Singma Noodle Bar, Southern Cross Arcade

Feeling a little under the weather I headed straight to Singma Noodle Bar for some warm, comforting soup. Not feeling like chicken I ordered the pork wonton noodle soup.



Some of the elements of this bowl'o'broth are little underwhelming but the whole is certainly greater than the sums of its parts. The BBQ pork is almost certainly dyed pink around the edges and are more like shards of pork rather than juicy chunks. And I think Singma is being a little over generous by calling the things floating in the soup 'dumplings'. More like wonton wrappers with the merest hint of pork mince.



See - scandalous. Tiny 'dumplings' with just atoms of flavourless pork.



Those criticisms aside - the broth was good - light, spicy and slightly oily; the greens perfectly wilted; and the noodles were plentiful.

This is obviously a flawed soup but I keep returning the Singma because despite the shortcomings they make tasty food.

Ricky's Kitchen, South Cross Arcade

It finally feels like Ricky's Kitchen has reached it's promising potential.

Comparisons to Ricky's Chicken Rice were always initially going to be unfavourable. When I first ate at Ricky's Kitchen - just after he shifted from his chicken rice stall in the China Town Food Court - I was disappointed. The soul of his food seemed to have disappeared. I recall hoping that Ricky just needed to get know his new dishes and kitchen a little better. I'm pleased to report that this indeed seems to be the case.

Firm and fatty with crunchy crackling and scattered with fresh coriander and spring onion the crispy pork was very good indeed. The sauce the noodles were served in was light but full of flavour and didn't dominate or detract from the crispy pork.

What I (and most people I think) love most about eating at Ricky's are the dipping sauces. The green spring onion sauce has regained it's earthy almost mustard-y bite while the red chilli sauce is back to it's sharp, hot almost tropical self. 



Watching Ricky's finesse while slicing and chopping joints of meat for dishes is one of the new mesmerising pleasures of the new open kitchen - and gives you something to do while you endure the long wait for food from this now popular stall. If he continues in this vein Ricky's Kitchen will no doubt achieve the cult status Ricky's Chicken Rice had.

Love Pho Vietnamese Cuisine, Myer Centre Food Court

Presumably I've missed the point by having lunch at a place called Love Pho and not ordering the pho - but today's lunch was decidedly average.

I ordered honey bbq pork, lemongrass beef and noodles.



The honey bbq pork was certainly sweet but it had no discernible texture - neither tender nor crispy nor juicy nor crunchy nor glutenous; the lemongrass flavour was noticeably absent in the oddly fishy-tasting lemongrass beef; and the noodles were very greasy.

In the interest of fairness I'll come back and try the pho and let you know how I go.

Dozo Sushi Expess - Katsu Pork Roll, Pirie St

Just a quick blog one this time. I went back to Dozo Sushi Express (see my other reviews here http://theofficeeater.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/dozo-sushi-express-pirie-street.html and here http://theofficeeater.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/dozo-sushi-express-pirie-st.html) to try the katsu pork roll.



I was hoping for some mega crunch and more thoughtful fillings but I was to be disappointed. Same roll, same tomato, same cucumber, and because the sauce penetrated every bite and soggy-ed up and overpowered the katsu - the pork tasted practically identical to the chicken I had last time.



These rolls should be excellent so I'll return to Dozo to try another but I feel as though I'm destined to be underwhelmed.

Taste of China and Obun Chef - again, Adelaide Central Market Food Court

I know I usually review luncheon locations but 'cos you can eat in the Adelaide Central Market Food Court at pretty much any time I thought I'd take quick snap of what I'm eating and tell you a bit about my dinner - fragrant pork with rice.

The main reason I want to share my dinner is because Taste of China can do no wrong in my eyes. Served with creamy tofu, boiled egg and a really salty, rich sauce the fragrant pork was beautifully fatty and tender while the chilli flecked sweet vinegar dipping sauce added some sharpness that cut through the rich pork. Likewise the quick pickled carrot and radish.



I've mentioned before that I'm ambivalent about obun but I'm pretty easily talked into them. Tonight I ordered the red bean filling. The obun was obviously fresh but didn't have that tooth-achingly sweet caramel flavour I usually associate with red bean - underwhelming unfortunately.



Again, I know this is technically a dinner review but you could order this stuff for lunch too, so suck it up (both the food and your 'tude (that's gangsta for attitude) towards me reviewing outside my usual reviewing hours) - this was a pretty succinct posting.

Miss Mai, James Place

I introduced a colleague to Miss Mai a few weeks. He cannot get enough of place so I joined him there for lunch today. Browsing the menu I found something I hadn't ordered yet - a pork and spring roll noodle box. Two of my favourite things (pork and spring rolls) together in one meal. Excitement!! Lunch was served in this groovy plastic bowl. Actually, the plastic bowl isn't all that groovy but vibrant orange sticker sure is! 



Choc full of mouth-watering goodies the lid of the plastic bowl could hardly close. Noodles, nuts, fried onions, crunchy salad, fresh herbs, ngoc cham dipping sauce - this bad boy had everything. But lets talk about the heroes of this dish - the pork and the spring rolls. Chopped up and tossed through the salad the spring rolls were crunchy, porky and slightly herby - very well executed spring rolls indeed. Glutinously fatty and tender but with a great crackling crunch the warm pork was the perfect protein to crown this textural and tasty salad.



Everything I've had from Miss Mai has been excellent. So, do me a favour - if you haven't checked this place out yet - please don't. I'd prefer Miss Mai remain mine.

Taste of China and Obun Chef, Central Markets Food Court

After my wildly successful first trip to Taste of China (review available here: http://theofficeeater.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/taste-of-china-central-market-food.html) I wanted to share their delicious food with friends and family. Today I had lunch with a close mate whom I hadn't seen for some weeks. I suggested we have a taste of Taste of China for lunch.

On the the strength of my glowing recommendation he ordered the chowzhou style fried egg noodles (which, I should add, he loved). Remembering how juicy and tender the BBQ pork was last time I ordered the twice cooked pork with rice hoping for a repeat performance. I wasn't disappointed.



The twice cooked pork WAS my beloved BBQ pork - tender, juicy and sweet but stir-fried in a slightly spicy, savoury bean sauce with loads of crunchy celery, carrot, beansprouts and spring onions. Usually I don't eat all of the massive mountain of rice served up with most food court dishes but I didn't want to leave any sauce behind so drizzled it generously over my rapidly disappearing rice. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I licked up the rest of the sauce with my fingers.

The sauce was quite rich so the crunchy pickles provided a refreshing contrast to the pork. Although my friend declared the lettuce broth to be delightful I once again rated it bland rather than refreshing.

This friend of mine has a weakness for obun. When he dines in the Market Food Court he likes to have a sweet obun to finish his meal. I'm not too fussed about them but there was a new flavour on offer at Obun Chef - lemon custard. Now, I do have a real weakness for lemon curd so I ordered an obun in the hope that the custard would have big citrus punch.



It didn't - it had a slight lemon tang. Not what I had hoped for but much better than the great ham and corn obun disaster of 2011 and certainly a flavour I'd order again.

Taste of China, Central Market Food Court

Taste of China is a relatively new Chinese eatery in the Adelaide Central Market Food Court specialising in Chowzhou style cuisine. I had been eying it off with anticipation for a while and with great curiosity I ordered the Chowzhou style fried noodles.  I couldn't tell what to expect from the picture on the wall - other than prawns. Let me say now I was pleasantly surprised...

Plump, juicy prawns; tender squid and baby octopus; fish balls with a citrus-y (lemongrass perhaps?) zing; crunchy beansprouts - I can't remember the last time I had a noodle dish this good from a food court. There were two other things that really made me sit up and pay attention to this noodle dish - a deliciously savoury fried patty of mystery meat (either pork or possibly some sort of soy protein - no idea what it was but very tasty) and the BBQ pork. This ISN'T the paper thin, cardboard flavoured BBQ pork found in too many otherwise good fried noodle dishes - but big hunks of sweet juicy meat.

The chilli dipping sauce provided a much appreciated hit of heat while the pickled carrot and radish pickle was a palate cleansing crunch.



The only disappointing part of this meal was the lettuce soup - it tasted exactly like it looked - like lettuce with hot water. Bland rather than light and refreshing. 

Taste of China's menu also offers an intriguing looking aromatic chicken dish which looks to be served with boiled eggs and tofu. I'll be returning soon to taste it with interest. I want to see Taste of China do well and stick around. That first store in the Central Market's Food Court has been occupied by too many different (and failed) eateries of the past few years and from my first impression Taste of China would be an excellent addition to the market's eateries.

Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls, China Town Food Court

Continuing on my righteous quest to find Adelaide's best banh mi yesterday I dined at Banh Mi - Vietnamese Rolls in the China Town Food Court. To paraphrase their claim, these guys can definitely roll (bit of a sandwich pun there - get it?) with the best.

I ordered a roast pork roll with a Vietnamese iced coffee which set me back about $11. A little on the expensive for lunch but not so much that it'll break the bank.



There are two things that differentiate the banh mi here from elsewhere. The first is their size - these banh mi are big boys. Much bigger than any of the other banh mi I've seen in the Adelaide CDB. The second is the mayonnaise and pâté combination slathered on the bottom half of the rolls. Occasionally this bottom layer has been so thick, rich and cloying that it makes it difficult to finish the sandwich. Not yesterday - the ratio if pâté to filling was perfect.



Can I just say that I love Vietnamese iced coffee? Iced cold, sweet and almost chocolate-y banh mi's version is refreshingly good. Is it blasphemous to say I prefer it to Farmer's Union Iced Coffee? 



I'm intrigued by the statement on the roll package telling you that the roll is to be eaten within an hour or refrigerated. If you are not eating a roll this good immediately you are doing it a serious disservice.

Wong Kee Daily Yum Cha, China Town Food Court

When you can't decide what you want for lunch yum cha is the way go - although the sheer amount of choice could exacerbate the problem. Regardless, today was yum cha lunch with a mate who didn't know what he wanted. 

We ordered 5 dishes - savoury dumplings, fried squid, BBQ pork buns, sesame balls and a fifth secret dish (the highlight of the meal) to be revealed in the fullness of time (... later in this blog post).



The only weak joint in today's lunch was the fried squid tentacles (...which don't actually have any joints...) that had obliviously been sitting under the heat lamp for too long and had lost all it's crunch and gone lukewarm. The rest of the yum cha was delightful. In particular, the savoury dumplings and sesame balls were surprisingly good. A textural delight of (unidentifiable) mince wrapped in glutenous rice batter and deep fried - the savoury dumplings were crunchy, chewy and salty.



Made from the same batter as the dumplings, the sesame balls were instead filled sweet red bean paste and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Light, fluffy, sweet rice dough filled with tender BBQ pork - these buns disappeared without any of the cloying stogyness often associated with poorly executed yum cha buns.

By far the stand out dish was the misleadingly named savoury doughnut.



Looks closer - see how it glistens with promise...



Essentially, the savoury doughnut is not round fried bread, wrapped in rice noodle and sprinkled with shallots. This seemingly simple combination creates a delicious and texturally complex dish. The bread is crunchy, chewy and slightly greasy. The rice is it textural opposite - smooth and slippery - while the sprinkle of shallots adds a slight fresh snap that helps cut through the grease. This dish alone is worth returning to Wong Kee Daily Yum Cha for.

5 dishes cost us $24 which is a little more expensive than you'd normally pay for lunch at the markets but the bamboo steamers are always full so you very rarely need to wait (except for the savoury doughnut which was made to order) and the food is pretty decent.