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.

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.