BBQ King Restaurant Haymarket NSW

The competition for southern Chinese barbequed meat shops can be intense.   Almost every self-respecting suburb with sizeable Asian populations in the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne these days boast of  such a butcher and BBQ outlet.

 The meats - duck, pork or chicken - provide for an easy take away especially for busy families.   It is not just in the marinades utilised, but also in the cut of the meats, the critical drying of the skins and the presentation, that distinguishes quality from the ordinary.

Char Siew Yoke -- lean cuts of pork with the well known sauce.

After 33 years sited at Goulburn Street, BBQ King began a new chapter moving to Liverpool Street in mid 2016.   Owner Philip Chau has transformed the self-owned restaurant from retro comfort to a spanking three level facility that is more in tune with contemporary customers, of which he can seat around 200 in one go.   If you get a table at a higher level, you can even view the goings-on below.   Kitchens are more transparent, even if the de rigour practice of hanging those marinated roasted meaty birds continue. 

Despite a good move to an upgrade of premises, the food menu still has your ever green favourites.   Reliable are their version of fried rice, suckling pig, steamed chicken, marinated boneless trotter and if you dare, chicken feet bathed in vinegar and soy sauce.

Little touches of brewed pork bone soup offered at the start of communal tables, the freshness and bite of greens spewed with oyster sauce and the use of fresh ingredients help to continue BBQ King's reputation.   Service is fast, requests are not turned down and hot soups predominate.  

The old school, echoed by the veteran chefs in the kitchen, seem to blend with a renewed sense of staff engagement and interior vibes that appeal to to the younger  generation.    One has to be careful of the stairs, but they are short ones.   The high ceilings that form the main portion of the revamped restaurant is a definitely good idea - it breaks down any feelings of being caved in, even if the audio levels can be so stereotyped Chinatown at times.

Yummy and compulsory must have roast pork cuts with crispy crackle and tender juicy meat.

Are prices higher than most at this BBQ King?   Look at what is asked for Beijing duck.    BBQ King also holds yum cha sessions.   Servings are reportedly smaller than what regular customers are used to from the old days at the old place at Goulburn Street.   Is BBQ King transitioning to a new world and business model?    The restaurant ambiance has improved and staff are attentive.   What can we say.....

The bite and experience of roast pork here is inevitably compared to those at Tawandang  Thai along lower George Street and that of the Laotian Green Peppercorn at the Civic Hotel.

Cantonese styled roast duck on a plate.

The duck roasted Guangzhou style seem more oily, are more chunky in serve and yet provide more yumminess in the meat than in the skin.   Five spice powder, both ground and fresh ginger plus vinegar are essential components utilised when preparing such Guangzhou ducks.    BBQ King is an institution in the history of Chinese-Australians and their recipe is a treasure to behold.


A quick question from a child - why must Chinese food have such a reddish glaze for its meats?   We know the colour red is culturally auspicious.   Hmmn, even the staff at BBQ King here have a bright red coloured uniform.   That colour does capture attention.    Another explanation is the use of the seasonings and flavourings, like maltose, red fermented bean curd, honey and Sherry.  


Next I aim to try the noodle dishes and the Beijing duck, served with wraps, Hoisin sauce and all....

Scallops, mushrooms, prawns, squid and Tofu slabs - life is good.

The test of any self-respecting Chinese restaurant is in the uplifting flavours from a quick wok stirring of bite sized veg and seafood ingredients.    Simplicity and good taste is the best outcome from such tests and I reckon BBQ King passes on such parameters.   

The kids at my table wanted omelette, and so they did, filled with glad tidings.    Our group of more than a dozen persons were given a huge table on the uppermost level, from which we could see the street below, with lights and all.   

Bitter gourd slices are stir fried  - one of my fav dishes!

My impressions from my visit to BBQ King in Sydney Chinatown are:

Ambiance:  3  out of 5
Staff Engagement:  3.5 out of 5
Culinary Delight:  3.5 out of 5
X Factor:  3 out of 5
Overall Score:  13/4  out of 5

BBQ King Restaurant visited is located at 76-78Liverpool Street, Haymarket, Sydney NSW, near the junction with Sussex Street, across the junction from Hawker and a short walk from Darling Harbour's Darling Quarter.
Opening hours are from  10am to midnight every day.
Contact + 612  9267 2568

Preparing Char Koay Teow

Clockwise from noon - Kuchai,  chili mix, rice noodles,a concoction of soy and oyster sauce, ground garlic, eggs, Cantonese sausage or Lap Cheong, fresh prawns de-shelled or not and fresh bean sprouts.

Wok must be heated up to a right start.

Some prefer to sizzle the garlic first, others the biggest ingredient to get them going.

Some put preserved radish, others do not.  Once the wok gets going, the aromas rise up to the nose.

Mr Happy Chef Noodle House Homebush NSW

The classic tomato flavoured rice that comes with pork chops, or as above, with deep fried chicken.

The crowds this time were not just lining up at Toan Thang, much celebrated in social media, but also two doors away at Mr. Happy Chef.   So our group of six persons decided to give this corner restaurant a try.  It was a public holiday and so many people were out and about, we just being lucky to have found vehicle parking spaces not too far away.   There is a relatively spacious walk area outside this restaurant - another plus in so called Asian suburbs!

Subtle but flavourful stock in soup served with Wanton dumplings and egg noodles.

As in such so called ethnic places, service can be devastatingly fast.   The soups do come piping hot, and my best dish experienced that day was the tomato flavoured rice with the deep fried chicken.    The chicken skin was crispy, the rice had sufficient oomph in flavour and the meat was happily good on the bite.   The prawn noodle in contrast lacked the required level of taste but the accompanying ingredients were all right.    The wanton dumpling soup was above average to my fellow lunchers who love Cantonese styled food.

Tender on the bite pork slices garnish a spicy soup brewed with ground shrimp, enhanced by shallots, bean sprouts and boiled eggs  -  the Mee Yoke or Prawn Noodles.

So there you go, one has to be selective in having dishes anywhere.   The buzz at Mr. Happy Chef is turnover, tight seating and friendly service.  One of my meal companions went for a quick drop by to get Western Australian nougat and another got the chopped barbecue meats next door.    There are, as expected, many items in the food and drinks menu at Mr. Happy Chef.

My Impressions on this visit to Mr. Happy Chef at Homebush West:

Ambiance:  2.5 out of 5

Staff Engagement: 3.5 out of 5

Culinary Delight: 3 out of 5

X Factor: 3 out of 5

Overall Score: 3 out of 5

The butcher is central to the social and business life in Flemington NSW.   This  is K.W. BBQ located between Happy Chef and Toan Thang.

Mr. Happy Chef Noodle House visited is located at Shop 11/90 The Crescent,  Homebush West, NSW next door to K.W. BBQ and Toan Thang Vietnamese Restaurant.
Opening hours are from 930am to 900pm every day.
Contact   +61 2  9746 8999

Ginger & Shallots Chinese Cuisine Eastwood NSW

The steamed Barramundi was what stole my heart and palate.    The medium sized serving exuded freshness, had wholesome bites of tender insides and was daintily decorated with green broccoli and thin slices of ginger.    Instinctively we look at the eyes of the fish for the quality of the fish.  The sauce was not over whelming but just at the right note.  Our appetites were enhanced further by this classic prepared seafood.   It played with smell, taste and vision.   I placed some fish slices on to the fluffy steamed white rice and  it opened my senses further.

Wok stirred veg can come to the table in various forms, some under in taste and others over done by strong ingredients mixed with them.    Personally I prefer the so called plain versions without chilli, salt fish or other flavours, so that I could go straight to the quality of the chosen veg and savour their natural character.   Chinese cooking uses garlic to bring up the taste of the main ingredients, wok heat to lock the released flavours in  and emphasise on texture to help the bite.    The veg is often sliced or cut finely to ensure quick cooking and still retain the taste of the veg.    The dish served by Ginger & Shallots above was very well executed, allowing us to still appreciate the originality of the veg, even if accompanied by all the wok tricks from a thousand years of tradition.

The test of a Chinese styled restaurant is how it handles the Tofu, or soft soya bean cakes, for it is in how the chef creates taste from just using a primary ingredient which is basically tasteless.    We chose the combination of salted fish and chicken bites with the Tofu to see if the chef passed the test that evening.    We were more than happy with the results in a dish served on a clay pot.


We have not visited other than at dinner time.   Pricing is practical and good value.    The place can get crowded fast, as it seems to be a gathering hub for youngsters and family groups.   Located in a bustling suburb with not a good reputation for easy vehicle parking, the restaurant can serve to be one of the many stops in a place with many food, drink and marketing opportunities.     There are stalls at the Rowe Street pedestrian mall near the railway station on Saturday evenings;    a daily dedicated food fair with mainly Taiwan street food;  Korean cafes and food outlets on one side of Rowe Street; and a buzz in the suburb that can beat the atmosphere even in Sydney's Chinatown.






Ginger & Shallots Chinese Cuisine visited is located at Shop 25, 1 Lakeside Road, Eastwood NSW on a site occupied by KFC umpteen years ago.
Opening hours are from 11am to 1am every week day and from 9am to 1am on weekends.
Contact   +61 2 9874 8066








 

Faces of Beijing

Security staff are present in almost every corner, open space and in railway stations.   I view this as the Government being conscious of emphasising on public safety, doing much about this matter and projecting a seriousness about social order.   

Bags of would be passengers are scanned on monitoring machines when you enter railway stations in the Beijing area - and you are more likely to be bodily checked as well.

The symbol of protection against evil spirits and negative forces, the iconic stone lion appears in various colours, styles and appearances in front as pairs, one on the right and the other on the left, at various key buildings and sites.   Shown above is at the Summer Palace outside Beijing.

Always standing with an open aggressive countenance, they have a rectangular base adorned with various meaningful carved motifs.   Those around the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace reflect mostly Ming and Qing Dynasty cultural echoes,.   You would not find these lions at the Great Wall at Mu Tian Yu.

It is worth travelling the extra time and mileage to the Great Wall of China at Mu Tian Yu and avoid the bigger  tourist numbers at Ba Da Ling.    The walls, ramparts, battlements and foot steps here have been restored, although still retaining their splendour, gradients and historical presence.

At its height of existence, the Great Wall measured around 8850 kilometres, during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644).

The Great Wall, visible from outer space, refers to a collection of military protection fortifications, including forts, garrisons, barracks, watch towers and gates.   Sections of the Wall have been built and rebuilt throughout the course of the dynasties in the past two thousand over years.    It is eroded or swept by desert sand in many places in the far west and does reach the East China Sea at Dandong.

The watch towers were critical in the utilisation of the Great Wall, for from here huge fire signals were lit as part of communication processes before the age of the telegraph, the telephone and the internet.   This meant 24 hour sentry duty and the deployment of thousand of military soldiers who often worked far away from families and home for many years.

The ordinary Chinese folk historically refer to the Great Wall in negative terms and with trepidation.  Thousands of ordinary people died building this Wall and many were first conscripted from war and oppression.   Living there meant putting up with extreme weather conditions, narrow spaces and looking out at wide open hills and rather empty landscapes.

It is said that "walls are only as good as the man controlling it".     After the last Ming Dynasty Emperor hung himself as political and social chaos reigned during the take over by rebels led by Li Zi Cheng, an illustrious and reputable commanding Ming Dynasty General, Wu Sungui,   opened a vital Great Wall gate to allow the Manchu invaders in at the critical Shan Hai Pass.  General Wu had allowed the breach of the Wall, ostensibly to get the help of the Manchus to over come the rebels, but apparently also in a personal heart breaking act to avenge the holding of his own daughter by the rebels.


Stone, tampered earth, wood and brick made on site were part of the various materials used in constructing the Great Wall.    Recent research speculates that a small amount of sticky rice was part of the mix that went into the white mortar that still holds the bricks in good sections of the Wall.

Well known  foreigners who reported on the Great Wall through out history included the North African Ibn Battuta, Matteo Ricci, the Portuguese writer Joao de Barros, William of Rubrick, Marco Polo,  Giovanni de Pian and Jesuit Banto de Gois.

On my recent trip, I did not come across many European visitors as I had expected.
It is said these days China need not depend on foreigners for many things in its economy, including tourism.    The rise of purchasing power, the increase in numbers of the middle class and China's continued burgeoning dominance in wealth has made many locals travel more often, both internally and overseas.

The streets, pavements and streets of Beijing are amazingly clean and maintained well.
I have seen cleaners work 24 hours, often detailing clean ups even in the slots between tiles and sides of walls.   They use a rather organic and natural broom of a long handle and a huge tie up of dried brown leaves.

The electrically operated motor bike (photographed above) is prevalent, whether carrying goods, vendor's products or with Grand Dad ferrying kids.   They can be observed in the Hu Tongs, tourist parks and busy lanes.

A classical facade of a fort gate near the Bell and Drum Towers, within walking distance of Qianmen in Beijing.
The huge and solid doors have lion faced door knockers against a backdrop of heavy red, anointed by round metal knobs.

Roof eaves above are daintily decorated with bright coloured tiles, often in layers and in shapes that are round and follow the precepts of Feng Shui, Taoism and Buddhism.   On the day we visited, the plaza between the two Towers were full of families seeking evening relief after a warm and humid September day.