‘when a restaurant is packed with chinese customers, you know its gonna be good’

My family has a cantonese background and we’ve been coming here for years thanks to their cantonese cuisine. We’d usually come here for dinner which is always packed out so always make a reservation! Stand out dishes for me is their awesome steamed FISH!! (that’s another story). Outside the restaurant, you’ll notice articles published in the paper and a couple of awards they’ve won over the years and good on them for keeping up with the quality of food for a long time!

Hurstville is one of those areas which i forget about that exists. If you’ve never been there before, its a mini chinatown. Due to the crappy eastern suburbs flood / horrible rainy weather, my sister and I took my parents out to one of their favourite soup lunches which was not only soothing, but also cheap and comforting during the dull, cold and miserable wet winter weather.

Shallot Pancake
Shallot pancake is different to the more common ones which is flat and cut into pizza triangles. This shallot pancake held the shape of a crossiant and sliced into thirds (you may have seen this on yum cha trolley).

Crunchy and fragile on the outside, while the inside had many thin layers which was soo soft, lite and delicious.  I couldn’t get enough of it!!!

Soup for under $10

Soups are really really filling that we’re always left super full. The dumplings are huge and they give you a good portion that you wont be leaving hungry. I think all their soups / congee  are $8.90 (from memory) but to be safe i’ll round it up to $10 LOL.

Great thing I love about their soups is that, the wontons / gow gee are really tasty, they’re big, and most importantly.. they don’t over fill the bowl with too many noodles like other soup places do to scum on the fillings.

Combination (pork mince, prawn and chinese mushroom) gow gee
I didn’t want noodles in my soup mainly because their soups are sooo filling. (I can never finish a bowl of soup to myself).

Dumplings are really big! (10 dumplings all up)! It took me a while to figure out how I was going to eat it because of its size. I managed to eat it eventually and boy I was stuffed!

Beef brisket & wonton noodle soup
This seems to be the ultimate favourite with the family. 90% of us seem to order this and come here for this particular soup. Its one of those dishes which is loved too much to choose something different.

Its got super tender beef which melts in your mouth and jiggly tendons (i’m no fan of tendons which is why i don’t order it) but hey the beef is bomb, the wontons are huge and its great to know they don’t over fill bowl with too many noodles.

Hurstville Chinese Restaurant
184 Forest Rd,
Hurstville NSW 2220
P: (02) 9586 0828?

Bang for your buck deal..
for thirty-five-bucks!

I’ve been reading a few entries about Cafe Ish and I do warn you to ask for permission before you photograph their food. As a food blogger, we have have to understand owners have different opinions, attitudes and beliefs towards food blogging so the best thing to do is respect their wishes.

Having said this, Richard gathered a few of us for an all you could eat rib fiesta (Note: this is only available on Wednesdays) ! Greeted by the lovely owner Josh and his lovely staff, he put on an awesome rib feast that was absolutely delicious!

Beef Ribs – Blue gum smoked ribs marinated in sake, soy, mirin and ginger finished with coriander, fresh chili, shallots, sesame and black vinegar

You know the ribs are good when the meat falls off the bone in one clean sweep. These ribs melted in your mouth and were a pleasure to eat. Flavours are a complete standout!

Pork Ribs – Blue gum smoked ribs marinated in sake, soy, mirin and ginger finished with coriander, fresh chili, shallots, sesame and black vinegar

I’m a huge pork rib fan!!!! I ate so many pork ribs I felt like I was being a scab because the bones were so big in comparison to the beef. Ribs were soft and tender, the chili bits at the bottom was deliciously tempting that I began picking bits that had fallen off the bone and into the bottom of the bowl.

Sides

Edamame beans with Murray River pink salt
When there’s meat, you gotta have greens! Edamame beans were addictive that I couldn’t stop picking at it! Probably explains why I got full quickly.

Japanese Potato Salad
Light mayo salad which was really refreshing in terms of taste. Unfortunately I didn’t get to eat a lot of it as I was saving my stomach space for the ribs

Shoestring fries!
Ribs and fries… you just can’t go wrong!!! I can’t seem to resist fries when they’re on the table.. mmm fried to perfection ^_^!

Cabbage with wattleseed mayonnaise?
At first, I was a bit puzzled by the plate of cabbage on the table but when I started to dip this in the condiment, it soon became addictive! Steph and I kept eating this god damn cabbage!

Sake
When Josh, lay the sake glasses on the table.. you could hear us girls go “awwwww I want those SAKE cups” seriously they are super cute and cool… I really do want a set!

Dessert

Lemon delicious
Perfection! – This would have to be the BEST lemon delicious desserts i’ve ever had!! I haven’t had many in my life but my goddd this was “EFFING” BRILLIANT!!!! I would love to have this all to myself! The texture melted in your mouth and the lemony goodness was mind blowing.

Chocolate fondant with wattleseed ice-cream and sour plum jam

Chocolate cake was delicious, rich and moist. The wattleseed ice-cream was my favourite. I’m in love with the texture and the taste! Probably because, I’ve been going through a wattleseed phase at the  moment. (My favourite chocolate flavour is “Wattleseed” @ Adora)

As for the sour plum jam, I thought it had an interesting taste, one which is very strong and dominating and quite strange at the same time.. when combined with the ice-cream and chocolate fondant. Nevertheless still very very good.

Wattleseed creme brulee with azuki red bean
I love the sound of breaking into a creme brulee dessert. As soon as you hear that crunch, you know your in heaven! The creme brulee was smooth and creamy and the wattleseed created a really nice subtle nutty taste which I thoroughly enjoyed

Cafe Ish
82 Campbell St
Surry Hills, 2010
P: (02) 9281 1312