Mr Wong, Sydney CBD

Coming from an Asian background, the problem with eating at a Westernised Chinese restaurant is that you come knowing what true Chinese food and flavours should be like versus the bastardised version that is served to cater for Westerners. Sometimes it can be good... and sometimes it can backfire in your face. Hence when I was told that we would be celebrating DrL's surprise birthday dinner would be held at Mr Wong, I was a little hesitant for not only would the meal be expensive (it is two-hatted and located in the city) but it was surely going to be an interesting experience eating 'high class' Chinese food.

The evening started out with a short trek from Wynyard station, past the curious crowds lingering on George and Hunter Streets looking up at the gigantic crane with a close encounter with the neighbouring buildings (the bystanders obviously had nothing better to do besides filming the entire incident on their phones) and through some inner roads of the Sydney CBD to the mysterious Mr Wong restaurant, which is actually in a reformed historic brick building accessible via a small laneway. Even though we had arrived just after opening time, there was already a thick, long queue outside the restaurant doors, filled with eager customers awaiting to be let through the glass doors and into the establishment.

Entrance of Restaurant
(This was from after dinner around 8pm. Still line of people waiting for tables)

As they only opened one of the two glass doors, it made entry difficult for those that had pre-booked a table, or those that were attempting to barge get in after other members of their party had already obtained a dinner table, especially with people lingering around the entryway and/or were lining up in the said queue. Anyway, our party gradually made our way through the doorway and were taken to our table by one of the waiters patiently waiting at the top of the entry stairway (a notable difference when eating at a fancy restaurant).

Inside the dimly-lit restaurant, the old-school, French-colonial decor takes the customers back to Canton from centuries past:

Open Kitchen

Bar

Inside of Restaurant

On the way to the city, I did a little online research to check out what the recommended (and stay-away) dishes were from this restaurant. There were a few dishes that stood out so I urged my friends to order them as we were skimming through the menu. When MoosesDigest first saw the menu and the corresponding prices, her reaction resembled Edvard Munch's The Scream (probably mine too) but we were there for a reason and this was most likely going to be a one-off event.

Hiramasa Kingfish, Kohlrabi, Sweet Wasabi, Soy and Ginger Dressing ($22)

The fresh kingfish sashimi was cut into thick slices and the kohlrabi and wasabi sauce gave it a small heat kick - the wasabi flavour could have been a little stronger but then it may cross the fine line of overpowering the sashimi.

Salad of Alaskan Snow Crab, Snow Pea Leaves,
Bamboo Shoots and Ginger ($21)

The salad contained quite a bit of snow crab meat, pulled into small strips/pieces and tossed in a salad of fresh snow pea leaves, slices of bamboo shoots, coriander, ginger strips, and topped with large fish roe. This entrée dish had delicate and light flavours, cleansing on the palate, but was it worth for $21? The salad also came with a small amount of chilli sauce that was set to one side as the other dishes were served (I came across it later and wondered which dish it came with...).

Mr Wong's Special Fried Rice with Pork and Prawn (S: $19; L: $27)

I personally thought the fried rice was biggest disappointment of the entire dinner. The fried rice contained prawns, diced char siu (i.e. roast BBQ pork), peas and egg. Unfortunately, the rice was a little dry (surprisingly not oily like at Chef's Gallery) and lacking in seasoning (e.g. salt or soy sauce). Plating was a little sloppy - I had to resist the urge to use a spoon to neaten it up into a nice mound. Since it's edible, it's passable but I would expect something more from a dish that is meant to be their 'special' fried rice (although, that is usually code for the chefs to put in whatever they want/have on hand into the dish). Sorry, but even I could make a better fried rice with these ingredients.

Crispy Eggplant with Fish Fragrant Sauce ($26)

The long eggplant sticks were coated in thin batter, deep fried and coated in sweet, sticky sauce with a touch of hoisin sauce. As recent reviewer commented that their eggplant dish was saturated in oil - in this case, the eggplant was a little oily but it wasn't that bad (I've had worse). Eggplant, like potato and sweet potato, has a tendency to absorb a lot of oil and therefore you need to double-fry it in a way so that the excess oil will seep back out. However, you can't cook the eggplant for too long, otherwise it will turn to mush (making it ideal for stews). The dish was tasty but I couldn't really taste the eggplant, which was lost between the batter and sauce - the pieces could have been cut into bigger chunks.

Crispy Fried Balmain Bugs with Spicy Salt ($42)

In this dish, the Balmain bugs were cut into small chunks the size of a ping pong ball, coated in a batter and deep fried before being tossed in a salt and pepper powder mix. The exterior was thin and crispy but I found that most of the natural seafood flavour was overwhelmed by the salt and pepper seasoning - if I didn't know that this dish contained Balmain bugs, I could have easily mistaken the seafood meat for a gigantic prawn based on the texture. It seemed like a waste to deep fry the bugs.

Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork Hock ($29)

This dish was not what I expected - the pork hock was pre-cooked and deboned to form a terrine, which was then cut up into large cubes, (deep?) fried and coated in a sweet, sticky sauce and topped with coriander and chilli. The pork meat was soft and tender, mixed with small pieces of pork tendon and skin... but sadly lacking in the gelatinous fat that is traditionally associated with the pork hock. I totally didn't notice a 'sour' taste but this was probably my favourite dish of the night.

Sweet and Sticky Pork Ribs ($34)

Last on our menu were these sweet and sticky pork ribs. The dish had deep fried pork spare ribs with soft meat and crispy exterior, coated in a similar sweet, sticky sauce as the pork hock and eggplant (disappointing to have eaten three dishes with the same sweet taste - need variety!!). Is it just me or am I sensing a common theme across the dishes here? Now that I look back at our meal, I've noticed that the mains that we ate were all deep fried in some sense.

At the end of our meal, on route to the bathroom, I got to check out their wine cellar, which I have to say is rather impressive:

Wine Cellar

And walked past this epic display of ducks that were being air-dryed before being cooked (in order to achieve a crispy skin):

Ducks Air-Drying in Enclosed Room

Tiki Sling Mocktail ($12) - Pineapple Juice, Apple Juice, Passionfruit Puree,
Almond Syrup, Lemon Juice, Angostura Bitters, and Soda Water

Overall service was attentive but they constantly pushed for wine and tea like every 5-10 minutes until our food started arriving. A friend (tea connoisseur) eventually caved in and tried their tea at a price of course at $12 a pot, refillable with hot water (but still!). The birthday girl ordered the Tiki Sling mocktail - didn't get to ask her how it tasted but I thought it was weird how it "may contain egg whites"...

Sign to Restaurant

Aside from the fried rice, the food offering here was pretty decent and the quality of food is definitely there but on the pricey end for Chinese (fusion?) food so I most likely won't be returning anytime soon - our bill ended up ~$230 for 5 people. For a two-hatted restaurant, I think I would expect a little more from the dishes. We actually brought a cake but we were advised that there was a $7pp cakage free, which we declined and ended up eating it outside Town Hall. There is also a 1.5% surcharge for all credit cards as well so if you don't wish to pay that surcharge, remember to bring enough cash.

Well, ticking this place off on my food bucket list.

Food: ✰✰✰✰
Atmosphere: ✰✰✰✰
Service: ✰✰✰✰
Overall: ✰✰✰✰
4 5