Chinta Ria Mood For LoveLevel 6, Shop 6009
Westfield Sydney
Chinta Ria is something of an institution in Sydney. Until recently they also had a great place at Cockle Bay too, but now they've rationalised in the CBD and expanded elsewhere.
Chinta Ria Mood For Love is indeed dark, sultry and almost mysterious inside. However outside (which is of course still inside Westfield) they have seating and tables that are much more bright and open. The choice is yours!
The menu is very extensive, so settle down and be prepared to spend a bit of time going through it. Alternatively, you may already have some Malaysian favourites - and the odds are that they will be available here.
Entrees at the Malaysian restaurants we're visiting these days are something of a highlight. The variety on offer is sometimes quite varied and always interesting.Here at Chinta Ria Mood For Love we spotted the Cissy Scallops on the menu and immediately added them to our order.
The Cissy Scallops were simply described as steamed half shell scallops with chilli sauce.
We both love scallops but the thought of them steamed and in chilli sauce was droolworthy.
They turned out to be as good as we had hoped. The scallops were very lightly steamed and the sauce had a kick that went well but lingered too!
Next starter was Lip Stick. They sounded great - crunchy vegetables tossed in subtle seasonings,
wrapped in a fine pastry and snap fried. Basically they were plump, tasty vegetable spring rolls that were nicely done.One of our favourites was next, Billies Roll. Its a type of prawn spring roll yet that understates it. They are made from plump prawns stuffed with minced prawns, herbs and vegetables sealed in a fine pastry and snap fried. We loved them. Pastry and prawns - a winner!
Mains were soon ready and we started with Mr Blues aka Ayam Blues. It's a tangy, sweet and sourish dish of lightly battered chicken fillets, wok tossed in a subtle
tangy mayonnaise coating infused with lemon juice and
tomato sauce. Unusual and actually very nice.We also grabbed some Lemak rice - an aromatic coconut rice which we always enjoy. Of course we had the famous Chinta Ria plain roti - one of the best in Sydney - so it was of course a double serve!
Our final main course was the intriguingly named Duck Secret.
It was braised duck with preserved vegetables in mixed herbs and tamarind infused broth. It was a kind of meaty duck soup - reminding us of the Marx Brothers movie.
There was no shortage of duck meat in the dish and the mix of vegetables and herbs again gave this a kind of tasty bitter/sweet flavour.
Chinta Ria Mood For Love is a pretty place. It's romantic inside and more open and outdoorish in the outer area of Westfield.
The food though is the drawcard. We have always liked what they offer and this visit lived up to our expectations.
Sir and Mlady's visit was supported by the Malaysian Kitchen Programme.
