BBQ King - Goulburn Street

Our hotel lay just round the corner from Chinatown. We came out quite late  in search of food as I needed to soak my poor feet from all that zig zagging earlier or someone would have to push me in a pram ! 

Anyway we discovered that besides Chinatown , there was now, a thriving Koreatown, also Thaitown. Though there there was no Vietown nor Japantown there were specific restaurants catering to those communities with Sushi bars looking like the most hip thing to hit the area . The growing amount of Malaysian restaurants in the city might one day neccessitate the creation of a Malaysiatown ! 

We looked at the options that were open and Viet was out of the question. Malaysian.... you got to be kidding me. Thai ones were full to the brim. Didn't feel like Korean , so in the end we trooped in here .

(=_=')

Fuzzy inside , like under a perpetual mist , the diners were a good mix of orientals and caucasians . The shop looks like one from an older district in Hong Kong, a gathering point for Tai Kors planning the next move. The difference here is that the owner is most welcoming. And the food tastes more China than refined Hongkie , with service more or less what we get in every busy Chinese restaurant .

From what I observe, the owner loves to welcome his caucasian customers with a warmer, more personal  welcome since most of us Chinese, get shifty eyed when that happens. I said most. 

He directs us to the front of his cash register where there is one seating space. Look up and this is what I see. 

Won't look out of place in Petaling Street either.

Some figurines depicting a kitchen scene up there with a fierce looking Chinese God on an altar on my left.

Soon as we are seated, and our order is taken, a bowl of soup the size of a wash basin !!! makes its way to our table .

Ok, this is what I call " chor lor " so crude you know. Labourer style soup with all the leftover parts from the roaster thrown in together with a cheap dehydrated vegetable to make this soup. On any other day,I love that cheap but tasty veg, but I'm really not used to seeing all the leftovers in a bowl of soup. Even if the hawkers here do that, it would be seived out to make the soup look more presentable.

Enter the duck. 

We ordered half a duck but it looks enormous. 

Anyway, good thorough marination, very tender and quite mouthwatering. Thumbs up on this. Very nice, very old , slightly greasy recipe which one cannot find easily today, if I may add. 

We asked for a recommendation for the beef. 

I have never learnt my lesson till today.  Chinese chefs like to coat beef in cornflour till you can't feel the grain. When it comes to lamb, they practically drown it in sauces so it doesn't taste like lamb anymore. 

While I regret ordering this, the vegies were crunchy and delicious. Black beans fried with capsicum....mmmm, very good . 

The other good thing going for them here is the smooth prebrewed Chinese tea. We can never get this back home as the trade is monopolised and the businessmen seem to dictate what we consume. The rice is good too. Very old fashioned throwback to days of old. Only marred by being served in a tacky plastic food warmer bin. 

Verdict : a million times  better than those terrible Chinese restaurants in London's Chinatown

Damage : expensive if you are Malaysian  

Location : Goulburn Street, Sydney