Sichuan in Remuera Restaurant

The restaurants in surburbia land are getting more and more, especially in Auckland. Maybe it’s always been like that? Those were the days when the closest thing to Chinese food near your house was the odd takeaway next to the Dairy. On top of selling fried rice and random Chinese food, they also sell fish & chips.

The Sichuan in Remuera Restaurant is one of those, except more decent and formal. It’s situated behind the Remuera Shops (off Remuera Road), but you’d have to drive to the back. It’s relatively hard to spot unless you know the area well. Anyway, I heard things about this place and decided to go.

Three dishes were sampled as shown below:

Honey Pork Chop .

Mapo Tofu.

Sizzling Fillet Steak in Chinese style.

Overall, the experience was somewhat disappointing. Perhaps because I didn’t try the traditional Sichuan food. The menu was littered with every single “standard” Chinese food you can think of. Nothing in the menu stood out. But surprisingly, there were people going in and out.

The Honey Pork Chop was $18, and it was quite average tasting. The Mapo Tofu was slightly better costing $18. The Sizzling Fillet Steak in Chinese Style is $22. Clearly, the food was quite average (for me anyway) but it wasn’t bad tasting. If there was a Sichuan Restaurant, I’d prefer HP8 on Nuffield Street.

My rating is 7/10. Average. If you’re hungry and near the area, go for it. Lai Lai Noodle House is a much better alternative, but I don’t think they do dinner.

Vietnam Cafe

Lately for the past several months, I’ve been trying to find alternative Vietnamese restaurants. And yes, there is one in Otahuhu called the Vietnam Cafe. I used to know the place because it was near my old work place (Mt Wellington). Ah, those were the days.

Vietnam Cafe is quite easy to spot, it’s off Atkinson Ave. It’s pretty much the route you’d use if you’re coming from Mt Wellington towards Otahuhu, or taking the Princess St offramp.  The parking is harder to spot because it’s at the back. You’d spot the cafe, but most likely miss the turn for the carpark!

The place generally looks dodgy because of the car park. And it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s owned by Vietnamese. You be the judge. =)

A few dishes were sampled as shown below:

Combination Noodle Soup.

Vietnamese Noodle.

Curry Chicken on Rice Noodle.

Traffic Light.

I’d say the best dish to try is the combination noodle soup.  The rest are OK. I even tried the “Traffic Light” drink which was somewhat disappointing. The dishes are cheap though, $10 for the curry chicken on rice noodle and vietnamese noodle. The combination noodle is $12. Traffic Light is $3.50.

Personally, if you do go there, just get the combination noodle soup. It’s not bad. The rest you’d have to cross your fingers. I found the curry chicken rice noodle a bit plain. The drink was also a bit plain. However, one thing I notice is the fried spring rolls which “looked” good.

My rating is 7/10. Good enough for me because of one dish. Perhaps they forgot to add MSG on my curry chicken. =) 

On another note, I believe there is another Vietnamese place opening very soon on Beach Road (near Foodtown/China Restaurant). Can someone confirm this? I’m interested to find out if it’s already open, or going to open. I knew about it because they sold a damn good Pho (noodle soup) during the Lantern festival.

Malaysian Noodle and Rice House

It’s been too friggin’ long. I know, it’s my fault. But I’m back.

My day starts at 9am to 7pm everyday since I returned from my holiday in Melbourne – that was early last month! So work is keeping me very busy.

Anyway, I was venturing out to the West and found this supposedly good Malaysian restaurant. In fact, I used to go there when I first arrived in Auckland. I lived in Blockhouse Bay about 3 years ago, and what I’ve noticed is that there is a fair number of Indians there.

This “cafe” is called the Malaysian Noodle and Rice House on Wolverton Street, Avondale. It’s in an industrial area, a strange place to put a Malaysian place but ideal for suburbanites. Two dishes ordered for this review:

Fried Rice with Chicken and Salted Fish.

Char Kueh Tiaw.

The price is not too bad. The fried rice is a bit on the high side, $10 and the Kueh Tiaw is 8.50. A good eat out especially the Kueh Tiaw, but not exactly the best tasting.

My rating as I am in a hurry (again!), 7.5/10. It’s not bad, but it’s not the best.