FoodieChat

This is my second trip to this restaurant in Sydney’s inner/north/west whatever. The first time was for my friend Bec’s hen’s night (same Bec who took me to the amazing Dadong Beijing Duck restaurant in China!), where we feasted on course after course of Shanghai specialties.   Tonight was just a quiet dinner for two; and we feasted on handmade noodles with pickled vegetables and shredded pork. A huge mound of slippery al dente noodles came to our table, stir fried with plenty of bean shoots, and shredded pork.  The pork was quite fatty, but the noodles were surprisingly not too oily at all! Could have done with a bit more salted vegetable – because I love them – but at $8.80 you can’t complain too much!  The noodles were brilliant with the chilli oil I asked for too.  Then came my favourite dumplings of all time – wartip – or pot stickers as they are also known. These are crescent shaped dumplings wrapped with pork mince (and sometimes some vegetables), and then pan fried and steamed until the meat and pastry is cooked, and the bottoms crunchy.  They’re served bottoms up so they remain crunchy. We got 10 for $8.80. Bargain.

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Zilver, previously called Silver Spring, closed down and renovated a few years ago, completely changing its image, and vastly improving its menu, whilst uptiering its target market to a more upmarket offering.  Its “All you can eat for $17.50″ days have long gone and it has transformed completely into a rare gem of Chinese dining – great food AND service to go with it! 

My friends Tracy and Chris got married on the weekend, and apart from being a long awaited marriage, it was also for me a long awaited feast hehehe. And I was not disappointed at all.  First cab off the rank- suckling pig entree platter with shredded cuttlefish.  The pig wasn’t overly fatty although the skin was quite thin so was slightly chewy.  Chewy the jellyfish was not – it was the perfect thickness and appropriately crunchy in texture.  Second course was deep fried seafood balls – minced seafood – predominantly prawns, rolled into balls and covered in almond flakes deep fried and served on a bed of shredded cabbage.

Palate cleansing vegetables came next – perfectly cooked and crisp broccoli and mushrooms covered in a sauce thick with dried scallops – a real chinese delicacy.  And then came the emperor of all soups – sharks fin soup. So expensive is this dish that waiters often use a bread plate to catch any drips off the ladle that dare escape on the way from the tureen to bowl. You can have it with shredded chicken or crab meat as well as dried fish stomach (don’t ask, just drink).

What a treat. Lobster cooked in classic ginger and shallot sauce.  One of my friends told me that when you have lobster at a wedding banquet, it adds an extra $300 per table of 12 (you do the sums!).  So I relished my huge tender chunk of lobster tail and made an attempt at the huge claw.  But didn’t try too hard as once my grandmother stabbed her finger with one of the sharp bits – ew!

Stomach reaching capacity, next came sliced abalone and mushroom in oyster sauce with lettuce, and then steamed live coral trout.  It must be so hard cooking 25 two kg fish to the point of just cooked, and then sending it out to the masses.  Nevertheless, this one was perfect, its meat sweet and succulent.

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Dragon Well Green Tea is one of the most well known and reputable brands in China.  Originating from Hangzhou, a city which is known for its beautiful West Lake, the tea is highly prized for its pure flavour, and health benefits.  Green tea has been shown to be high in antioxidants, which are said to reduce the risk of cancer.  It also is an excellent palate cleanser after a meal and also for me a detoxer.  It’s also said to aid in weight loss through speeding up your metabolism!  Well, medical research aside… the tea is grown in vast fields lining both sides of the road.  The beautiful, neatly groomed bushes grow to waist height and are in perfectly manicured rows.  Apparently, traffic is forbidden in the evenings, in order to reduce pollution in the tea.  Each leaf is handpicked by workers – and only the young buds. Painstaking work, which is why it is fairly expensive.  Next, it is dried again by hand, in a metal basin, and also sorted according to its quality. First grade costs 240 Yuan for 125g (ie A$40), second grade costs 120 Yuan (ie $20), and third grade costs 160 Yuan (ie $16.67) per 125g.  We were given the best grade to try at the shop, but only dared to buy the lower quality one, lest it get confiscated at customs!

The tradition is that if you are poured a full cup, it means “drink it and leave, you are not welcome”, but being poured half a cup means that you are welcome to stay as long as you like. You thank the pourer of the tea by tapping your index and third finger on the table 3 times near the cup, to say “Thank you very much”.  And the chinese say to come and “eat tea”, because the leaves are also edible.

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