A long working week ie four 11 to 12 hour days on the trot meant that I needed a good midweek feed that was quick, tasty and close to home. Steve suggested heading towards Crown and having a mosey to see what would take our fancy.
Weirdly out of all the wonderful restaurants, we ended up at Sho which is neither stand out or well known. We did consider the old favourite Nobu but I feared it would take too long and I'd fall asleep and we weren't really dressed well for the other places.
We'd been to Sho before and had noodles and they were ok so we thought we'd give it another try and use the Entertainment card to bring down the cost. Service was ok and we were shown to a table and a drinks order taken quickly.
Sho is decorated quite nicely with a big silk mural in pink and red on the wall. It's a little bit strange in ambience and because it's on the gaming floor, it feels a bit like it's more of a refectory for pokie players and gamblers and there for sustenance than tasty food.
Clientele tends to be Asian which on the one hand is reassuring with regards to authenticity but then most of the gamblers in Crown tend to be Asian anyway so the stats tend to dictate that this would be so anyway!
We ummed and ahhed about what to eat. After a 12 hour day, making decisions seems to defeat me. We toyed with bowls of soup noodles each which we did last time and also deliberated whether to go for the duck special. In the end we just ordered some starters and main dishes to share.
Drinks wise, Steve had a beer and I had a soft drink followed by one of the many Chinese teas they have. I went for a white chrysanthemum one which I found refreshing.
Weirdly out of all the wonderful restaurants, we ended up at Sho which is neither stand out or well known. We did consider the old favourite Nobu but I feared it would take too long and I'd fall asleep and we weren't really dressed well for the other places.
We'd been to Sho before and had noodles and they were ok so we thought we'd give it another try and use the Entertainment card to bring down the cost. Service was ok and we were shown to a table and a drinks order taken quickly.
Sho is decorated quite nicely with a big silk mural in pink and red on the wall. It's a little bit strange in ambience and because it's on the gaming floor, it feels a bit like it's more of a refectory for pokie players and gamblers and there for sustenance than tasty food.
Clientele tends to be Asian which on the one hand is reassuring with regards to authenticity but then most of the gamblers in Crown tend to be Asian anyway so the stats tend to dictate that this would be so anyway!
We ummed and ahhed about what to eat. After a 12 hour day, making decisions seems to defeat me. We toyed with bowls of soup noodles each which we did last time and also deliberated whether to go for the duck special. In the end we just ordered some starters and main dishes to share.
Drinks wise, Steve had a beer and I had a soft drink followed by one of the many Chinese teas they have. I went for a white chrysanthemum one which I found refreshing.
We started with a bowl of chicken and sweet corn soup and some spring rolls. The bowl of soup was large but pretty bland. No taste and I declared it a waste of calories after a few spoonfuls. The Vietnamese spring rolls were pleasant enough. Not really authentically Vietnames. They came with sweet chilli sauce rather than nuoc cham but spring rolls have to be pretty bad to not be enjoyable.
Our main courses were:
The pork fared a bit better and there was a generous amount of meat. The snow peas or mange tout were crunchy and had been put into the dish at the right time for them to retain their crispiness. The sauce was just a touch too salty and tasted too much like it was made from a spoonful of Lee Kum Kee chilli and garlic sauce which is all well and good for a home cook like me but not what's expected from a professional kitchen and restaurant that charges $21. 50 for it.
The Entertainment card helped cushion the bill and it came to about $80 for the two of us. For $80 I'd rather go to Pacific on Lonsdale Street or Victoria Street but I guess it was our own fault for wanting to eat closer to home.
In conclusion, dinner filled a hole and we were home within 5 mins of leaving. It was all bit too average though and in Melbourne, average just isn't enough. Out of all the restaurants in Crown, Sho is really not Sho good!
Our main courses were:
- Crispy pork belly clay pot - wok fried roast pork belly with snow peas in Szechuan chilli sauce
- Sweet and sour barramundi - deep fried whole barramundi with pine nuts and sweet and sour sauce
The pork fared a bit better and there was a generous amount of meat. The snow peas or mange tout were crunchy and had been put into the dish at the right time for them to retain their crispiness. The sauce was just a touch too salty and tasted too much like it was made from a spoonful of Lee Kum Kee chilli and garlic sauce which is all well and good for a home cook like me but not what's expected from a professional kitchen and restaurant that charges $21. 50 for it.
The Entertainment card helped cushion the bill and it came to about $80 for the two of us. For $80 I'd rather go to Pacific on Lonsdale Street or Victoria Street but I guess it was our own fault for wanting to eat closer to home.
In conclusion, dinner filled a hole and we were home within 5 mins of leaving. It was all bit too average though and in Melbourne, average just isn't enough. Out of all the restaurants in Crown, Sho is really not Sho good!
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