HAWKER LANE - CHATSWOOD, SYDNEY

Hawker Lane
Westfield Chatswood
Chatswood, Sydney

Hawker Lane is an amazing oasis of restaurants underneath the massive Westfield in Chatswood. You feel like your really in another world here as you pause from your shopping and enter this den of tastes and sounds and delicious smells from the great range of restaurants that are spread across this sprawling area.

The biggest challenge here is what to choose. Our suggestion is to grab a table first - there are plenty of them but they go fast., If you miss out don't fret, they turn over quickly so it won't be long. Then do a lap of honour - to check out whats there. Even if you know what you want, it may well change once you see the great variety here. Of course you can get food from multiple places which works exceptionally well. Maybe a starter or three from some places, a few mains elsewhere and then of course desserts! We were there to try their goodies as part of a media event. Being greeted at the door with beautiful coconuts from Kayter and Co was a delicious start - they certainly knew how to keep foodies happy! With our coconuts piled high with cake, marshmallow, chocolate and biscuits it looked amazing - and so many people kept coming up to us wanting to know where to get them. Hands off - their ours!

Then where to start. We looked around and sampled food from so many places. It was a dance from fried chicken, to skewers, dumplings, Malaysian, ramen burgers, sushi, drinks, sweets, roti wraps etc etc etc. Here's just a few of the names you'll find here - but wait - there's more!

We'll be posting a number of write ups over the next fortnight of different places we visited there and the food we had - so stay tuned.

Of course you can visit and try for yourself - and we highly recommend this.

This is one place worth a long slow visit - or several in fact - to get across the massive range here!

Sir and Mlady visited Hawker Lane as guests of Westfield Chatswood. Special thanks to Julia Murray of Sibling Agency for this invitation.

LAN YUAN - TOP RYDE, SYDNEY

Lan Yuan VIP Launch

Shop 4005, Level 1
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre
Crn Devlin St and Blaxland Rd
Ryde, Sydney

Masses of hungry people queued outside for the VIP launch of Lan Yuan Cantonese restaurant nestled upstairs on level 1 at Top Ryde Shopping Centre when it officially launched a few weeks ago. 

The place had an outside reception area roped off with floral arrangements and they even had red carpet for the VIP guests - a nice touch.

The atmosphere was buzzing with the crowds milling and the smell of lovely food wafting out. Our appetites were growing. 

Inside, welcome drinks were lined up on the bar and we were hit by the striking décor of the restaurant. 

It was like being in the middle of a pretty bamboo forest - but with food being delivered by the second - that's our kind of forest! 

Then nibbles came flying out of the kitchen and our hunger started being quickly satisfied. 

Quick hands were snapping them up in a flash: spring rolls, mini peking duck pancakes, dumplings, pork sui mai. 

Our favourite was the duck pancakes which we saw being feverishly assembled at the bar. 

The flavours were good and we love our duck!

Outside, festivities broke out as a Chinese dragon danced to traditional music before spreading his luck throughout the restaurant. 

The atmosphere was buzzing, the food was abundant, the drinks were flowing and the entertainment was exciting.

It was ticking all the boxes of a great  launch and a great night.

There was a buffet of mains.The fried rice was fluffy and tasty. Stir fried beef noodles and vegetables in XO sauce, sweet and sour pork, crispy chicken, duck in plum sauce – there was a good choice and plenty of it. The pork was delicious and not too sour but the winning dish was the fluffy soft duck egg yolk tofu - lightly coated and fried then seasoned with a salty garlic sprinkle. We went back for more!

We learned that there were around 250 people invited to this event so it was certainly an accomplishment to have catered so expertly while maintaining the quality of the food. 

Lan Yuan opens daily for yum-cha at 11 am and closes at 10pm with easy parking at the shopping centre.

Those Dames, who are now doing reviews for Sir and Mlady Dine Out, dined as guests of Lan Yuan. Big thanks also to Vanessa from Wasamedia for the invitation and arranging everything so professionally.

 

LAN YUAN RESTAURANT - RYDE, SYDNEY

Lan Yuan Restaurant
Shop 4005, Level 1
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre
Crn Devlin St and Blaxland Rd
Ryde, Sydney

Lan Yuan literally means Bamboo Garden, and once you arrive here you'll instantly know that you're in the right place! There's bamboo everywhere!

The food is Cantonese, but with innovative twists in many dishes that work really well.

Lan Yuan is in the piazza at Top Ryde City shopping centre, a great foodie hub. In fact it sits above the piazza looking down from the first floor so you need to get there from inside the centre rather than outside from the piazza.

They seat around 90 but this may expand in the near future. They also do a popular yum cha by day before switching to their dinner menu.

While we were studying the good sized menu, a plate of prawn crisps arrived. We don't know about you, but these things are so addictive for us! We also had a pot of chrysanthemum tea at the suggestion of James, our waiter. What a great choice it was too. We hadn't tried this before and it was delicate and refreshing with a hint of floral aroma. 

Robert, our other waiter, recommended the seafood san choi bao. We love san choi bao anyway, but this variation was packed with prawns, scallops, vegetables and crispy noodles and served in lettuce leaves - as expected.

The sauce was surprisingly subtle so you could still taste the delicious seafood.





















Pippies can sometimes be fiddly things to eat, but these ones were so plump it wasn't a hassle at all. These wok fried pippies were served with a tasty but not overpowering XO chilli sauce with some kick but not to much.

The Lan Yuan fried rice was a treat, packed with fresh prawns and scallops and topped with colourful crab roe.

We love a good lobster dish - and there are several mouthwatering choices here.

We ended up having the wok fried rock lobster with soy, ginger and shallots.

The lobster was beautifully cooked and there was so much of it. We were in heaven. The flavours of the sauce went so well too - it was a lovely dish.

If you like a dish with a real kick - a big kick in fact - then you have to try the Szechuan pepper chicken.

It's a powerful dish that has a massive serving of tender chicken served with a generous topping of black peppercorns and loads of dry chilli.

It looks like it would be hot and it is hot.

Possibly the dish of the night for us was the delicious Lan Yuan beef eye fillets.

This was again a big serving with tender beef coated in a tangy but surprisingly delicate house made wasabi sauce.

Some may be scared off by the word "wasabi", but don't be, it's purely for flavour and not for heat.

Any of the dishes with the words Lan Yuan in the name are basically signature dishes. The Lan Yuan salt and pepper crispy bean curd was exceptional. It was so light and fluffy inside with a nice delicately crisp outer layer. The flavours were lovely too.

It's a great way to eat your veggies and enjoy them - especially for kids!

There's something about the words Deep Fried Ice Cream  that brings out the inner kid in us all.

This very tasty version had a crisp coconut crumb batter surrounding vanilla ice cream.

You then choose your topping - chocolate, caramel or strawberry (or all if you must)! Mlady chose chocolate - no surprises there. 

Lan Yuan is an oasis of bamboo and timber that has very interesting and innovative cuisine served in this garden-like indoor setting. They also do yum cha at lunch time every day too, before shifting to their dinner menu at night. It's well worth visiting!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Lan Yuan. Special thanks to James, Robert and Naterlie for looking after us so well. Big thanks also to Vanessa Gregory from Wasamedia for arranging our visit. 

 

BAO STOP/WONDERBAO/GELATO MESSINA - NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS, HYDE PARK, SYDNEY

Night Noodle Markets

Hyde Park South
Sydney CBD (October Annually)

On a quick visit through the massively successful Night Noodle Markets in Hyde Park this year the first visit was to BaoStop Sydney. They had some great combinations. I tried the lobster regou boa - it was amazing. There was heaps of Singapore chilli lobster in it too and great flavours. It had spring onion salad added and it was all put into a sweet bun finished with five spiced watermelon radish chips.

The mob behind BaoStop don't have a permanent home yet - but hopefully they do soon because their food is great.

 

Next visit was to the well known Melbourne establishment of Wonderbao.

This place is located in Melbourne's CBD and is hugely popular there - and as a result they were equally busy here in Sydney with everyone wanting to see what their food was like.

I had a twice cooked pork belly gua bao which came with pickled carrots and daikon, cucumber and it was dressed with hoisin sauce.

Oh yum. This was great too. The baos at these markets were certainly a highlight.

We're visiting Melbourne soon and fully intend to drop by and try some more of the Wonderbao range!

Final stop on a whirlwind visit was to the Gelato Messina stall. Yes it probably isn't an expected fit with Night Noodle Markets but these guys got into the swing of things with some crazily inspired Asian influenced gelato that as usual wowed the visitors there.

I had a huge Street Hawker. It had a thick and rich lime and chocolate brownie as its base, topped with peanut gelato, coconut and caramel jam, big chunks of fortune cookie clusters and a giant peanut cookie protruding from it all. These desserts were massive and great value.

Next year we'll try to visit more places - but we'll certainly be back at these fantastic noodle markets!

LL WINE & DINE - POTTS POINT, SYDNEY

LL Wine & Dine
42 Llankelly Place
Potts Point, Sydney

LL Wine and Dine is a funky place in Potts Point that has a maze of different spaces and a range of food and drinks that will provide something for everyone. With a menu of modern Asian tastes put together by Head Chef Jin Kung, there's a variety that provides great nibbles to have with your drinks before moving on, or plenty of options for a full meal there. The drinks list is pretty impressive as well - again something for all tastes.

Based in a former adult shop, there's also a maze of private rooms here that previously had other uses. They've even kept some of the pictures found while renovating and they put them on a few of the walls as displays - but they're pretty tame considering what they probably found here in the secret room in the ceiling (yes - this really was discovered!).

Apart from plenty of great food options here at LL Wine and Dine they also have a great cocktail list. Mlady tried a Limoncello Saketini. This was described as a balance of sweet sour and bitter as it combined Yuzu sake with vodka and Campari  which was then shaken with fresh lemon and a burnt orange twist. It looked and tasted great. I chose and really enjoyed the Botanical Fling, a type of gin martini made with Hendricks gin, St Germain elderflower, cucumber, kaffir lime and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 

There are quite a few options for entree or nibbles here. We started with two of the most popular.

First was the LL chicken san choy bau with lime dressing, pine nuts and croutons which was amazing.
Then the roasted duck san choy bau with cucumber, orange sauce, shallot and sesame was just as delicious. The combination of rich duck and the citrus orange sauce was reminiscent of duck a l'orange.

One of the most impressive dishes of the night was the crispy tofu that came with a black sesame and tahini sauce that at first looked like chocolate!

The tofu was so light it looked like marshmallow and yet it was also crisp and absolutely delicious.

The sauce was also impressive - rich and full flavoured.

Still on the shared nibbles/entree stage we then moved on to a great combination. This included pork belly buns and of course the prawn and pork siu mai. We loved them both but those pork belly buns were amazing. The buns were so soft they dissolved and the pork was beautifully tender and tasty. They were just lovely and we could have eaten a meal of these! 

Throw in a few more cocktails - and why not - as we were relaxed in a lovely room and in a great mood!

This time we tried a few different drinks to our previous choices - which were both great.

Mlady had a Ginger and Lychee Martini. This had fresh ginger and lychee in a cocktail glass muddled and shaken with vodka and lychee juice. She really enjoyed this.

My choice took me back to my preference for rum based drinks. I had a spicy rum mojito which was a great combination that tasted as good as it sounded!

Our next dish was massaman beef curry that fell apart it was so tender. Not surprisingly this came with potato, but also carrot and broccoli and it was topped with crushed peanuts and fresh herbs. It was a lovely massaman - and we've had quite a few over the years to be able to judge them.

A side of their delicious wok fries rice with BBQ pork, egg, garlic and shallot went perfectly and tasted so good.

A dinner isn't complete without dessert is it! Well that's our view! We finished with the vanilla sugar coated doughnut balls stuffed with raspberry jam and raspberry sorbet.

This was such a simple dessert yet so effective and oh so tasty!

The doughnut balls were extremely light and fluffy and the jam filling added a rich sweetness to them.

LL Wine and Dine is a rare and unique place. It has such amazing history that it tastefully shows off. It's intimate, seating around 80 people in a variety of rooms and in outside seating as well.

The food is impressive - you'll probably stop for a nibble and stay for dinner!

Try some of their delicious cocktails too - there's a decent list with plenty of variety.


Sir and Mlady dined as guests of LL Wine and Dine. Special thanks to Stephanie Barge for inviting us and arranging our visit. Thanks also to Patrick James for looking after us so well on our visit.

FEI JAI - POTTS POINT, SYDNEY

Fei Jai
31 Challis Ave
Potts Point, Sydney

The quaintly named Fei Jai - which means Fatboy in Cantonese - has a lovely indoor/outdoor feel to it.

Owned by Peter Lew and his partner Nicole Galloway, Fei Jai specialises in light fresh and tasty Cantonese food.

This isn't a large restaurant - in fact it's quite small - only seating forty people.

However there's indoor and outdoor seating and you can sit back and enjoy good food served with a decent selection of drinks is this pleasant oasis in the food district of Potts Point. They even do yum cha.

The whole place has a great feel to it. Dark timber and comfortable seating makes you want to settle in, sit back and enjoy the food and drinks.

We started with their very nice scallop and prawn dumplings.

These were so light and tasty - they melted in our mouths. In fact the were almost fluffy they were that delicate.

We were extremely impressed with them and even though four was a good serving we could have eaten more as they tasted so good.

We'd heard a lot of very good reports about the omelette at Fei Jai so we were very keen to test it out for ourselves!

This tasty treat is made with egg whites and crab meat and it's extremely light and fluffy and simply delicious. It is easy to see why this is a top seller here!

It's also a decent sized serving as well - they don't skimp.

Lamb spring rolls aren't a common dish on offer at most restaurants so it again seemed like a good idea to try them out. It turned out to be a great idea.

These were excellent.

The pastry was beautifully crisp and flaky and the juicy lamb filling was tender and tasty. They were served with a tangy plum sauce that went perfectly with the rolls.

The steamed snapper with broccolini and soy dressing was exceptional.

The fish was lightly cooked to perfection and melted as we ate it. The broccolini and soy dressing was again a perfect accompaniment.

The flesh of the snapper and the delicate soy dressing combined  so well - fish and soy are such a great pairing!

Having had Singapore chilli crab at plenty of places, the Singapore chilli prawns sounded like something we'd like. It was! Described as Mooloolaba king prawns in a chilli, garlic, ginger and tomato sauce - the plump juicy prawns went so well with the rich tangy sauce (that fortunately had a decent kick to it).

We also had a side serving of pork and prawn fried rice. This is a popular dish at Fei Jai - and the full flavour showed us why.

Our final "main" was the crispy black vinegar beef.

Wow.

This was possibly the dish of the day for us in a list of great food!

The flavours were so amazing - the black vinegar shone through and went so well with the lightly crisp beef.

Finally, after devouring some great food we thought we'd had enough. We even declared we'd had enough. Then Peter brought out a serving of their tapioca pudding made with coconut, passionfruit and orange syrup.  This stuff is to die for.

Sweet, but not sickly, fruity but not overpoweringly so, and a light mix of flavours and textures that cap of a nice meal perfectly.

Fei Jai is open every night of the week except Tuesday. It's also open for lunch on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's a place for anyone who likes good food. This Cantonese cuisine is well worth trying - there are so many good dishes!

Sir and Mlady dined as guests of Fei Jai and its owners - Peter Lew and Nicole Galloway.  Thanks also to Tatiana for looking after us on our visit.