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.

Dozo Sushi Express, Pirie St

A conversation with a fellow twitterer (have we come to consensus on what we call people who tweet? Twitterers? Tweeters? Twits?) made me realise that Pirie St is a bit of a blind spot for me. To restore my eating vision I ventured off to Dozo Sushi Express for lunch.

Armed with the knowledge from a colleague that I should get a bento box and skip over the sushi I ordered the Japanese curry bento. Served with dumplings, potato salad, rice and pickles this was I promising looking lunch.



The easiest way to describe the Japanese chicken curry is to take you back to an Australian 1970's dinner party. In those days curry was virtually unknown to Australian diners and our attempts at cooking curry were clumsy - gritty and sickly sweet with a pinch of Keens Curry Powder more for colour than flavour (but no more than a pinch! For all we knew foreign spices could lead to... dancing), no chilli (dancing again presumably) and dotted with sultanas. The Japanese curry was just like this - except much, much better. No grittiness, the sweetness was handled with a deft touch, there certainly more flavour than a pinch of curry powder and more than a suggestion of heat, and no bloody sultanas. An excellent curry.



I love Japanese potato salad and this was a good one - rich, creamy and dotted with peas and corn. The crunchy yet creamy texture of the pickle was a pleasant surprise - I don't think I ever described a pickle as creamy before but this one definitely was. The miso soup was hot, salty and riddled with creamy tofu and seaweed.



The dumplings were a real disappointment. They were dry and cold and flavourless. The dough had the texture of cardboard and withered lump of meat inside had nothing to recommend it. There is no excuse to serve a dumpling this awful.

For 10 bucks a bento box at Dozo is a reasonable price for pretty tasty food - except for the awful, awful dumplings. The seating space is limited at Dozo so be prepared to either squish in, wait for seating or take your lunch away.

I noticed that Dozo has Japanese sandwiches on the menu. I have no idea what this would be but I'm curious enough that I'll be coming back to try these soon.

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.

Yumalicious, Victoria Square

Free chicken and corn soup. That's right - FREE. The generous offer of free soup sums up the attitude of the staff at Vietnamese eatery Yumalicious. They are always welcoming, impossibly cheerful and generous.



The hot soup kept my fellow and I punters warm during the short wait for our meals. And it was pretty darn good soup too. I don't think it was from a can even though it had that slightly glutenous texture I associate with canned soup because it had a delightful Vietnamese-y tang rather than that metallic tang.

I ordered the lemongrass chicken which came with broth and a dipping sauce. 



With subtle undertones of star anise followed by onion bite the broth was warm and nourishing. If I had to guess I'd say that the slightly spicy dipping sauce was a nouc mam cham - that ubiquitous Vietnamese side of fish sauce, chilli and garlic.



Though plump, juicy and golden the chicken could have probably done with more of lemongrass hit - but that's a minor compliant. The rice was beautifully cooked and the tomato and cucumber provided a fresh crunch.

Yumalicious - come for the food. Come back for the friendly service (and occasionally free soup).

Pars Kebab, Southern Cross Arcade

A relative newcomer to the Arcade, Pars Kebab offers the hungry diner kebabs as well as Persian dishes. Pars Kebab has recently relocated within the Arcade, and is now next Fresh Choice (who offer some of the cheapest and best banh mi in Adelaide). Their previous location has been taken over by Taste of Europe (which I’ll be trying tomorrow). I’m assuming that Pars Kebab’s new location has a higher rent than their previous location as prices have increased by about $1 across the board.

Probably the cheapest kebab I have come across (around $6) Pars Kebab make a pretty decent, though fairly greasy, kebab. The chicken and lamb seem to be actual chicken and lamb, though I’d steer away from the falafels. They taste like they’re straight out of the box and I’ve seem them warmed up in the microwave. But if you really want to see where Pars Kebab excels, try some of their Persian dishes.

For around $7 you can get yourself a delicious and decent sized lunch. I ordered saffron chicken and spicy chicken with salad and rice.


Chunks of moist spicy chicken thigh swam in a rich tomato sauce. The saffron chicken was savoury and moist. Abundant with fresh parsley, the salad was crisp and clean. The garlic sauce was garlic sauce. But the rice… the rice was something else. The rice from Pars Kebab is possibly my favourite rice. Words simply do not do it justice. Flecked with pomegranate (and possibly saffron), the grains are impossibly long and firm to the bite, while still being light and fluffy and toothsome. If nothing else appeals to you about Pars Kebab, at least try the rice. I promise you won’t be disappointed.