The Mall area

Last month, a bunch of food bloggers and I went on a Meet My Suburb Walking Tour of Kensington and Kingsford where I showed them around the secret local’s favourites in the area. It was so much fun so some other blogger friends and I decided to do the same in Cabramatta. Betty from Betty’s Bites grew up in the area and when she emailed us asking if we’d like to join her on a little eating tour of Cabramatta, I didn’t hesitate for a moment. I’m almost embarrassed to say that as a born and bread Sydney-Sider I’d never been to Cabramatta before. What I didn’t realise that apart from the fact that Cabramatta has great food, the people are what I enjoyed just as much. Cabramatta residents have fun and a lot of laughs and the kids…well they’re priceless and they love a camera. And I should warn you now that this is a long post so please settle in with a cup of coffee or tea (sweetened with sweetened condensed milk to put you in an authentic mood).

Colourful desserts

Trissa and I are driving together for the first time Cabramatta from Balmain and the GPS is guiding us. We get into the wrong lane accidentally misreading the GPS. Trissa winds down the window “Please sir, I need to get into that lane” she pleads with the taxi driver who looks at her like she just told him he has a chicken on his head and it’s about to lay an egg. “WHAT?!” he says and before he can figure out what she means she manoeuvres into the space. We arrive at Cabramatta via the scenic route and spot Betty walking towards the train station, our designated meeting point. “Find a park where-ever you can on this street or the next” she says. Parking is notoriously hard in Cabramatta as crowds of people gather there on the weekends to buy and eat and the 50c car park (yep 50c to park your car, compare that to a city car park at $24 for 2 hours) is an option if we get desperate.

Fruit sold at a store

We’re meeting Ja, Betty and journalist Carla and her photographer boyfriend James at the station. Trish is to join us later. It’s a gorgeous day, we couldn’t have asked for better for a food walking tour and Betty has been charged with showing us the best of Cabramatta.

Stop #1 Kim Thanh Company Hot Bread

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First of all I need to start this story off with an apology to the people at Galley Foods. Mainly because up until my husband booked this last time I was sure I had been blacklisted from there. Long time readers probably know that I am on my Learner’s License. Our first attempt was aborted when my husband saw the windy, narrow road that I had to drive and said that it would scare the boots off me. He knows my driving limits and I deferred to him. The second and third times were with friends who got sick and then my husband got sick and I had to cancel each and every booking. So on my fourth attempt, I asked my husband to call them and book using his phone number. I’m sure if they heard the name “Lorraine” and my phone number they’d hang up on me after a long, derisive laugh.

So one sunny Saturday afternoon Rose, Ronald, Nr NQN and I piled into the car and took the 1.5 hour drive out to the Kuringai Chase National Park. After the Pacific Highway, the route turns into Bobbin Head Road which is a picturesque drive and we get to the National Parks entrance and pay $11 entry fee (per car). After that Mr NQN and I swapped roles and he drove the rest of the way. For normal people, the road would probably be fine but for a nervous driver like me, the narrowness of the roads and lack of lane demarcation was too much.

Once inside the Kuringai National Park, the drive is pretty with lots of trees and a small rainforest area and within a few minutes we make it to the Empire Marina. There are signs for Boat Hire and a sign that says “No Fishing” and looking down from the wharf we see lots of fish snacking on bread pieces. We take a seat and have a look at the menu which is reasonably priced and features a lot of cafe style and Modern Australian dishes. It’s a little chillier here as it’s by the water and many fellow diners take advantage of the red, blue and black blankets that they provide for warmth but when the sun is out, it’s gorgeous and hits the water just so. Service is very friendly and casual and everything conspires to make you feel like you’re on holiday.

The Menu

Cappucino $3.50

The Toby’s Estate cappucino is fantastically creamy and smooth and almost hot chocolatey. Rose and Ronald order one after tasting ours.

Salt and pepper Squid $18.50

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For those readers outside of Australia, Beverly Hills zip code 2209 in Sydney is really not very similar to Beverly Hills 90210 in L.A. I recall reading a tongue in cheek comparison of the two suburbs and whilst 90210 is glamourville, 2209 in Sydney is a down home suburb largely absent of Porsches, celebrities and multi million dollar Mansions. It was in an odd way funny that we were going here for my father’s birthday, on January 1st, as I had just finished the Tori Spelling autobiography sTORI Telling which was a surprisingly entertaining read, her father of course producing 90210 and she starring in it. Don’t judge me. My next book is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I promise.

A bit of history…

The 3 types of Peking Duck on offer

I wanted to visit here after reading about Belle’s visit in which she talked about the Mantou buns with sweetened condensed milk and Beijing or Peking Duck. As the name suggests, their specialty is Peking Duck and they have 3 different versions which vary according to the accompaniments that you order priced from $58, $68 to $78.

Mr Cleaver

There’s a man in chef’s whites wielding a cleaver straddling the space between the two rooms and he continually slices the skin and meat off the duck. And we mean continuously as the restaurant is full by 7pm and it seems that everyone wants their duck.

Complimentary peanuts

Green pumpkin water $4

Unlike many Chinese restaurants, tea is charged separately starting at $4.50 per pot so we opt to go for a big jug of apple juice as the weather outside is hot. I am also intrigued by the Green Pumpkin Water drink on the menu so I order this in the hopes of having a Harry Potter moment but it appears that something was lost in the translation and this is Winter Melon juice. Not quite as exciting as a Green Pumpkin juice. It’s an unusual tasting drink, very sweet much like an Iced tea rather than a fruit or vegetable juice.

Ducks wings $3.80

Served cold, this serve is a generous 11 wings, cooked in a slightly herbal tasting sauce. Only my husband seems to take to these although I can imagine these would be nice in a clear broth to help balance out the herbal taste and to warm them up.

Fried slices pork belly and vegetables with a spicy sauce $16.80

We were confused when we saw this dish as I expected something a bit different but the fried slices pork belly and vegetables with a spicy sauce were quite delicious, the sauce quite spicy with a black bean taste to them. However we find that there is not a great deal of meat in this dish – what ultra thinly sliced pork belly there is is savoured and vegetables make up a large proportion of the dish, including the not particularly nice green part of the leek. I don’t think it’s a great sign that they use this part as it’s usually discarded or used to flavour soups, not as a stir fry ingredient. The amount of them leftover attests to how everyone else at the table found it.

Griddled bean curd sticks with pork and vegetable hot pot $16.80

We find the same situation with the griddled bean curd sticks with pork and vegetables. The dish is about 50% onion and only a small amount of pork and slightly more bean curd sticks. A disappointment as the flavours are good and it’s just a pity that they pad it out with cheaper ingredients.

Steamed Golden bread with Sweetened condensed milk $10 for 6 buns

If there’s one thing I firmly believe in, it’s the power of sweetened condensed milk. It’s my Windex. There’s nothing that can’t be solved by it. World wars and peaces treaties could be brokered with the stuff. So when I see Mantou buns with sweetened condensed milk, it’s an obvious order. The steamed buns (the white ones) are pillowy soft and collapse under each bite, the golden ones are deliciously airy, crispy and light.

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