requested water and Chinese Tea while we chose our menus.
The restaurant was busy and we were seated near a large table of what appeared to be a group of work mates.
As we were hungry we ordered what we thought was far too much food. Due to this hunger some food was photographed later than it normally.
Dumplings
The dumpling menu now has numerous items crossed out which limits the options available. We chose, after some discussion, the Shallots Pancake (1) ($7.80) and Combination or Mixed Dumpling (15) ($13.80) Fried. On reading the menu we were slightly confused wondering if we could have the dumplings boiled, fried or steamed but when you order you have to choose the way in which they are cooked.
Alexi:
I really, really like dumplings. In fact if dumplings are on the menu I usually choose them. When I saw this place open in Woden I was dying to go there. But the dumplings were a complete disappointment. The only ones I found barely edible were the chicken ones. I can honestly say I have had better frozen dumplings, even though these were freshly prepared.
This was the first shallot pancake I have had which was shaped like a pancake. Unfortunately this was not a good thing as it was chewy and didn’t have enough shallot in it.
Food was left on the plate.
Score for dumplings: 1/5
Lindsay:
Ummmm. I want to be as fair as possible. As Alexi has said the quality of the dumplings was lacklustre. I personally did not enjoy the chicken dumplings and I found the vegetable ones were a complex mix of flavours which missed the mark. Out of the three flavours I found the beef to be the best as the seasoning in it worked but I found the beef inedible as the quality of beef appeared to be low.
Shallot pancakes are actually one of my favourite entrees. In all other restaurant’s I’ve ordered it and it has been full of shallot and very crispy. A real delight to eat. This one was doughy and very bland which meant every single time you got a taste of shallot you were happy, but this did not happen very often.
My plate was not cleaned.
Score for dumplings: 1/5
Jamie:
Another dumpling fan here. Their versatility is amazing: fried, steamed, boiled and how gyoza are both boiled and fried = glorious.
Another top pick is of mine is shallot pancakes. A good shallot pancake should not be despoiled by adding sauce or anything. To do so is wrong.
After my first bite, I picked up the soy sauce and doused the pancake. Bland is a kind word.
I have never seen colour-coded dumplings before. Green = vegetable, Yellow = beef, White = chicken. My favourite was the vegetable but even so bland is a very kind word to describe them.
No clean plate here.
Score for dumplings: .5/5
Chinese Kitchen Menu
Lindsay:
I love fried rice. I’ve mentioned this before but in recent times the place I go to purchase Chinese food for takeaway has produced fried rice which has been making me re think saying fried rice is my favourite food. As I have said fried rice is my favourite food since the age of 7, this makes me sad.
The Fried Rice ($6.00 small) at Chinese Kitchen has changed that for me and made me realise fried rice is just as good as it was as when I was a child. It had the right amount of moisture, the shallot was cooked to perfection to make it dance on my taste buds. The pork was good quality and fresh and the little pieces of egg just topped it off. A truly perfect fried rice.
When I first tasted the Baby Bok-choy with Chinese Mushrooms ($15.80), I was disappointed. I found it very bland. As it got eaten I noticed there was more sauce down the bottom of the dish and the bok-choy that was soaking in the sauce was very flavourful and a joy to eat. I actually really enjoyed the mushrooms. Honestly my only complaint about this dish is that I’d rather if the sauce was more easily spread or it had stayed in the sauce longer.
The last dish I am going to mention is one of the House Specials. The Boneless San-pui Chicken ($17.80) was the best part of the entire meal. I loved the fried rice but this was a whole new level of flavour and was an experience I plan to try again. Words cannot describe how delicious this chicken was. I plan to go back and maybe order two for me and two for Alexi and while Alexi is distracted I will eat them as well.
Staff were lovely, the restaurant is nicely decorated, and I hate the tables as they are too low due to the decoration attached to the table.
I cleaned my plate.
Score: 4.5/5
Alexi:
I am going to start off where Lindsay left off. I am not a short person as I am over 6 ft tall and I was not able to get my legs under the table which made me uncomfortable. Aside from that the mains were enjoyable which made up for this.
The staff were nice and found us seats as soon as possible as we arrived during the lunch rush.
The BBQ Duck Spring Rolls (2 for $6.50) were very enjoyable and I’ve always wanted to try the duck from this place before is moved from a couple of shops down and re-branded as they were always hanging in the window.
The Baby Buck-choy and Mushrooms were incredibly tasty and well cooked. The mushrooms absorbed different flavours to the buck choy which made every bite an adventure with the combination of flavours.
I like fried rice but not as much as Lindsay but this was an exceptionally good quality fried rice.
The Boneless San-Pui Chicken was cooked in a stone pot and had bird’s eyes chillies throughout it. But the dish itself was not incredibly spicy, even Jamie could eat it. The flavours within the dish were quite delectable and the capsicum was nicely cooked and had an incredibly delicious flavour and texture and worked well with the sauce. The onions were nice and crispy. All in all I think this place should go back to calling itself the Chinese Kitchen as they do incredibly good Chinese food but not so good dumplings.
My plate was clean.
Score: 4.5/5
Jamie:
Unlike Lindsay I will not order and eat a dish of fried rice and eat it with no additions, mainly because of my ‘unique’ (some may say peculiar) food preferences which means picking out the pieces of meat etc., I will not eat is a time consuming chore. However, this fried rice was good and provided a good accompaniment to the other dishes we ordered. The rice was cooked well, with not hard or overcooked pieces and the seasoning and addition of vegetables were good.
Unlike Alexi and Lindsay I was not impressed with the Baby Bok-choy with Mushroom but this may be due to mainly eating some of the top layer. Before it vanished, I did manage to obtain one piece of buk-choy which had been steeped in the sauce longer and it was very pleasant so perhaps we should have stirred to vegetables around more, coating them with the sauce before consuming them.
Having never seen San-Pui chicken on a menu before, I was a little hesitant, but we have agreed to try at least one of the House/Chefs Specials when sharing a meal, if they exist. It was a good choice. I must admit, the Boneless San-Pui Chicken rivalled the Caramelised Chicken we had at Sammy’s. We were very restrained and did not argue over who obtained the last piece but it did seem we were watching to make certain no one took more than their fair share of the dish. The chilli added flavour and depth but did not dominate the dish which was a relief and each bite was a pleasure. This is one dish I can recommend without any hesitation.
I was very impressed with the staff, even though we had to remind them about the dumplings (wish we hadn’t) and how they made every effort to seat us quickly.
I did not lick my plate, but it was clean.
Score: 4/5
Overall
The other dishes we saw delivered to other tables made us long for our food to arrive. The smell of the Sizzling Steak made us all wish we had ordered that dish but we were pleased with our selection.
The staff work hard and manage to navigate their way through this restaurant even when it is difficult and were courteous and efficient.
We can recommend the Chinese Kitchen and we were surprised that we ate all the food as we were certain we had ordered too much.
We cannot recommend the dumplings. The words ‘bland’ and ‘dumplings’ should not be in the same sentence.
The score has been combined and weighted as 2/3 for the Chinese Kitchen and 1/3 for the Dumpling House.
Overall Score: 3.2/5 rounded up to 3.5/5
Clean the Plate 