• Barley Background
  • Farewell UK
  • Melbourne Magic
  • Restaurant Reviews
  • Guestbook

Dainty Sichuan

19/2/2017

0 Comments

 
A Sunday gathering around a round table with plenty of shared dishes to dig into family style is a great afternoon well spent, and we chose to do that at Dainty Sichuan in Glen Waverley.

Admittedly I've been a bit dubious and hesitant about Sichuan cuisine. I'm not a fan of that numbing pepper spice and whilst I enjoy heat and spice, my poor tummy sometimes doesn't. But Ling loves this place so we were ready to give it a go.

Seated around a table, 5 adults, a 3 year old and a baby in a bassinet, we had plenty of room. Found the wait staff friendly and helpful enough; the environment is very typically Chinese restaurant.
So we ordered quite a bit:

  • Fish Slices with Pickled Vegetables
  • FIsh Flavour Eggplant
  • Cumin Lamb Ribs
  • Bang Bang Chicken
  • Corn in Gold Sand with Salted Egg Yolk (unpictured)
  • Stewed Pork Belly Sichuan Home Style (unpictured)
  • Sichuan Home Style Baby Cabbages, Pickled Chilli, Sweet and Sour (unpictured)

Steve was a little apprehensive as the menu items are a largely different to the more traditional Chinese cuisine that is heavily Cantonese influenced. I think he only recognised Ma Po Tofu and the sweet and sour pork, neither of which we ordered! However, his anxiety was shortlived as when the food arrived, he dug in and enjoyed.

The term 'fish fragrant' actually does not mean fishy at all but refers to the Sichuan traditional flavour notes of hot, sour, salty and sweet and with battered eggplant it's pretty glorious.

Definitely strong flavours come through in all the dishes but it doesn't overpower the natural flavours of the food and the flavours of each dish can be differentiated. It's good to know, it's not one big spicy mess.

The lamb ribs are what you want lamb ribs to be. Some fat for flavour but not so much that there's not meat and plenty of crunch and spice.

The mild dishes are the Stewed Pork Belly, the Baby Cabbages (which actually had slices of pork in it so watch out vegetarians!), and the corn. The fish dish was also quite mild but the combination of the piquant broth and steamed rice was pretty moreish.

We had a great meal - family feels and good flavours. Steve and I didn't feel any tummy discomfort afterwards either so good times all round although those with a more sensitive 'system' may feel the effects of spice, salt and oil. I've been informed it's worth it though!

Shaanxi-Style Restaurent Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
0 Comments

Straits Kitchen

11/8/2012

0 Comments

 
Saturday was a double date night and we caught up with Ling and Noah at Straits Kitchen. It was all a bit confusing and they actually meant for us to dine at Straits of Malacca in Glen Waverley but somehow I ended up booking Straits Kitchen in between Mount and Glen Waverley so after a delayed start we managed to all be in one place, seated round one table!
We ordered 6 dishes in total to share and the waitress said they would come out three at a time. The combinations she chose was a little bit weird but I guess it doesn't matter too much.

So round 1 was Hainanese Chicken Rice, Sambal Spinach and Five Spice Pork Chop.

The chicken rice was decent enough and above average. The spinach was fresh, vibrant and flavoursome and a favourite of everyone. The pork chop was decent enough too but I thought the batter was a bit too thick.
Round 2 was Wat Dan Hor (rice noodles stir fried with a thick sauce), Roti Cenai with chicken curry and Beef Rendang.

The roti cenai was very good - warm and fluffy roti with a crisp to it and a decent curry. The wat dan hor was a touch too gelatinously gloopy and the beef rendang was a bit of a disappointment considering it was calling itself the specialty of the restaurant. The beef itself was tender enough but the balance of spices just wasn't quite right and the sauce wasn't fragrant enough.

All in all, dinner was decent enough. I'm not desperate to return but I'm not averse to either. Maybe next time we'll get to the right Straits place!
Straits Kitchen on Urbanspoon
0 Comments

    Fine Print

    For those that know us, this section will probably come with no surprise! Steve and I love eating out so this is our record of our time in Australia.

    This is a blog that is 100% written and edited by Steve and I. All opinions expressed are our own and are not influenced by any third party.

    Any sponsored posts are easily identified as such.

    Thanks for reading barleyblog.

    Follow @mindabarley
    View my food journey on Zomato!

    Archives

    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010

    Categories

    All
    Albert Park
    American
    Argentinian
    Armadale
    Armenian
    Beaconsfield
    Beechworth
    Birragurra
    Box Hill
    Breakfast
    Bright
    Brighton
    British
    Brunswick
    Buffet
    Burgers And Pub Grub
    Burmese
    Busselton
    Camberwell
    Canberra
    Carlton
    Cbd
    Chinese
    Collingwood
    Daylesford
    Dessert
    Docklands
    Doncaster
    Elsternwick
    Eltham
    Elwood
    Ethiopian
    European
    Filipino
    Fitzroy
    Flemington
    Flinders
    Footscray
    Fremantle
    French
    Fusion
    Geelong
    German
    Glen Waverley
    Greek
    Hawthorn
    Hobart
    Indian
    Indonesian
    Italian
    Japanese
    Kew
    Korean
    Kyneton
    Launceston
    Malaysian
    Margaret River
    Mexican
    Middle Eastern
    Mildura
    Modern Australian
    Mornington Peninsula
    Northcote
    North Melbourne
    Port Fairy
    Port Melbourne
    Prahran
    Richmond
    Ripponlea
    Rutherglen
    Southbank
    South Melbourne
    South Yarra
    Spanish
    Steakhouse
    St Kilda
    Sydney
    Thai
    Thornbury
    Toorak
    Torquay
    Vietnamese
    Werribee
    Williamstown
    Windsor
    Yarra Valley
    Yum Cha

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.