Billy Kwong 家常便飯

Billy Kwong

家常便飯

355 Crown St

Surry Hills, NSW, 2010

Australia

(02) 9332 3300

Web: Billy Kwong

Opening Hours

Mon ~ Thu, 6pm ~ 10pm

Fri ~ Sat, 6pm ~ 11pm

Sun, 6pm ~ 9pm

What We Ordered:

Freshly Shucked Oysters Steamed with Ginger & Shallots $15

Steamed Prawn Wontons with Organic Brown Rice Vinegar Dressing $19

Crispy Skin Pork Belly with Steam Pancakes

Crispy Skin Duck with Organic Mandarin Sauce $47

Fresh Tropical Fruits and Dark Chocolate $15

There are so many restaurants and bars located on Crown Street, Surry Hills in Sydney. This is probably one of the best places to eat and Billy Kwong is one that you don't want to miss. I first saw Kylie on her cooking show on TV years ago and I love the idea she opens this small, cozy restaurant with lovely home style cooking. No booking was needed, so be there early to avoid disappointment. I would hated if there's no reservation service available if the restaurant was in Melbourne, but in my case, due to the policy we were lucky to get a table on a Saturday night, even we have to wait half an hour before they cleaned up a table for us. That's totally fine, as we left our name and contact no. with friendly hostess and walked down the road to have a drink in one of the pubs.

At 9:30pm the restaurant was still packed will people. I was so excited we got a table which could look straight into the kitchen. This is not a fine dining place where you can sit there, drink wine and relax. The restaurant was a little noisy and the tables were close to each other. You sit on wooden stools instead of chairs with cushions. You could probably overheard what was going on from tables next to you and check out what were they having in their dishes. It was fun and interestingly, I kind of like all these atmosphere, as the tiny little place seemed so lively. It was like you were having a large family gathering during the Chinese New Year where talent chefs were your aunts working in the kitchen,  preparing food and chopping roast meat; waiters walking around the tables were like your  uncles serving food to tables where relatives came from all over the country; people sitting next to you were like your cousins who were chatted non stop about the exciting holiday season. It was a true enjoyable moment for me and the experience was so different and unforgettable.

The food was outstanding and all served in reasonable portion.  The service was great. Our first dish was the freshly shucked oysters steamed with ginger and shallots. We appreciated with the top quality and freshness of the oysters and the sauce was simple and light. I prefer this over the oyster dish I had earlier of the day from Tetsuya's. The steamed prawn wontons with organic brown rice vinegar dressing was delicious. The dressing had some sweetness in it instead of very spicy from most of the Szechuan cuisine. This may more suitable for ordinary patron. Again the sauce was light which did not take over the beautiful flavour from the food itself. 

After we had the two entrees, we couldn't wait for the main courses to amazed us and we were totally blow away from the crispy skin pork belly with steam pancakes. Normally I am not a big fan of pork belly and I never order it from Chinese or western restaurants. Since the waiter recommend the dish and promised it was going to be surprisingly good, we decided to give it a try. And the result was divine!!! Pretty much speechless. OMG! I just had the best piece of pork belly in my life in Billy Kwong. Unbelievable! The pork skin was crunch and the meat was juicy. The pancake was thin and still warm during serving. It was a 10/10 perfect dish. However, the journey kept amazing us with the crispy skin duck with organic Mandarin sauce. The duck was beautifully cooked and the sauce was incredible tasty. I could drink the sauce if there was any left in our dish. The flavour was rich and strong. The twice cooked duck was balance off well with the organic sweet and sour plums. I was so blessed. Really, I felt that way at that moment. Nothing beats good food.

This is a place I'd highly recommend.  It's not like one of those cheap Chinese eating out but definitely worth the money. Hubby said it was the best Chinese dinning he had for a while and it was not cooking by Chinese. Haha... Will be back for sure!

Signed copies of Kylie Kwong's new book, 'It Tastes Better' ($69.95) are available in the restaurant. Or try her recipes Salad of King Prawns, Avocado & Watercress and Potato, Carrot & Black Cloud-Ear Fungus Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette  online from her new book.

I love Chinese food and adore Billy Kwong, who don't if you like to try something not so traditional Chinese. Yum!

Cuisine: Chinese

Food: Excellent

Service: Good

Atmopshere: Excellent

Value: $$$

Recommend: Excellent

*Rating: Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, Very Poor

Walrus Chinese Restaurant

Walrus Chinese Restaurant

泉記海鮮菜館

20/28 Queens Ave

Springvale, VIC 3171

ph:(03) 95408981

What we had:

3 pound lobster cook in two ways ($75/pound)

Lobster sashimi and lobster with ginger and shallot on two serves of egg noodles

Japanese beancurd and vegetables with crab meat sauce

Lobster sashimi was live, took out from the tank and went straight to the back kitchen. The chopped up fresh meat was placed on crushed ice and served in large pieces. Yum! It was smooth, tender and sweet. Good heavens, those was the most marvelous food on earth! The yellow stuff in the middle was the lobster's brain, it looked a bit weird but very delicate and delicious to eat raw as well. Just dip it in the wasabi and soy sauce, it was a little salty and spicy with the sweetness of the raw lobster, it was well balanced. So so nice!

The ginger and shallot lobster is a popular Chinese dish. The same recipe apply to scallops, crabs, abalone, etc. The lobster was well cooked and tasted wonderful. It was an expensive dish and we never wanted it to be over cooked. Here in Walrus, it never disappointed us with their seafood. They have very professional chefs. The egg noodles underneath the lobster absorbed the great flavour from the sauce. DH would eat many bowls of the egg noodles alone.

The Japanese beancurd and vegetables with crab meat sauce was one of my favourites here in Walrus. The beancurd was so soft and it melted in my mouth. The crab meat with egg yolk was smooth and tasted fantastic. The vegetable could be different each time as they use the best seasonal produces. Really worth a try. We love seafood and we love Walrus!

Cuisine: Chinese

Food: Good

Service: Good

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $$$

Recommend: Good

*Rating: Excellent, Good, Average, Poor, Very Poor

Dragon Boat

Dragon Boat

龍舫酒家 

203 Lt Bourke St

Melbourne, 3000

Ph: (03) 9662 2733

Web: Dragon Boat

Open Hours:

Sunday ~ Thursday

8:00am ~ 11:00pm

Friday ~ Saturday

8:00am ~ till late

Saturday night, we decided to try the new renovated Dragon Boat located in the heart of Melbourne's Chinatown on Little Bourke Street. We've walked pass there countless times but never go inside. The huge double storey restaurant which specialised in Cantonese Cuisine is decorated with Chinese influences such as the dragon print on the glass wall; Chinese water colour printings framed and hang on the wall; little tea pots display on the giant shelve unit. It's simple, bright, clean and very inviting.

It was around 9pm and the restaurant was not busy at all. There were only four tables when we arrived and the upstairs area was completely empty without patrons (restroom located upstairs). A senior waitress got us a table and we were left there with a menu.

We ordered three dishes. First the dragon boat combination in phoenix nest ($28.50). It was the chefs recommendations and there were prawns, scallops, white fish, chicken, mushroom and greens served in a potato flour deep fried nest. A bit disappointed as the dish was very oily and lack of flavour. From my photo you can see how shining the dish was and it was like spraying oil on it for special photo effect! The portion was small for the price paid as well.

Then we had the seafood fried rice. I couldn't believe how expensive fried rice costs nowadays. For $23.80 the dish we've got was totally overpriced. And again the dish has too much oil in it. The rice was too soft and the ingredients were so boring. A good fried rice should have chewy crystal rice not something tasted like soaked in water and oil. A disaster.  

Last the chilli and salt prawns ($32.80) was placed on our table when I almost wanted to leave the place.  It was brilliant in presentation and tasted amazingly great! It was golden brown in colour, crispy deep fried shells, the prawn was well cook, tasted so fresh and flavoursome. What I loved it the most was the spicy red chilli highlights the whole dish and gave it an exotic taste. Bravo! Finally got something nice to eat and it was probably one of the best chilli and salt prawns I've had in Melbourne. This dish totally made the visit worth it.

There are four Dragon Boat restaurants in Melbourne, we've tried three of them including this one. Their Knox City branch is huge and the interior was grand. Both the food and service was okay. We used to go to Dragon Boat Palace on Lonsdale Street quite often as the Yum Cha buffet was good value. The prices at Dragon Boat on Little Burke was not cheap, food was ordinary, services was lack of interests and there has nothing making me want to return except for the chilli and salt prawns. That was really delicious. However, I'm not brave enough to try their other dishes. I don't want to be disappointed again.

Cuisine: Chinese

Food: Average

Service: Average

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $$$

Recommend: Average

Double Happiness

 

 

China Red

紅雙喜

Shop 6, 206 Bourke St

Melbourne VIC 3000,

Australia

(03) 9662 3688

web: China Red

Open Hours

Monday ~ Thursday

11:30am ~ 10:30pm

Friday ~ Saturday

11:30am ~ 11:00pm

Last month we have invited some friends to try a new restaurant China Red in Chinatown which we discovered after our visited to the upstairs Shanghai Dynasty Restaurant. Unfortunately due to the flood (heavy rain) our friends couldn't make it but we still decided to go as it was a bit difficult to find a place to eat on Saturday without booking. The price I paid: a wet feet. Stupid me stepped into the water outside the car park. That was so embarrassed. Therefore the first thing I went into the restaurant was looking for it's restroom. I was told to go outside the restaurant and use the public toilet in the complex. That was inconvenience. (Later I found out there's a unisex toilet downstairs).

In the meantime, DH already got a table downstairs in the basement. The restaurant has two levels and it is ultra modern and chic in style. Clean, relaxing and comfortable. On the wall, traditional Chinese architecture on printing in black and white, and on contrast, a young bride in a gorgeous Qi Pao in eye catching lovely red colour, beautiful and shy. She was sitting quietly waiting for her groom to arrive. There's a story to tell on the wall and you can make up yours. Excellent design. Red lanterns, dark colour walls and Chinese printings and paper cuts on display. Great ambiance for casual dinning. Not to mention there's a secret private room reserved for VVIP downstairs. Just kidding. The small oriental room divided by the fabulous double happiness sliding doors is for large group booking and it fits up to 10 or more people. So if you want some private conversations and dine in a group this is an option for you. The room is tiny but has a lot of details; large wooden round table with Chinese antique reproduction carved chairs. A selection of  beautiful teapots display on the shelves and a red chandelier with traditional Chinese writing hanging from the ceiling. Pretty amazing.

Because of the flood, we've wasted a lot of time on traffic and almost late for our booking. The lady at the door was so nice and didn't mind there were only two of us turned up instead of a group. The little restaurant was packed. The wait staff was very friendly and offered to show us how to use the super hi-tech touchscreen ordering system which was mounted on the wall at each table. This is something new in Melbourne I guess as I haven't seen it elsewhere yet, but very popular in Japan and has been used in Sydney for a while. Thanks for her attentive service but we didn't need her help at all. I love to order direct through a machine as this minimised any human mistake due to communication problem. There are few sections to choose from just like menus on papers. From memory there are appetizers, mains, drinks and desserts and there's a picture of every dish you order and price shown next to it. You can always order more with the system and check the accurate total price without challenging your calculation skills. It's excellent fun and super convenience and the system is easy to use and works smoothly. What a great innovation! Love it.

There were also hard copy menus on hand and for people who likes the traditional human to human ordering method, that was not a problem at all. Some people like to ask for recommendation and make sure what they order, especially if you don't speak Chinese. Totally understandable. Going through their menus, I found those were similar to a close by restaurant called "Spicy Fish" who also served mainly Szechuan Cuisine. Are they also belong to the same group as Hu Tong Dumpling Bar I wonder? They all shared very similar menus.

We were extremely hungry and wasted no time other than selecting things to eat. Their menus have a large selection of food; dumplings, buns, noodles, cold and hot appetizers, vegetarian, poultry, meat, seafood and desserts etc. With the self ordering system, we selected the dish and pressed confirm on touch screen. Simply as that. The good thing about it was easy and we've got to see what each dish looks like and don't need to guess until it places on our table. And the bad thing, we totally lost control and kept order unstop.
Here's what we ordered:

Drinks

Milk Tea $4.50

Red Bean in Syrup $4.00

Appetizers

Black Fungus in Vinegar $9.80

Won Ton in Spicy Sauce $8.80

Spicy Sliced Pork Tripe $8.80

Vegetable Dumplings (6 pieces) $ 6.80

Pan Fried Pork Buns (4 pieces) $8.80

Main

Chili Mud Crab (seasonal price) $118.30 (around 3 pounds)

The milk tea arrived in an interesting glass container, it was placed in a bowl of ice. Very interesting idea to separated the ice and the drink but still keep it cold. The taste was awesome! Silky and deep in flavour. I don't know how to explain this exactly but if you've tried a good milk tea in a cafe in Hong Kong, you would know what I'm talking about. Hubby liked his Red Bean drink and he said it was good.

Black Fungus in Vinegar was a dish I fall in love with after having it at Shanghai Dynasty Restaurant not long ago. It was crispy and chewy. Simply delicious and very good for health. This is a super easy dish. The black fungus was dried and comes in package. Soak it in water overnight so it becomes soft in texture. Then seasoned with vinegar, a little salt and sesame oil. I will definitely order it again and again.

The won ton in spicy sauce was delicious. Very similar to those at Hu Tong Dumpling Bar. Soft thin wrapping and nice pork filling. The sauce has a lots of chilies in it but not that spicy. I wish they could be spicier and more seasonings in it but I guess the level of heat there was more acceptable for the general public.

Spicy sliced pork tripe was brilliant. It was so fresh and tasty. Marinated pork tripe boiled in hot water then sliced in small narrow pieces and seasoning with hot chili oil, sugar and salt, chili, Szechuan pepper corn, white sesame and spring onion. Lovely appetizers and full of flavour.

Vegetable dumplings and pan fried pork buns were something normally we won't order but we decided to try them that night. The dumplings were beautiful in colour, as green as a snow pea (my fave veggie). I can't remember what was the filling, from the photos I could tell there were some finely chopped carrot, spinach, etc. They came in a large bamboo basket and were large in size. Strange looking fat dumplings in my opinion and the wrapping was a bit too thick. Still a nice choice for vegetarian but not me. I don't like dumplings, buns, noodles, spaghetti or anything made of flour. When I was a kid whenever my grandma cook dumplings, I would left the wrapping aside and eat the filling only. Naughty child. And grandma made the best dumplings in the world. I really missed her thin wrapping small dumplings with well marinated filling. We used to have them on eve of Chinese New Year. Actually my favourite dumpling filling were the spinach, egg and vermicelli vegetarian type rather than plain pork. I have found the pan fried ones in some Korean restaurants.  Anyway, the pork buns look perfectly cute and they tasted okay but nothing special. Again the wrapping was too thick and left no room for filling. Both of the dishes were pretty good prices. For $6.80 you've got six dumplings and for $8.80 for four pork buns. They are good lunch choices.

Last, we had the mud crab in dry chili sauce. Wow! Wow! Wow! Apart from the price, this dish rock! It was hot hot hot! So prefect that I instantly addicted to it. An original for us Chinese to taste not an Chinese x Western dish to favourite the locals. I don't have a problem with recipes adjust to fit most of the customers. However, I'm more favour in stick to the original recipes and cook authentic dishes. The handsome Mr. Crab was more than three pounds in weight. The meat was extremely fresh, sweet and tender and the chilli sauce was powerful (very hot). I ate with my bare hands and licked my fingers like a child. A marvelous dish and hubby was totally agreed with me.

The service in China Red was fast and efficient. There were so many wait staffs on duty and they were so friendly and attentive. Thanks to the modern technology and machine ordering system, it let them got more time to service their customers. We didn't need to top up our empty glasses, the wait staff took care of that the whole night. When I traced up a dish, I got response very quickly and they were all happy and smiling. So, what else to ask for. We left as two happy and satisfied customers.

When we got outside the restaurant, there were chefs working in this large open kitchen with see through glass. It was late and they were all packing up and cleaning. So the show business in handmade noodles and buns was over that night but it will start again the next day and the day after. DH has asked me many times to revisit the restaurant since we first dine there and he was completely in love with China Red.
Double happiness, for both the customers and also the business owners.
Win win!

Cuisine: Chinese

Food: Good

Service: Good

Atmopshere: Good

Value: $$

Recommend: Likes It