What on earth is a Pempek I hear you ask? I can only anticipate your question as that’s the exact thing that I said upon hearing it. Pempek is an Indonesian fish cake which is a mix of ground fish and flour, deep fried and comes in variety of shapes and is much loved food. This may sounds rather boring but it is nothing like the fish balls or cakes that your local asian food grocer stocks in the fridge. Incongruously, there is a Pempek Clovelly, not in the suburb Clovelly but in Kensington on Anzac Parade. It’s not a fancy looking place, somewhat dowdy in fact like most of the eateries on Anzac Parade but it is supposed to serve some fabulous Pempek so a Pempek-ing We Go!

There are already several tables of people seated as we walk in and the waiter is hurriedly bringing out dishes for them. We sit down and stare at the menu for a while. It’s in Indonesian with an english translation and some pictures of the food. We’re not quite sure how the Pempek is served, it seems you can get a bowl of it but it is priced per piece from $2.50 to $17.50 for the large sampler plate. Our waiter comes back with a smile on his face, apologises and takes our order. We choose to go individually as this is our first time trying it and order a Pempek Lenjer (Fish stick), Pempek Kulit (fish cake skin) and Pempek Bulet (fish cake ball), all $2.50 each, usually 3 per serve . We order some Bakso Abang Abang Indo style noodle soup ($8), a piece of Ayam Goreng ($5) and a noodle dish with Lontang (rice cakes), vegetables and tofu with peanut sauce ($9). There’s a note that all of the meat supplied is Halal and a request on the wall that no alcohol is consumed on the premises. There’s also a helpful reminder that Anzac Parade is a tow away zone before 7pm should any patrons enjoy their food, only to find later that their car has been towed away.

Pempek Lenjer (Fish stick), Pempek Kulit (fish cake skin) and Pempek Bulet (fish cake ball), all $2.50 each

It’s a short while before our Pempek arrives, the three crispy pieces in a bowl of cuko (a sweet thin sauce made of brown sugar, garlic and vinegar) served with a side pot of chili. Ahhh ok so this is the soup we were seeing pictured. The first Pempek we try is the round fish ball, split into quarters and open like a flower. Each segment is delicious especially when dunked into the sauce although the taste isn’t very fishy at all. It could be any sort of filling, even deep fried tofu although it is tastier than tofu. The accompanying chili sambal is very hot and strong, unlike most of the chili sauce one gets so we treat it with caution.

We try the second Pempek, the Pempek Lenjer (Fish stick). The texture to this is slightly different although if you asked me to describe how different, I’d have difficulty. The crispy baton was more moist then the others and tasted like it had some sort of vegetable in it.

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Believe it or not, this is my first time to Mother Chu’s. For some reason or another, we always end up elsewhere yet I always stop and have a look at the women at the front folding and making dumplings. There’s something so rhythmically hypnotic about the process that keeps me entertained. Call me simple.

One Friday night we find ourselves hungry and in need of a good meal. We walk towards the main area of Chinatown and I see the red sign and say “Ooooh let’s go to Mother Chu’s!”. I have no idea who Mother Chu is, perhaps she’s one of the dumpling ladies. We opt for outside seating as the inside is crowded and try and make sense out of the two enormous menus we are given. It seems there is a section of small Taiwanese snacks and dumplings including savoury shallot pancakes, flaky pastries, and rice rolls.

There are also noodle dishes, rice dishes and meat dishes in traditional taiwanese flavours as well as cantonses style dishes. I’m drawn to the Angelica Mutton soup as I’ve only had mutton once in my life but unfortunately they are out of it. As my husband loves beef noodle soup, he orders a Szechuan version (spicy) $7 with suan choi (hand made pickled cabbage) $1 extra and I order a pork mince with rice $5 and we order some snacks to share including a pork flakey pastry $2.20, beef pancake $2.50, glutinous rice rolls with pork floss $3 and spicy seaweed salad $4. That’s $24.70 she says and holds out her hand. Oh and you need to pay when you order.

Before we’ve had a chance to even contemplate our surroundings, the soup, mince with rice and seaweed salad arrive. We have to ask for water a few times but finally get it fourth time lucky.

Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup $7

The Szechuan beef noodle soup has a slick of chili oil at the top and features shanghai noodles, thin slivers of roast beef and an spicy and indeed fairly fiery chili oil infused broth. The noodles are way too soft for me and whilst the beef is nice, the broth is a little plain and seeming flavoured mostly of chili oil. I leave this to my husband who confesses that it is too hot for him and unlike most noodle soups where he will finish every drop of the soup, most of this soup is left behind.

Suan choi (hand made pickled cabbage) $1 extra

The Suan Choi is a small side dish of cabbage, full of flavour and sesame oil and quite delicious.

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There was a whisper, no more a shout, that world famous Taiwanese Dumpling chain, Din Tai Fung, the one said to have queues day and night, had just opened in Sydney. It’s pretty much brand spanking new, opened only 2 weeks ago and already attracting a crowd. The reason? Xiao Long Bao, the soup dumplings that are so loved by so many, taking over as the popular alternative to Shao Mai or Gow Gees. Apparently, it started many years ago as a shop that sold oil with the owner Bingyi Yang selling dumplings on the side, these becoming so popular that a chain was spawned across the seas and accolades from the New York Times declaring it one of the Top 10 places to eat were bestowed. Sure it was about 10 years ago that they declared it that but given the queues, no-one seems to care.

We had just finished seeing a movie at the Academy Twin Paddington and were starving as it was late for us to eat (we always eat early, like pensioners at 6pm) .

We arrive at World Square at 8.30pm and go up to Level 1, where we’ve never been before and where there doesn’t look to be much. Outside there are two girls with earphones. I tense immediately, it’s like those stony faced Yum Cha women who give you a number and tell you that they’ll “call your number soon” before turning away to give the next customer their ticket stub only to summon you 1 long hour later. However I am greeted with a wide smile and a singsong friendly voice asks me if I have a reservation. I say no and she asks me if I mind sharing a table as that will be quicker. That’s fine by us but after a little flurry and some talking on the earpiece and it seems like they have a table just for us and she giggles “Lucky, you came at the right time, good timing!”. I find myself looking back bewilderedly, was that just friendly service at a Chinese restaurant? How very strange.

Sitting down at our table in theright most section of the restaurant, it certainly looks stylised and sleek. Adorned with displays of repeated white chinese soup spoons, small bowls and a wall full of different sized steamer trays. It is a weeknight and the crowd is almost exclusively Asian and mostly young types in suits and corporate clothes.

Menu: Large enough to hide behind should you require some stealth action

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