Chobe National Park Botswana - Boat Safari

Bodhi in the Park - Sydney

The captivating dumpling choices.  Photo credit - Ms. Zoe Yu

Hidden below the street level, placed in a probable secret garden and not easily visible, though near Sydney's iconic St. Marys Cathedral.  It was a rather warm day in the city centre, wedding parties were  gush with striking patterned and designed wardrobes and the buzz was swirling around.  The church bells pealed out in clarity and wonder every now and then.  More than a hundred people patiently waited for their turn to get inside a pop up stand of Friends on Stan at a far corner of Hyde Park.  No signs lead to Bodhi, like the proverbial search for something unique, you have to make your own effort, follow your heart and communicate with reliable friends. 

Once my group was met by Raymond, we were led to a hidden stairway that then showed us a courtyard, a small garden and people relaxing along side canteen side wooden tables.  We were thirsty for sure by then...

Yum cha can be oily, crowded and stereotyped.  This restaurant used to be located in Sydney's Chinatown near the Customs House but the business has been changed to a more hipster, Aussie ambient surrounding.   There is no written menu, only a guide to cocktails and other drinks - and there is more than piping hot tea available.  The mainly young staff hold trays of petite and unusual concoctions , all with a vegetarian and vegan theme.   There are steamed, deep fried and freshly wrapped recipes.  I recommend sharing, samplings and tasting.  Most plates have offerings that can be cut with a food scissors, but then they only have dining bread knives.  Your eyes keep alert to the variety, some of which cannot be found elsewhere.  Most are served open on small plates but as not unexpected, some come warm in bamboo baskets.  It can be finger picking food, but at times they can be too hot to handle, like steamed dumplings.  Lots of paper napkins are necessary, especially when the sauce drizzles and runs all over.

I just adore the sweet Japanese pumpkin dumplings, what an excellent idea! The glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves and then steamed is not one my favourites but it came relatively nice on the palate, though packed tightly with carbohydrates.  Even if no meats are served, the offerings include flavours that invoke thoughts of carnivores - chicken flavoured and so forth.  Asparagus and shitake mushrooms can be difficult delicate things but the marinade utilised was just right for the related dumplings.  I also suggest trying the so called "Char Siew Bao", with a slit on each top showing what seems to be typical barbecued pork inside the freshly steamed dough buns - the taste can match the best in non-vegetarian restaurants but one is actually not partaking in any meat.

The skill and art of vegetarian cuisine is how one manages to uplift flavours, use the best of textures and somehow emulate some main stream dishes.   Presentation is the companion to taste and I must note that each dish served at Bodhi has had much thought on how they would come out right in front of the eyes of customers.  A hotch potch of the crowd reflected the diversity of Sydney society these days - hipsters, young families, city dwellers, tourists and office workers.   My group of six persons eased into comfort, though somehow the strong sunlight kept focusing on one side of our table.  Hey,  no one at my table had tea at all.  The quick working staff cleared our cleaned out plates efficiently and there was not much wait to continue choosing and tasting several different offerings.

Sesame paste filled steamed buns. Photo credit - Ms. Zoe Yu

We did not choose much of fresh vegetables or salads, though there was one dish with fresh greens wrapped in translucent skin.  The menu reflected the variety of East and south-east Asian influences - Vietnamese, Hong Kong, southern Chinese, Singaporean, Japanese and Shanghainese.  Bodhi had been an institution in this cuisine niche for 27 years but in the past few years had shown a transformation as the business changed hands form mother to daughters.  Are there too many staff employed? Has the food gone more fusion?  How will it compete with its rather niche space?   Is it more of a bar than a restaurant?   Its location at the business end of town also underlies perhaps a desire to attract corporate custom.  The warm months in Sydney, from October to March, do serve the restaurant and its licensed bar well.

Inspired from the Wu Kok or yam snack, this totally vegetarian idea shows a make believe prawn tail sticking out.
Photo credit - Ms. Zoe Yu

With a smile, with attentive listening and multi-tasking, the staff do keep to their best on the day we visited.  The washrooms for customers are unisex.  You can choose to sit under the trees or near shrubs.  One is not eating indoors but al fresco outdoors if you avoid the under cover seating.  I find this place to be relaxing with people you know, not eating too much and offering lots of walking especially in the nearby Hyde Park.  Cut straight across this city's central park and you reach the QVB and shopping precinct.  There is sufficient space between diners, the breeze can be felt and kids will love the ability to move around.  The venue can cater for up to 300 people and booked functions are open till 1am.

What is my top preference on this particular recent visit?  It is those white porcupine looking sesame paste filled steamed buns.   They look elegant, they are a pleasure on the palate and they are truly non-meat.  The freshness and quality of the sesame stood out.  Sweet corn filled dumplings are okay but not to me the Bak Choi and green tea plus Choy Sum filled versions, I would rather have those fresh Asian vegetables served lightly with oyster sauce.  Next visit for lunch, I  want to try the chili smoked soy and beetroot dumplings; Roma tomato cups with wasabi apple and mushroom salsa; the Konyaku noodles; and crispy wanton wings made from carrot, corn and mushrooms.  There are many Asian styled tapas choices for dinner time as well.

Photo credit - Mr. Raymond Ho

Bodhi in the Park is located at No 2-4 College Street, across the road from the north eastern corner of Hyde Park in Sydney CBD.  It is best to also remember that it is at the lower mezzanine level of the urbanite Cook and Philip Park.

Telephone:  612 9360 2523

Open from 11am to 4pm for yum cha seven days a week.

Dinners only from Tuesday to Sundays from 5pm till 10pm.

 

Mr. Bao - Sydney CBD

The customer demographic in any food business  transforms with varying attitudes and lifestyle patterns of your target customer groups.  Do people want to pay excessive prices for a working lunch hour?  Does your customer actually have time to sit down and eat your food?  Are they very strict with their diet and nutritional requirements?  Does their mindset follow exactly when they utilise social media - instantaneous, exciting and easy to access?  Do they want to queue up?  Do your clients want their food orders prepared fresh after they order, instead of sitting on food warmers?

When you open your cafe or restaurant, your biggest liabilities and costs are in venue rentals and staff costs.  How do you as a business owner ensure that your aimed for margins are kept rolling?  There are only so many hours in a day when your paying customers are present to depart with their cash.  How do you motivate any of your customers to return regularly to your business?  You have regulations to comply with, quality of food to maintain and ensuring the set profit to cost ratio is always achieved.  Cash flows are significant to pay providers, staff and the Government.  The centre of a city is where thousands of your potential customers arrive by the train or bus load every business day.

Welcome to Mr. Bao, an interesting business model based on the key pillars of turnover, reputation and a simple menu.  Using the soft white dough of a Taiwanese bun, they offer several variations of what to eat with these Gua Bao- whether it is Japanese karaage chicken, Chinese crackling pork, Aussie fried chicken or braised pork belly.  Their offerings can be eaten under 5 minutes, on the run and serve just right for the middle of the day in a large city.  They give the buns an appealing adjective - pillow soft.  They have done their homework at various market stalls before committing to a physical site.  You can see the boys and girls prepare the buns before your eyes - giving assuring transparency.    They share their site at York street in Sydney with another two businesses, instead of carrying on the burden of rent for a full shop.  They are near a popular bus stop.

Critics can bring up the fact that most Asian run food outlets are chock a block, have small spaces and at times likely to give rise to risky customer interfaces scenarios.  The most important person on the ground in such businesses is the one taking the orders and money upfront.  At Mr Bao, the staff are mostly Gen Y.  They ask for your name like at Gloria Jeans, and the order slip then goes to the bun preparers.  Now the food served does not take rocket science to dish out, as it reminds me of an Asian version of KFC or MacDonalds.  Once a person gets going with putting the main ingredient inside each soft pillow, it becomes automatic, repetitive and perhaps boring to do so for so many hours.   The idea is to push out as many dishes ordered as fast as possible.   The challenge is to ensure quality in every one of the hundreds prepared each day.  I saw an elderly woman staff controlling the issue of the fried stuff or braised pork - and if she is happy, things go well.  When our orders did not come within the expected waiting time, it can be not nice,   especially when you have to go back to the work place in a short time - and if you have to keep asking at the counter.

Aussie society still values the patience in lining up to order but expectations are raised after you have paid the money.  The full menu is displayed on a  small board on the wall.  There is not much seating.
There are no clumsy soups to carry on take away.  People are standing all scattered near the order line.  There is a healthy level of background noise, not just from the Mr Bao outlet, but also from its neighbours sharing the joint and also from the street.  So what was once sold by mobile vendors or in street markets back in Taiwan has entered inside the shop.  I am reminded of the Vietnamese pork rolls going hipster as in Wollongong's Bakery Boys along lower Crown Street.

The owner-founders Angeline Lee and James Pham do understand their target market very well.   They focus on their product, do not over complicate and aim for a quick process to satisfy the hunger of many people who do not want to spend much.  I am also reminded of the Mamak model accordingly.    James Pham's family has run a bakery in the thriving suburb of Cabramatta, south-west of Sydney city centre, for many years.

What James and Angeline has added value to the Bao is to introduce an array of pan Asian ideas to accompany the soft bun.  Whether as obvious as crispy tofu, as well known as Singapore crab or as standard as tempura prawn, each offering comes in a petite size and with a yummy taste.  My preference is for the crackling pork -  I have yet to try their braised pork belly.  Drink choices are limited but echoes the sentiment of the owners in not over indulging at this stage of the business.



Mr. Bao's buns can be found at Shop 3, 56 York Street, Sydney, in the block between adjacent King and Market Streets.
This York Street outlet is open on weekdays from 11am to 3pm (Thurdays and Fridays they are open till 9pm) and on Saturdays from 11am to 3pm.
They also maintain their presence at the Bondi Farmers Saturday markets from 9am to 1pm. These markets are sited at the Bondi Beach Public School at the northern end of Campbell Parade near the beach;
and
at the Brewery Yards Sunday markets from 10am to 4pm, at 28 Broadway, located opposite UTS in Central Park in Chippendale.  Only on the first and third Sundays of each month.