Picky Piggies

Pages

  • Home
  • About
facebook google twitter tumblr instagram linkedin
Recently Chinatown has turned into little Sichuan with many new hotpot joints popping up.  If you are after a premium hotpot experience, then the Dolar Shop might be your destination. Notwithstanding a play on the name, this place is nothing cheap, and I mean that in a good way. 

As our waitress showed us our table we walked past the open kitchen where all the ingredients are being prepared. 


The menu offers a good selection of premium wagyu cuts as well as various soup broths from nourishing mushroom, creamy bone broth to the classic Sichuan hot and spicy broth. What we really like is that each person gets their own mini pot, and if you can't decide you can also get the half-half pot with two different soup base.

Mushroom Broth $9.90
Combination Hot & Spicy + Spare Rib Broth $13.90
For first timers trying spicy hotpot I recommend getting the "mild" Hot & Spicy broth, as shown in the picture above. 


Pancake Banana Egg $6.99
We got some roti to snack on while waiting for our broths to heat up. This one we got was mildly sweet with bananas, eggs and raisins.

Selected Wagyu Beef & Lamb Platter $29.90
A selection of Australian meat is on offer with this platter, including M6 Wagyu, lamb, and M4 Wagyu from left to right. The meat was fresh and better than average quality, although the lamb had a slight gamy flavour.


M6+ Wagyu Boneless Short Ribs $32.90
The Dolar Shop Shrimp Pate $16.90
This hand made prawn meatball was the crowd-pleaser. Made with fresh Australian King prawns, it was firm and springy. 

Cuttlefish & Fish Roe Pate $16.90
The cuttlefish was good too although not as satisfying as the prawn one, which we ordered an encore. 

                         
Worried about how to split this? No problem, the friendly staff will offer to split a meatball or two in every pot.


Fresh Tofu Skin $6.90
Quail Eggs $5.90
Veggie Basket $17.90
Mixed Mushroom Basket $18.90


Hand Crafted Noodles $5.90
Needing some carbs? The hand made noodles are a good way to enjoy either with the broth or your DIY sauce.

DIY Sauce Bar $3pp
The soul to a good hotpot experience are the broth and sauce. There was a wide array of sauces and condiments to experiment with and find whatever floats your pot. 


Fruit Bar/Appetizers (included in the sauce fee)
There is also an appetiser and fruit bar, either to get your tummy started or to cool down the heat. 


On the weekends this place can get packed and expect up to an hour wait. On the plus side, there are comfortable couches available outside and free drinks and snacks on the side.

If you haven't tried hotpot then it should be something on your list of things to do! It's fun and good for a gathering with friends. No matter how bad a cook you are at home, you can always be proud to cook up something delicious in the hotpot.

Food: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 9/10

Highlight:
  • Comfortable and relaxing environment for hotpot
  • Relatively premium ingredients
  • Shrimp pate
Lowlight:
  • If you are after the true Sichuan hotpot experience, then this place might not be for you (stay tuned, more hotpot reviews coming!)
Website: http://www.dolarshop.com/
The Dolar Shop Hot Pot Restaurant 豆捞坊 - 1909 Dining Precinct Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
3 comments
Craving for authentic Malaysian food? Look no further than Ho Jiak, the latest entrant to the hustle and bustle Sydney Chinatown. Finally a place in Sydney where we'd keep coming back for a quick fix for Asian flavours. The dishes are vibrant in colour and taste and can be down right homey or luxurious, and be sure to check out their seasonal specials too for a creative twist.

Char Koay Teow (Normal) $16
Char Koay Teow is a personal favourite of ours and a must get when we visit Malaysian restaurants. It's all about the chef's control of the flame and the wok aroma, something that every chef needs to master for Asian stir frying. This one was spicy, sweet and savoury and all the ingredients just came together so well. We liked the addition of fried pork fat, which gave the dish just that extra bit of crunch. I can have this all day long!

Nasi Goreng (Pattaya) $18 
We got the nasi goreng Pattaya style, which means wrapped inside a thin sheet of omelette. As you slice through the egg cover, the aroma of the fried rice hits you straight in the nose. Compared to Chinese fried rice this one has more of a dark soy flavour, and comes with fish cake, prawns and egg. 

Nasi Lemak (Wagyu Rendang) $25 
Mr Piggy's favourite dish is the nasi lemak with beef rendang. The beef was fork tender and buttery sweet and nutty, with a hint of chilli. We also liked that it wasn't overly fatty. To be sure, the true test of this dish is the coconut rice, and Ho Jiak did not disappoint. The coconut fragrance had fully penetrated the rice and was not overpowered even when mixed with the rendang sauce.

Roast Chicken w Egg Noodles $16
This was kind of like the crispy skin version of Hainan Chicken. We liked the tender chicken, which paired well with the ginger sauce and chilli sauce. We weren't as much fans of the noodles, which were a bit clumped together. However we saw that the table next to us ordered a similar dish with the same noodles, and they looked good. Perhaps our noodles were left for too long in the kitchen. 

Sam Wong Dan $15
Steamed egg is nothing unusual to us, but this version caught our eyes, with 3 kinds of eggs - chicken, duck and century. The egg was steamed to a perfect texture and we liked the extra dimension brought by the century egg. For first timers trying century egg, this is a relatively safe dish. The creaminess from the steamed egg renders the distinctive flavours of the century egg more subtle than on its own. The only distraction was some egg shell bits.

Ice Teh Tarik (L) $5; Teh C Peng (R) $5
We rounded off our savoury and spicy meal with a couple of classic Malaysian milk teas, the ultimate creamy and sugary beverage. The teh tarik has a similar taste and consistency to Hong Kong milk tea, while the teh c peng was more fun. You get to mix the layers together, which consisted of tea, condensed milk and coffee.


After our two visits, our only complaint is the restaurant's cheap tactic of making customers wait for no reason other than to create the illusion of a queue when there are clearly plenty of tables available both upstairs and downstairs. The wait itself was about 10 minutes on each occasion, just not quite too long to make you leave.

Food: 8/10
Service: 5/10
Atmosphere: 6/10

Highlight:
  • Extensive menu and overall good flavours
  • Rice and noodle dishes let you pick a choice of meat (or several), even lobster!
Lowlight:
  • Unnecessary wait
Website: https://www.hojiak.com.au
Ho Jiak 好吃 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
No comments
With a twist to the European deli/restaurant idea, Calia brings to Melbourne diners an affordable Michelin-starred-chef-designed menu featuring Asian inspired dishes, artisanal desserts, and gourmet goods. Almost 18 months after its opening, the place is still jam-packed with people. Does it live up to the hype? The piggies are here to do some digging!

The shop half is almost as big as the restaurant with produce sourced from local Australian suppliers as well as some imported goods that may be hard to find elsewhere. 

                        
Cake Cabinet (from Bibelot)


Crispy Roast Pork Bowl $17.9
This bowl tantalised our piggy snouts with its amazing visual presentation. The dewy 63°C egg was incredibly runny, coating the rice in sticky, gooey egg yolk. However, the pork itself was disappointing. The crackling wasn't crunchy at all, but rather tough and chewy. The meat was lukewarm, dry, and didn't have much flavour. 

The King $18.2
Don't be deceived by the looks - these aren't "King" worms crawling over rocks. The Alaskan King crab legs were topped with a generous amount of sweet miso mayonnaise and then torched - a simple and delicious dish.

Salted Egg Yolk Chicken $11.9
Calia's take on Taiwanese Fried Chicken cleverly featured the use of salted duck egg yolk, another traditional Chinese ingredient. The chicken was a bit overcooked, but no matter, the egg yolk carried the dish.

The Marbled Sukiyaki Bowl $16.9
The tender beef was flavoured well with the sweet and gingery sukiyaki sauce and the runny egg. However, the quality of the beef was average, and there was a slight gamey taste. 


Matcha Latte $5.5
The matcha latte was almost too cute to drink... and that's fine, we ordered it for the latte art an have to say it was money well-spent. The drink only comes sweetened as the matcha is premixed into a syrup. 

Matcha Mia Tiramisu $10.9
As we dug into this dessert our spoon easily glided past the layer of soft matcha cream, sinking into the coffee-drenched lady fingers. It was not overly sweet but a bit dense for tiramsu.

Matcha Lava Cake $15.9
We completed our 3-course matcha experience with the signature lava cake. Hot and cold; matcha and chocolate; smooth and crumbly - this dessert was full of contrast, and everything paired well together. The bittersweet rich matcha centre added additional complexity to the already bittersweet chocolate cake. This was our favourite dessert of the day. 

Hojicha
Being tea-lovers we also ordered the Hojicha, which looked absolutely serene and elegant. Unfortunately, the taste didn't live up to the aesthetics. There was a mere whisper of hojicha in the thin brown layer. This dessert should have been better named the Plum, as the sour plum centre dominated the overall flavour and we didn't really know what the hojicha was there for. 

We could definitely see why Calia is a popular destination for friends and families. The environment is modern and casual, and conveniently located in a shopping mall in the heart of Melbourne.  The price is affordable and the menu is extensive. Most of all, the food looks pretty, and certainly instaworthy. Nevertheless, for fellas looking to satisfy the palate as much as the eyes, this may not be the ideal place. 

Food: 5/10
Service: 7/10
Atmosphere: 8/10

Highlight:
  • A cool atmosphere
  • Diverse menu
  • Affordable prices
Lowlight:
  • Not for serious foodies
Website: http://calia.com.au/
Calia Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
No comments
Older Posts

About me


About me

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.

Labels

Asian Auckland Australia Bar Brisbane Buffet Cafe Casual Cheap Eat Chengdu China Chinese Christchurch Degustation Fine Dining French Fusion Indian Italian Japanese Meat Lovers Melbourne Middle Eastern New Zealand Omakase Queenstown Spanish Sushi Sweet Sydney Taiwan Take Away Thai Travel Truffle Views Western Yum Cha

recent posts

Blog Archive

  • ▼  2019 (5)
    • ▼  April (1)
      • Lanzhou 1919
    • ►  March (4)
  • ►  2018 (56)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (5)
    • ►  May (4)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (9)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (7)
  • ►  2017 (45)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (2)
    • ►  August (3)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (11)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (4)
    • ►  January (2)

Created with by BeautyTemplates | Distributed by Gooyaabi Templates