“OK – grabbed a table next to the row of hanging ducks…” Geoff SMSes me when I am busy trying to cross the city to meet him. And why this particular location in front of a row of hanging ducks? Why a merry group of seven are on the pursuit to find the best Peking Duck in Sydney just in time for Chinese New Year! Accompanying me this afternoon and evening I have David (the chef from Perama), his wife Belinda, Anna & Phillip, Geoff & Rachel and Mr NQN!

We’re starting at the afternoon hour of 3:30pm and our aim is to try as many Peking Duck restaurants as possible given stomach space and time. Although it’s not a scientifically controlled study, it’s about as accurate as we could get given time and various factors etc.

The brief was simple

• We would only order Peking Duck and any drinks we needed. We wouldn’t waste space on any other food.
• We would eat it as it was served to us and not ask for any variations
• Our second course would be sang choy bao (filled lettuce leaves)
• We would score the pancakes and lettuce cups each out of 10. We were permitted to adjust our scores on the first three places to ensure that they weren’t judged too easily or harshly
• We tried to not take up too much time at each place as they were busy so the tables could be used on other customers

So without further ado, read on for our quest to find the best Peking Duck!

East Ocean, Chinatown

Click here to read the full story

It was Father’s Day and I needed to take my Hong Kong born father somewhere good for dinner. His favourite restaurant was one we all despaired of but he steadfastly requested it every year. It had a 3 course set menu for $15 and sometimes we’d get a case of food poisoning after it. Despite this, he asked for it every year and we all breathed a sigh of relief when it closed down (we couldn’t even feign surprise). My father has always mourned the loss of his favourite place silently and I always kept an eye out for Hong Kong eateries. When Eve Loves wrote a story on Ching Yip Coffee Lounge and mentioned that it was a Hong Kong style of place, our dinner plans were suddenly derailed and we pointed ourselves in the direction of Ching Yip, two floors up on busy Sussex Street. And a place you wouldn’t know about unless someone told you it was there.

The centre piece is the glass cake display case that now holds a variety of fruit-an eye-catching display yes but one that I’m sure for which the fridge was not intended. Inside, it’s all muted pink decorations from the 80′s – I believe the term is salmon pink but as it’s a bit grungy it has a grey tinge. Carpets are worn and disturbingly darker in patches near the kitchen. A woman in gumboots hauls wet  boxes of food across the carpet and the obvious drips ensue. Ahh the grey patches…

We have a look at the menu. Eve mentioned the afternoon special where for $5,$6 or $7 you can get a special afternoon meal with a tea or coffee. The set menu doesn’t look quite as thrilling as Eve’s option (it’s chicken wings today) so we don’t go for that. Instead we choose the pork knuckle for $7 with a coffee. They ask us whether we want it with noodles so we ask for egg noodles. We choose a few other things, mainly based on the food my father used to eat in Hong Kong and the pink laminated menu is a curious mix of Western style dishes like omelettes and spaghetti as well as grilled items and an endless list of drinks.

Warm Horlicks $3.20

I’m a bit of a Nanna in training as far as Horlicks goes and I love it. When I taste it, I’m reminded of when I used to drink this as a child to help me sleep and go into nostalgic mode.

Fresh honeydew milkshake $4.50

Click here to read the full story

“Please don’t give me a mullet, please please!” I pray silently to myself one afternoon sitting at the hairdressers. The reason apart from justifyingly fearing that particular haircut? I was speaking on a panel of the We Blog The World Event held by Klick Communications where my lovely friend The Second Wife works. I would be speaking alongside Ben Groundwater “The Backpacker” blogger from the Sydney Morning Herald and Tim Burrowes from Thumbrella. And the last thing I wanted was to have the haircut from hell.

Renee Creer, Trina (aka Foraging Otaku), me and Ben

Some pics from We Blog the World taken by Klick Communications. I didn’t take any photos as I was too busy being nervous…

At 6.20pm at the Sir Stamford we answered some questions from our fantastic moderator Kim who runs Klick and then fielded questions from the audience. And by 8pm we were done and dusted and retired to the bar. By 10:30pm we realised we were all starving and so a collective gaggle of us jumped into 3 taxis and high tailed it to BBQ King – stat! Yes we were starving and it suddenly hit us that we had to have food and have it now. Dining with me were Trina, The Second Wife, Naomi, Tess, Ben, Alice and Glen.

A food lovers version of an art gallery?

We’re shown to a large table on the ground floor set among a gallery of photos all celebrating BBQ meat and meaty goodness. There are some curious BBQ King Fashion photos with some models with China doll haircuts posing in the restaurant. But these are a mere distraction for us as we peruse the menu determined to try the best they have to offer. I have strange memories of BBQ king from many years ago when we were asked to share a large, round table with strangers and a Peking Duck that was expensive but not very exciting so I was a bit apprehensive but hunger got the better of me. And keen photographers take note, BBQ King has deceptively difficult lighting. It’s incredibly yellow and hard to photograph in so please excuse the photos.

Yes that’s a ceiling full of Ducks!

Complimentary watercreess and pork soup

To whet our appetites, they give us a big bowl of watercress and pork broth. It seems to be self service here and I have to apologise to my fellow diners for doing such a terrible job of ladling this up. It’s delicious and warming and certainly whets the appetite.

Spring rolls $12 ($6 for 4)

The Spring Rolls, an item I am usually hugely disappointed in are really tasty here with a great mix of flavours and they’re not too dry with a good amount of filling in them.

Braised Chicken Fillets in Scechuan sauce $19.80

This resembles sweet and sour chicken with the pieces of capsicum. It’s spicy and sweet but not particularly exciting.

Steamed Chinese broccoli with Oyster sauce $12.80

These are nicely steamed with a nice texture to them and simply flavoured with Oyster sauce.

“Suckling Pig” and Roast Duck $42.80

Click here to read the full story