Chicken Maru - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia

KOREAN FRIED CHICKEN IN HURSTVILLE!!! Did that grab your attention? Yes, you read right. Finally, a KFC (Korean fried chicken) joint in the south of Sydney. We no longer have to drive out to Strathfield to satisfy our cravings.

Chicken Maru is a fried chicken restaurant franchise originating from Korea. They opened their first restaurant in Australia a month ago, in the suburb of Hurstville and we couldn't be happier. Located on Forest Road and directly next to the main bus interchange, on the first level above a pub, is Chicken Maru.

Koreans love their fried chicken and so do I.

The interior is reminiscent of the cafes in Korea, with bright lights, lots of space and cheerful decor. It lets off that warm and fuzzy vibe.

There are an array of options to choose from. Fried chicken comes in an assortment of flavours and that's we we love about KFC. There isn't just fried chicken but you can also order from a range of traditional Korean dishes.

The waiter suggested we order the half chickens to be able to try more and so we did. He said the most popular fried chicken dishes were the original, soy sauce and cheese. While many do like the cheese version, I'm not too keen on cheese so we gave that a miss.

A mini bowl of 'Pumpkin Soup' was provided complimentary for every diner. The soup was smooth and creamy but an unusual sight at a Korean restaurant.

'Original Chicken (H:$17/W:$32)' was the first to arrive at our table. Huge pieces of plump chicken coated in a crunchy golden batter, layered on top of a wooden board. It was pure perfection. When they say half chicken, you get half a chicken and all the pieces that make up that. It was consistently fried and each piece was crispy, juicy and tender. The whole chicken next time please!

The most important element was the flour coating and that did not disappoint. A lightly seasoned batter with a hint of spiciness. The chicken was deep fried so well that there was barely any greasy residue left on the paper.

The 'Soy Chicken with Chilli (H:$18/W:$34)' is the original fried chicken nicely coated with a soy sauce that wasn't overpowering or salty. This was one of our favourites for the night.

'Spicy Chicken (H:$18/W:$34)' is glazed with a sweet and sticky chilli sauce. We found that it wasn't very spicy but was more on the sweeter spectrum. It still retained the crunch factor but we prefered the other two flavours over this.

The 'pickled radish' is an essential side with fried chicken and without it, it's just not the same. It adds the acidity to a fatty meal and cleanses the palate, making you want to eat more chicken.

With fried chicken you need the accompanying beer and at Chicken Maru they have Korean beer. We were, should I say lucky, to grab the last bottle of 'Hite Beer ($5.00)' for the night.

The 'Hot Stone Bimimbap ($15.00)' was loaded with an abundance of ingredients. A signature Korean dish that we tend to order at every Korean restaurant that's similar to a fried rice. While it was tasty, the hot stone wasn't hot enough and lacked the heat to give the rice that crispiness you would usually get.

The tofu in the 'Spicy Soft Tofu Soup with Seafood ($13.00)' melted in the mouth. The spicy hot broth packs a punch and on a cold winters day, it is indeed comforting.

And if that wasn't enough food, we also got the mandatory sides.

Bring yourself with an empty stomach and you'll be rewarded with great food. It brings back memories of the food I ate in Korea as it's truly authentic and oh so delicious. Since it's still it its early stages of opening, service can be a bit slow and messy at times but staff were friendly and helpful. Now, I wouldn't mind some Samgyetang right now.

Where?
Level 1, 330/332 Forest Rd
Hurstville NSW 2220
Australia

Phone no: 02 9570 2569

Opening Hours
Open 7 Days
Monday - Thursday: 11:00am - 10:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 11:00am - 2:00am
Sunday: 11:00am - 10:00pm

Website
www.chickenmaru.co.kr

Noodle Town - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia.

Noodle Town

 

This restaurant has been open for many years. I've walked past on it on many occasions, regularly stopping at this station on my way home. It is located within Hurstville Central Shopping Centre, which houses Hurstville train station. Finding any information on this restaurant on Google has been a major struggle as there is basically nothing on it, hence my delay in going to the place.

 

As their name suggests, they specialise in noodles but also have a range of other Chinese Cantonese dishes and options such as dumplings, rice, wonton and spicy duck. Most customers order from the bain-marie as they have specials, but the prices are very reasonable for other dishes which are made to order.

 

The interior is a classic example of what you can find in China. From the wooden furniture to the decorations, it feels like you're in a restaurant in China. The cuisine here appears to be Sichuan influenced, an area known to use spicy sauce in nearly everything. The most popular dish here is the 'Braised Beef Noodle Soup ($8.50)'.

 

 

The 'Dan Dan Noodle ($7.50)' is not like the one you would find at places like Din Tai Fung. Huge portion of noodles which have a nice bite to it, topped with minced pork, bok choy, preserved vegetables (mustard stems) and the essential chilli oil sauce. Absolutely delicious and the stock is just so flavoursome. Reminded me of the noodles I had in Taiwan as they also use a lot of preserved vegetables in their noodles.

 

The 'Pork with Preserved Cabbage and Bamboo Noodle Soup ($7.95)' is very similar in flavour to the above except there is the addition of shredded pork instead of the minced, and extra preserved vegetables. Both are equally as good.

 

For those chilli lovers, there are also little containers of chill if you want to add extra. Look at those chilli seeds!

They use different seasonings for their dishes and it is different to the Chinese food I am use to having. The pictures don't do the noodles any justice. It looks rather unappealing but is packed with flavour and oh so cheap.

Will return to try other items on the menu next time.

Where?
Shop 20B, 225H Forest Rd,
Hurstville NSW 2220
Australia

Opening Hours

Monday	9:00am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9:00am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9:00am - 5:30pm
Thursday	9:00am - 9:00pm
Friday	9:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday	9:00am - 5:00pm
Sunday	10:00am - 4:00pm
Public Holidays	10:00am - 4:00pm

Website
http://hurstvillecentral.com.au/

Imperial Treasure Chinese Restaurant - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia.

Imperial Treasure Chinese Restaurant

Happy Spring! Finally, the warm weather has kicked in and the miserable winter cold is slowly disappearing.  Yay! Love Spring and Summer.

The first Sunday of September meant one thing, Father’s Day! This year around, we had our Father’s Day celebration on the Friday, to avoid the crowds on the actual day, Sunday. Dad said he wanted to have Peking duck, so we had what he wanted.

 

 

Imperial Treasure is a relatively new Chinese restaurant, opening last year within Club Central Hurstville. It occupies half of a floor on level three of the club and can cater for many diners as they regularly hold banquets and functions, serving yum cha in the morning and dinner at night. Nice modern interior with glass floor to ceiling windows, gives it that casual yet luxury feel.

 Usually, when you have Chinese food in a nice restaurant, you get served complementary house soup before you start your meal. The bowls and spoons were on our table but there was no sight of the soup. One of my favourite things about eating at a Chinese restaurant is the soup they serve at the beginning of the meal.

We saw soup being carried to other tables but not ours! I assumed they ordered a banquet and as such, the soup formed part of the meal deal. It was not until the middle of the meal that I asked the waiter if they served complementary house soup and he nervously said yes. As we spoke in English, he assumed we weren’t accustomed to having soup, as they do put some weird ingredients in it sometimes, and as such it wasn’t offered. He immediately brought it out and we all laughed it off.

 ‘Pig Intestine Soup’ may not be for the faint hearted. Its name may not sound very appealing, but it is certainly delicious and hearty. It has most likely been cooked for hours and hours to get that strong, fragrant flavour . It’s after you taste it that you realise how soothing and refreshing the soup is. As you can probably tell, I do love my soups.

 

 

 

They had a ‘Peking Duck – 2 Courses’ special for 30 dollars! Yes, you read correctly. So cheap for a delicious whole duck. They are currently having a promotion on for the month of August and September where you can get a whole duck for 30 dollars. Bargain! The first course is the usual pancakes. A dozen rolled duck pancakes filled with finely sliced shallots, cucumber and hoisin sauce. The second course is a ‘Sang Choy Bow'. The waiter we had on the day was in a hurry in cutting our duck and ended up cutting mainly strips of skin and no meat. How disappointed we were. The meat that was left was then used for the  Sang Choy bow but there were only 4 little cups of lettuce with very minimal meat and vegetables. Where did all that meat go??? Nevertheless, it still tasted good but a bit on the salty side.

 

The ‘Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs ($16.00)’ were nice but weren’t very crispy due to the sauce coating. I like how they used the rib cut of meat as a lot of places end up using cheaper cuts of meat like the pork neck.  Quite generous with their portion too.

The ‘Combination Bean Curd Hot Pot ($17.00)’ had an assortment of vegetables, tofu and meat. The tofu was particularly cooked well. It was fried but still had that nice, soft texture to it.

'Chicken Fried Rice ($15.10)' was well cooked with good balance of flavours and had that wok flavour that you know its been tossed about in a very hot wok.

 

 

Ended the meal with a nice complementary plate of fruits and biscuits.

 

A clean and modern Chinese restaurant that serves reasonable food at decent prices. Members get an additional 10 per cent discount (Prices listed above are inclusive of the 10 per cent discount) and alcohol at club prices.

They are also having another promotion with the Tsingtao Beer and Heineken both at $4.00 each during the month of September. Another plus plus!

Please note standard club rules do apply.

Where?
2 Crofts Avenue
Hurstville NSW 2220
Australia

Phone no: 02 8957 7254

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday
10:30am - 3:00pm
Saturday - Sunday
10:00am - 3:00pm
Sunday - Thursday
5:30pm - 10:30pm
Friday - Saturday
5:30pm - 11:00pm

Website
http://www.clubcentralhurstville.com.au/site/index.cfm?display=297343

 

Photown - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia

Photown

A relatively new Vietnamese restaurant that just opened in Hurstville, further down towards the quieter end of Forest Road.

The internal decor is minimal but nice, clean and airy.

The food is authentic Vietnamese and cooked and served by Vietnamese people. There is a nice selection of different items on its menu from the popular 'Pho' to the more rare items you usually don't see in other restaurants like the 'Bo La Lot (Grilled Beef in Betal Leaf)'.

The 'Pho Bo Dac Biet (Special Beef Noodle Soup) ($12.00)' is a decent serving size and contains various cuts of meat like tendons, beef balls, beef slices, ox tail and tripe. The soup is not overly seasoned and just right in flavour. Ingredients are fresh so that's a positive.

'Pho Duoi Bo (Oxtail Noodle Soup) ($11.50)' is not a Pho I have seen before with the oxtail bones sitting on top of the noodles and soup. It has nice flavour and cooked well with the meat falling off the bone but it's missing beef slices? The Pho from Fat Noodle uses this type of bone to cook their Pho stock as well but with their version, there is beef slices on top. I find that the soup becomes gelatinous after sitting there for a while so it would have been better if the bones weren't added.

Decent authentic Vietnamese food in the south of Sydney but prices are a bit steep.

Where?
281-283 Forest Rd
Hurstville NSW 2220
Australia

Phone no: 02 8034 1573

Opening Hours
11am - 9pm
7 Days a Week

Website
http://www.photown.com.au/

Cho Express - Hurstville - Sydney, Australia.

Cho Express

For those of you who have been to Cho Dumpling King in Chinatown, this is the sister restaurant. There are two Cho Express in Hurstville, one within Westfields and the other near the  railway station.

My Taiwanese uni friend first introducted me to the concept of 'boxed taiwanese lunch' meals a few weeks back and at first thought, I wasn't really interested but decided to go with the majority of the group and try it out. It took me by surprise and I actually really enjoyed the flavour combinations.

Living near Hurstville means I can actually have it more often since it so close. Though it may be unhealthy due to the amount of oil and salt they put in.

The box lunch comes with two options from a wide selection in the baine marie for $6.95 and for $1 extra, a shaken iced green/black tea is available. It's tasty and fresh. A bargain I say!

My lunch meals to date:

Where?
Cho Express
Westfield Centre Hurstville
or
Centro Centre Hurstville

Opening Hours
10am - Late

Website
NA