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Want to experience Hong Kong street food without making a trip to Hong Kong? Queen Chow is the place for you! Chefs Patrick Friesen and Christopher Hogarth make regular trips to Hong Kong to absorb the essence and spirit of Hong Kong street food. They bring locally inspired dishes to our tables in Oueen’s Hotel in Enmore.
Queen Chow Steamed Dim Sum Platter $32
The platter comes with eight pieces of dim sum with two each of four different kinds:

Xiao long bao: This dumpling is pinched together to seal the top which creates a cascade of ripples. The inside is filled with minced pork and soup. Be careful when taking your first bite as it is very hot. Personally I found the pork had a slight odor, which is a minus.


Scallop dumpling: A generous amount of prawns were used in the dumpling, topped with a slice of  scallop. The dumplings are cooked perfectly, the scallops and prawns complement each other.


Jade dumpling: I think spinach was the only ingredient used in the filling, taste wise it was good but could be more interesting.


Fungi dumpling: This dumpling is filled with mixed mushrooms, a small dumpling  that is packed with flavours.



Chong Qing hot and numbing chicken wings $18
Chong Qing hot and numbing chicken wings was the second dish to come. As soon as this dish landed on our table, we could smell the numbness of the Sichuan pepper (This spice is widely used in Sichuan cooking). It really rang the bell for me, and I was drooling...a right amount of Sichuan pepper was added to this dish and the numbness was just right, it couldn't be more or less. The chicken wings were deep fried and so they were crispy on the outside and tender+juicy on the inside. The only negative thing is that the dish was slightly on the salty side, we ended up getting a bowl of rice. 


Stir fried milk, prawns, prawn roe, tobiko, fried bread stick $24
At first I did not know what to expect from this dish, the only thing I recognise is the fried bread stick, which is traditionally eaten with soy milk for breakfast. After trying this dish, the creamy and tofu-like texture of the stir fried milk reminded me of something that I had in the past when I was a child. Have you ever had that feeling when trying some food and the taste is so familiar, something that you might have had a long time ago and that taste is imprinted in your memory? I quite like this dish, and enjoy the idea of eating the stir fried milk with the bread stick.
Honey glazed pork spareribs $21
We had a bit of drama when we got our honey glazed pork spareribs, my instinct told me there was something wrong with the dish. I was expecting the ribs to be attached to bones, and what we got was a plate of meat that was boneless. Then I remembered another dish on the menu, honey glazed pork neck...and I thought maybe they got the order mixed up. Just before the waiter was about to leave, we stopped him and asked what the dish was and he said "honey glazed pork neck". We told him we ordered the spareribs. Without thinking he immediately said "Oh, that is the honey glazed pork spareribs". Even though he noticed that we didn't look convinced, he turned his head and walked away immediately. 

We really wanted the spareribs because the pork neck looked like typical char siu that you can get elsewhere, so we talked to a girl and told her about the mix up. She saw the pork neck and said "that's the honey glazed pork neck" and said she will take it back to the kitchen. Everyone makes mistakes, the guy could have simply apologised and taken the dish back, it wasn't even his fault the order got mixed up. 

Luckily we stayed with the spareribs, the meat and fat ratio was just right. When you bite into the meat it is tender and juicy, with no impression of greasiness. A succulent dish for sure, highly recommended!

For dessert we ordered the forgotten koi fish in the frozen pond and coffee milk tea. The Chinese translation for these two dishes on the menu were both slightly off, which turned out kind of funny if you can read Chinese.
The forgotten koi fish in the frozen pond $15
This dish was pleasant for the eye as well as for the tummy, the two pieces of mango pudding were shaped like koi fish with a splash of red and black added to resemble the real thing (Got to praise the effort). The mango flavour really came through and the texture was silky and smooth. A bit of granita was used to remind you of the frozen pond. The mango sorbet on top was smooth and refreshing, apart from that it was a little too sour for me.
Coffee milk tea $15
The coffee milk tea is like a fansy version of the your everyday milk tea. A generous scoop of milk tea ice cream sits on top a few bite-sized chocolate and creme brulee sponge cakes and some mini salted caramel balls.  The dessert is then topped up with coffee cream which is light and airy.

All the dishes were satisfying for the taste buds. We were most impressed with the desserts and it was hard to pick which one we liked better, so I voted for the coffee milk tea and Piggy voted for the forgotten koi fish in the frozen pond.


Food: 9/10
Service: 6/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Highlight:
  • Honey glazed pork spareribs
  • Coffee milk tea

Low light:
  • Service could be improved
Website: http://merivale.com.au/queenchow
Address: 2/167 Enmore Rd, Enmore NSW 2042
Hours: Mon-Thu: 12pm-2am
            Fri: 12pm-3am
            Sat: 10am-3am
            Sun: 10am-10pm
Phone: (02) 9249 3000

Queen Chow Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
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This is our first trip to Taiwan so Piggy and I were very excited. We spent Christmas and New Year’s Eve there, for a total of 10 days. We first travelled to Taipei and then all the way down south to Kaohsiung. We decided to go to Taiwan because we had never been there and we wanted to get away from the heat in Sydney while going somewhere that isn’t too cold either.


Day 1: Taipei

We went to RÒU by T-HAM for lunch



This place serves western food with a meat theme and some traditional Taiwanese dishes. The restaurant has two floors. The ground floor is like a deli where they sell imported and local produce including raw meat like Japanese pork, New Zealand lamb, and Australian and American wagyu as well as cured meat. Upstairs is the actual restaurant, which is not that big so I recommend booking.


Iberico salchichon & chorizo
Cheeses & jamon

Pock knuckle & Hock (local delicacies) 
Fresh meat

Australian lamb & beef





We were given the only private room as opposed to a table in the open area. How lucky!!!


Private room
Sorry I didn’t take a photo of the open area, it is quite nice but I still prefer the private room.

We came here to get their famous Black Pepper Thick-cut Bacon, which unfortunately they didn’t have on the day. The manager said they were not happy with the quality of the bacon so they sent the batch back to the supplier L

We decided on two other dishes and sadly they didn’t have them either as we were told the restaurant is thinking of taking them off the menu as they were not popular enough…what bad luck! After seeing the disappointment on our faces, the manager decided to offer us this house-made traditional Taiwanese sweet sausage dish on the house!
Sweet Taiwanese Sausages (normally $10)
The sausages are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, overall it is quite nice however personally I would prefer slightly less sweetness. Some other meals I had in Taiwan were also a bit sweet for me, so I think this could be due to the local preference.
Taiwanese House Cured Leg Ham with Skin $12
We also got this meat board to share, the manager highly recommended this dish as she said the ham with skin on is one of her favourites out of all the cured meat. To be honest I am not a big fan of fatty meat, but I thought I would give it a try and my friend really wanted to try this dish. After tasting this dish, it matched my expectations. It tasted like good quality ham that you can get from the supermarket in Sydney, but nothing too special.
Caesar Salad $19
The bacon was nice and crispy just the way we like it, the vegetables were fresh.
Premium Braised Pork rice卤肉饭 $8
This dish is seven times more expensive than the usual braised pork rice, but considering the name given we thought we can’t miss trying it. It turned out to be a bit of a let-down as there was only a little bit of braised pork on the rice, and the flavour was very light.


American Prime Beef with Rice $26
The meat was tender and juicy, however there was a slight smell and taste that I couldn’t help but notice and Piggy also noticed it (it is not like there is something wrong with the beef or anything, but it’s just different to Australian beef). I mean we had American beef before when we were in Boston, and that didn’t have this taste. Our friend seemed to enjoy it though.

Overall this place has a nice atmosphere, but the food has room for improvement. It was also a bit disappointing that we didn’t manage to get the dishes we wanted including the signature dish.

Food: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10

Highlight: 

  • Own private room
Lowlight: 

  • No signature dish Black Pepper Thick-cut Bacon


Website: https://www.facebook.com/roubytham/


For dessert we went to Quelques Pâtisseries 某某。甜點





Xmas decorations for sale



Chocolate Pebble $10
This cake is the best of the 3 we tried. The pebble-looking dessert has this thin chocolate crust that is sooo crispy almost like you place a chip in your mouth and it snaps into pieces. The inside is filled with this rich chocolate mousse that melts away the minute you put it your mouth. A humble looking dessert with a big surprise! Highly recommended.
Cheesecake Au Whisky Miel $8
The cheesecake is beautifully presented with a white chocolate glaze on top and decorated with a piece of white chocolate that looks like a beehive. In the centre of the cake is this mousse-like texture that is creamy and smooth. In terms of the flavour, personally I think the whisky is slightly too strong, which overpowered the honey flavour.
Matcha Chestnut X’Mas Tree $8


This cake possibly had been sitting in the fridge for quite some time, the choux pastry no longer has the nice crispy texture it is meant to have and the green glaze on top tasted nothing more than a sugary glaze. The filling is this matcha cream that is slightly weak in flavour, it would have been nicer if the matcha flavour was stronger.



The Chocolate Pebble was clearly the winner out of the three desserts. We also got 3 cups of tea. We really love tea and drink it every day and really looked forward to our first Taiwanese tea experience. However, the tea here, although sounding interesting on menu, all tasted very bland and similar.

Make sure you order your tea after you sit down, otherwise they won’t serve you your cakes, even after you have paid for them! We ordered our cakes first while waiting to be seated, and took our time choosing our tea and was expecting our cakes to arrive shortly. After 10 mins or so we called the waitress over to order the tea (Thought we might as well ask when the cakes are coming, so we can start taking pictures of the cakes. They had two waitresses that day and they seemed not to be doing much so why aren’t our cakes coming?!). The waitress told us we had to order a tea each first before they can bring us our cakes…ok, so I guess they want us to spend enough money if we want to eat in. Also when we ordered the cakes initially, the staff was unhappy for us to pay later together with the drinks and insisted on us paying upfront.

Food: 6/10
Service: 4/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Highlight: 
  • The Chocolate Pebble

Lowlight: 
  • Not flexible enough at serving the cakes, you must order a drink first 
  • Service was disappointing for the price we paid

Website: https://www.facebook.com/QuelquesP/


Dihua Street(迪化街) 

After dessert, we went to this place called Dihua Street, which was built in the 1850s, which is the oldest street in Taipei. The street is packed with people as well as new and old shops on each side of the street selling craft, kitchenware, and dry goods such as herbs, tea and seafood.

If you want to travel back in time to see what the old days were like, you should definitely pay this place a visit. By the way, this place didn’t seem very touristy (at least when we were there), we were like the only tourists there taking pictures and everything.




Shops selling dried goods



Bird Nests




This old building looks like it used to be somebody's house that got turned into a shop. There is this big roofless space that connects the front of the house together with the back (almost like somebody dug a hole in the middle of the house). Perhaps it is built that way so the people used to live here can have their meals in the open area during the hot summer season?


Ganoderma
Wow Ganoderma (A new word for me), highly priced Chinese medicinal herb that is supposed to bring you lots of health benefits.



Em…interesting, can anyone guess what they are? You will know if you can read Chinese lol…

Interesting way of heating the tea pot




Awww look at these cute little buns! They have salt and pepper shakers, soy sauce and chilli sauce holders…etc. 



Yes, we fell for them… we got a soy sauce holder and a chilli sauce holder that came in a bamboo steam basket (So adorable!!! Can’t hold back my excitement). You can also choose your own combination.



Another cutie! Peach holders!!! We didn’t end up getting them however, a bit risky carrying so many fragile items on the plane.



We ran into few shops selling cooking utensils ranging from spoons and forks to lunch boxes, etc. The prices are very affordable from 50¢. There are a few shops selling things like these, and they seemed to be very popular with the Japanese tourists (we bumped into some in the two shops we looked at). And yes, our first encounter of tourists apart from ourselves.


Sichuan hot pot

For dinner we went to this place called 川府重慶老火鍋



Piggy and I have been wanting to try authentic Sichuan hot pot for a long time, so when I came across this place I was so excited knowing this place is owned by this couple where the wife is from Sichuan. So we thought there would be a good chance of them serving authentic Sichuan hot pot. Personally I am a big fan of spicy food, therefore hot and numbing food is a must for me. Sichuan hot pot is famous for their hot and numbing flavour.


Half spicy and half bone soup pot $15
For the pot we got the half spicy and half bone soup pot, Piggy and I like spicy food and my friend and her boyfriend can’t stand spicy food. We asked for medium spicy, and the waitress asked me to taste the soup to see if it was spicy enough for us and we decided we could handle more heat. So she added an extra bowl of chilli mixture.


Marbled veal (complementary) $13
The marbled veal was nice and tender, when dipped in the pot the meat quickly soaked up the hot and numbing flavour. It was so good that we had to order a second plate.


Marbled Beef (forgot exact price) ~$25
The beef was slightly chewy for my liking, I think the marbled veal tasted better.


Pork (large) $25
The pork was quite nice, the size of each slice fits perfectly in your mouth in one go.

Minced prawns $8
We have never had minced prawns with hot pot before, so we decided to give it a try. Apparently minced meat/seafood is a local favourite with hot pot.  So what you are supposed to do is to scoop the mixture into equal size (or try) as you drop them into the pot and let them cook for 5mins or so or until they float. The prawn balls were a bit too sweet for us and we were expecting a bouncier texture.


Old Fried Breadsticks $3
The fried breadsticks were crunchy and everything, but were so oily that we only managed to have two each, and couldn’t finish the rest.


Vegetables $4 (each)

We also got a bowl of mixed mushroom $10

The vegetables tasted fine in the bone soup, but when cooked in the spicy soup they were so soaked in numbness that they were barely edible. It may be better if the restaurant reduced the level of numbness for the spicy soup, in which case I think the whole experience would be more enjoyable.

Food: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Highlight: 
  • None
Lowlight: 
  • The numbing flavour is quite overwhelming 



Website: https://www.facebook.com/ChuanFuhotpot/

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We are passionate about food and travel and believe food is the best way to learn about different cultures. We wish to share with you our food adventures around Sydney and overseas in honest and in-depth reviews.

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