Chefs On Show

I apologize again for the lack of posts lately but I don't think I've ever blogged about Chinese food and just so happens that we went to eat at a "Modern" Chinese food restaurant over the weekend so here it is. 'Chef's Gallery' popped up a few years ago in Town Hall, it has put a rather sophisticated spin on your average Chinese dishes. The kitchen is in full view with dozens of chefs making dumplings, kneading noodles, stir-frying. 

The menu is rather extensive, there are a lot of dim sims, appetisers, entrees, mains and of course, desserts. We got the mixed dim sim platter just to sample a mix of different ones. There was duck and mushroom steamed dumpling, chicken steamed dumpling, prawn & pork dumpling with chilli soy sauce, prawn and pork dumpling. For entree we had the mini Macau pork burgers and pulled pork with pancakes. Felt like noodles so we also got the hand made noodles with prawns in a chilli tomato sauce. Dessert is a must of course, their signature dessert just happens to be the cutest thing! "Piggies goes to visit the bunnies"...awww. 

The dim sims were nice, having had lots of dim sims in my life (good and bad) I can't really say much else about them. The flavours and textures were all there, a little better than some yum cha places. I did enjoy the duck and mushroom one though, just a bit different I guess. The mini burgers were a big hit with Jules (he really likes burgers). There's pork floss added to the burgers which gave them a sweet and crunchy bite, the fried buns were fragrant and crispy, the pork was juicy and sweet, it was very enjoyable to say the least. The pulled pork was so tender, but it made me think it was duck for a while because you have to wrap it in the pancake and drizzle over the sauce to eat it, much like how you would eat Peking duck. The noodles used to be thin and with a bit of bite but they changed it to a flatter, softer noodle which I didn't enjoy as much, the sauce however is still very nice, not as chilli as I'd remembered though. 

Then it was time for dessert. The platter was presented with a feast for the eyes, 2 red bean centered buns shaped like piggies, 2 marshmellow bunnies, a house made of wafers, 2 scoops of ice cream (strawberry & mango), roasted chestnuts, a sandy path made of milk powder, stones made of this chinese snack that tastes like milky crunch balls. It's just full of detail! Although I must admit that the taste is rather mediocre, it's still worth getting just for the mere sight of it.

If you're bored of just your average Chinese seafood restaurants and looking for something that's a bit different then try Che'f Gallery. They don't take bookings for weekends so best come early or on a weekday because the line can get quite long. 

Shop 12 Ground Floor Regent Place Shopping Centre
501 George St, Sydney NSW 2000
www.chefsgallery.com