The Meeting Point, Taiwanese, Haymarket, Sydney

The Meeting Point is like many other modern Chinese restaurants in town that caters for Chinese students in Sydney.  So they have to have quick fast meals like noodle dishes, soups as well as coffee and a good selection of desserts.  And in a vaguely young and hip environment, usually in a convenient position.

Singapore Shiok! Chinatown

The Eating World food court in Chinatown must be laughing, it's home to two of the most popular eateries in town, Gumshara Ramen and the increasingly popular, and delicious Singapore Shiok!

Just about all your favourites are here, Hai Nam chicken, Hai Nam roast chicken, laksa, char kway teo, nasi lemak, nasi goreng, mee goreng, my mouth is watering as I type this post.

Milliore Restaurant, Korean, Chinatown, Sydney

I get the feeling Milliore Restaurant was originally set up to serve the local student students because the prices are reasonable for a CBD location.  It's authentic too, with an extensive menu, fair servings and fast service from young, friendly staff.

However, being the closest restaurant to the Capitol Theatre they're attracting a different crowd, you often see the theatre crowd breeze in for a quick meal before the show.

Tonight I'm with a big group of friends and we're seriously hungry.  The fried dumplings worked for me, crispy pastry covering pipping hot mince filling.  The fat and the meat instantly quelling my hunger.

Crazy Wings, Haymarket, Sydney

Crazy Wings is a snacking restaurant that serves mainly meat on a stick, actually on two sticks when it's chicken.  It was perfect for a noodlies Sydney food blog quick fix.  As the name says, they specialise in chicken wings, original, honey sweet, chilli pepper or the hottest, the BT Monster.  But there's also a good selection of offal, seafood and vegetables too.

It's Sunday lunch time and we're at the end of a six day heatwave, so I settle for the original.  The wings were lightly marinated with most of the flavours coming from the spiced powder that coats them - very, very moreish.

The crazy lamb also lightly marinated, tender the powder a stronger, spicier flavour.

Amazing how they attach these garlic chives (crazy leeks) to the skewers.  Perfectly grilled, nicely cooked but retaining juiciness... surprisingly tasty.

Tofu with century eggs exceeded my expectations, the tofu was silken smooth, ideal contrast and compliment the salted eggs and soy sauce.  I couldn't stop eating.

Crazy Wings
Shop 41, 1 Dixon St, Sydney
(02) 9267 8862

Mamak Malaysian, Chinatown, Sydney

For roti, satay, curry, this Malaysian institution is the favourite for many Sydney-siders and food bloggers.  For years I've been wanting to go but the queue outside this phenomenally popular restaurant have just been too long (I have a major aversion to queuing).

Today, by some freak of nature, we were walking past and there was no line - I even took a picture (above) to prove I hadn't gone crazy from Mamak deprivation.  We quickly slid inside as fast as we could.



The other thing I was dreading was the service, for a place with a reputation like Mamak,  I was expecting tossy, unhelpful staff. Not so.  They were all efficient, warm, almost to the point of being friendly, despite the frantic pace that comes with such a consistently busy restaurant.

We ordered up big, four courses for two people, not knowing when we can manage to get into Mamak again, queue-free.

Mamak's roti is hailed as the best around so we had to order it.  Besides seeing them made in the open kitchen has only increased my curiosity (see video below).  It came as a light, tasty ball, ready to absorb the incredibly tasty range of sauces and sambal that came with it.  And it came out incredibly fast.



We also had the onion roti below. The onion roti was flat, the onion wasn't as strong as I was expecting, in fact it was cooked perfectly so that the onion became sweet and provided an additional, light punch to the roti.

My pet hate is under cooked potato in any curry, I'm astounded how often this happens, perhaps in the rush to get the dishes out to table?  Not so at Mamak, the potatoes were perfect, cooked but not crumbly, similarly with the chicken, which weren't falling off the bone.

Finally, the stunningly presented chicken satay sticks.  Our dozen was well cooked on the outside but retaining the softness inside.  They glistened and begged to be dipped in the sauce, which wasn't as hot as I was expecting, the flavour and consistency was dominated by the peanuts in the sauce.

Noodlies Sydney food blog can now see why Sydney-siders love Mamak: fantastic food, great location, fast, friendly, efficient service... what more could you ask for?

Mamak
15 Goulburn St
Haymarket, Sydney
(02) 9211 1668

The Meeting Point, Haymarket

By Noodlies, Sydney food blog guest reviewer, KLui.

This new Taiwanese restaurant has taken over the place from an Internet Café, and that explains its cyber interior.

Mixed “jewels” and dried tofu in special soya sauce: this is a very extreme dish. I think you can guess why (hint: have a look at the cuts of meat)

Deep fried pork chop noodle soup: the clear stock is so rich and thick that you’ll fall in love with it!

Beef noodle soup: this beef soup is very rich as well but it’s a different story from the clear soup above. The hot and sour tastes from the chilli and tomatoes have made the soup very exciting!

Grapefruit Green Tea and Roselle Tea: both refreshing drinks are great after a big meal.

By Noodlies, Sydney food blog guest reviewer, KLui.
The Meeting Point
Market City Ground Floor
Shop R1.01B Hay Street, Haymarket
(02) 9280 3680

Golden Sichuan Chinese, Chinatown, Sydney

It must be heart breaking to be located next to Mamak and seeing the long queue for lunch and dinner, but that's what Golden Sichuan, on Goulburn Street in Chinatown must contend with.  Mamak has seen off many, many restaurants next door.

In fact, in what must be a compliment, Golden Sichuan is probably one of the longest running restaurants on that site.

We really don't like to queue, even for Mamak, so Golden Sichuan is great for a feed without the wait, although you do pay for that privilege.

Bund Restaurant & Karaoke, Chinese, Chinatown

By Noodlies Sydney food blog guest reviewer, KLui.

Shanghai cuisine is not as rich as other Northern Chinese cuisine, but they are so yummy. This is a great place to be on a Friday evening. This fun place has a modern touch to it – unusual for Shanghai cuisine, plus it’s full of TV screens for Karaoke lovers as well.

Vegetarian dumplings

A unique way to wrap their dumplings – open top with split fillings. The split in the middle makes the whole dumpling different from the others. The pastry in the middle helps the filling to spread evenly.