Howard 15 September 2008 Chinese 5 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Where east meets west

I’m usually a bit skeptical when it comes to ‘Asian’ restaurants in an area such as Millers Point. Images of Asian food targeted at a western demographic springs to my mind every time. Though, it’s a catch 22 scenario when your catering for the demographic of an area such as Millers Point. On one hand, you have copious amounts of tourist’s who might be intimidated by authentic cuisine yet you have cultured Sydney locals who prefer authenticity over fusion. 

To paint the scene, our trip to Mr Chow’s is courtesy of me leaving my team at work. As a team, we’ve made Friday lunches a mandatory appointment in our schedules so I’m going to miss my team greatly. It’s not often you have a bunch of other dedicated foodies who are not afraid to try different things. The good news is, I’m only leaving this team temporarily and my parting gift is a photographic trip of my last day at Mr Chow’s. 

Salted Egg Yolk Soft Shell Crab

I’m a sucker when it comes to soft shell crab. The crab here is juicy and tender on the inside yet fried in a delicate batter with a generous coating of salted egg yolk. In fact, you could even see the pieces of egg yolk which is uncommon. It’s an interesting take on the traditional soft shell crab which is usually just fried lightly with little variety or substance. Our meal was off to a great start with this favourite of mine.

Tea Smoked Duck (served with 6 Chinese buns)

The marquee dish of Mr Chow’s has to be its duck as apparently they are the only restaurant in Sydney to have Tea Smoked Duck. Like its name suggests, the duck has an aromatic hint of smokiness. The scent of tea is noticeable, but not overwhelming. I was a little surprised to see so much duck on the plate, it was great value for money as the quality of the duck was acceptable. On the down side, the skin of the duck wasn’t as crispy as I expected though.

Greens stir fried with garlic

We could smell the fried garlic from a mile away. The greens were a vibrant green and full of crunchiness, oh and of course fried bits of garlic

Peking shredded beef

This is quite a common dish in most Chinese restaurants now. Thin pieces of beef are fried in what seems to be a light coating of flour and then mixed into a sweet marinade. I can’t seem to make out what it is, but it has chilli in it (sorry, this is of no help at all I know).

Fish Fillets with Pineapple in Sweet and Sour Sauce

I wasn’t that much of a fan of this dish, it was a cross between fried fish fillets and sweet and sour pork. The sauce was tangy and sweet but the fish was overwhelmed by it’s coating.

Red bean pastry

Pieces of pastry are filled with a sweet and soft red been filling. The pastry to red been ratio was perfect in this instance. 

'Toffee' apple

This didn’t look too special when I saw the fried pieces of apple on the plate. Interestingly though, they were dumped into a bowl of iced water and turned into what resembled toffee apple. Soft and sweet apple was complimented with a crunchy toffee exterior. There was also a hot and cold effect with the apple still warm on the inside, yet the toffee on the outside was cold due to the ice.

Mr Chow’s is an interesting place tucked away at the far end of Kent St. While I had my doubts, I was satisfied with Mr Chow sticking to his roots and not succumbing too much to the western ideologies of Chinese food. 

Check out what NotQuiteNigella thought of Mr Chow’s

Mr Chow’s Peking Restaurant
33-35 Kent St
The Rocks, Sydney 2000
Ph: 02 9252 3010
Fax: 02 9247 5035

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