Chinese Noodle Restaurant, Haymarket
A bit of a Sydney foodie institution, Chinese Noodle Restaurant is famous not only for its handmade noodles, but because you can watch them making them as you eat. Tucked away underneath the escalators at the Prince Centre, Chinese Noodle is usually swarming with uni students, families and gwei lo in-the-know at any given weekday lunchtime.
Unfortunately there wasn't much thwacking of noodle dough on the day we visited. Usually you can watch them through the large window between the squishy dining area and the kitchen, pounding noodle dough onto the counter and stretching them effortlessly into enormously long strands.
The decor is almost a feature in itself--a questionable mix of Persian-style carpets on the walls and a dense covering of plastic grapevine overhead. So... er... Chinese Noodle!
But we had come for the handmade noodle and the painless prices. We had the fried dumplings, noodles with beef soup and the pork mince pancake. The dumplings were not quite fried anough on the bottom for my liking but still more-ish. The noodles were a little gluggy, I thought, although the beef was tender. The pancake was definitely the standout--freshly fried, crispy yet not greasy, and filled with tasty pork mince. An enormous serving of standout quality for a measly $7!
Pork and chive dumplings, 12 for $7.50
Handmade noodles with beef $8.50
Pancake with pork mince $7
Chock-a-block in spite of, or perhaps because of, the unique decor
Chinese Noodle Restaurant
Shop TG7, Prince Centre, 8 Quay Street Haymarket
(Street-level, Thomas Street side)
Tel: 02 9281 9051
Unfortunately there wasn't much thwacking of noodle dough on the day we visited. Usually you can watch them through the large window between the squishy dining area and the kitchen, pounding noodle dough onto the counter and stretching them effortlessly into enormously long strands.
The decor is almost a feature in itself--a questionable mix of Persian-style carpets on the walls and a dense covering of plastic grapevine overhead. So... er... Chinese Noodle!
But we had come for the handmade noodle and the painless prices. We had the fried dumplings, noodles with beef soup and the pork mince pancake. The dumplings were not quite fried anough on the bottom for my liking but still more-ish. The noodles were a little gluggy, I thought, although the beef was tender. The pancake was definitely the standout--freshly fried, crispy yet not greasy, and filled with tasty pork mince. An enormous serving of standout quality for a measly $7!
Pork and chive dumplings, 12 for $7.50
Handmade noodles with beef $8.50
Pancake with pork mince $7
Chock-a-block in spite of, or perhaps because of, the unique decor
Chinese Noodle Restaurant
Shop TG7, Prince Centre, 8 Quay Street Haymarket
(Street-level, Thomas Street side)
Tel: 02 9281 9051
posted by Anonymous on 10/08/2004 11:59:00 pm
4 Comments:
At 10/11/2004 6:27 pm,
R said…
You always do such a good job condensing a whole culinary experience into a neat little entry. And your pics are lovely too.
Thanks for the St. Honore correction. I will be sure to go and make a visit sometime soon.
Sorry again for missing last night.
At 3/16/2007 4:21 pm,
Anonymous said…
Great review and awesome pictures! I also liked terminology of "gweilo-in-the-know". Very funny.
I love this little eating spot and have been going there for years. Have never tried the pancake though so might give it a go tonight!
At 1/11/2010 4:19 am,
joskies said…
I went there to buy some xiaolongbao today and it was really disappointing. I love xiaolongbao and I was craving it so I went to the closest place I thought it would be available. I waited for them to bring out for me to take away which was about 10mins then I waited 24mins for my train and a further 30mins to get home. I was so excited when I got back since I thought I finally got to eat my precious xiaolongbao which I don't get to eat often but after the first bite... I don't know if they gave me the wrong order or if the dish is served as such there but their xiaolongbao were actually just tiny half filled meat thick skinned buns; without any soup! They were just mini-'dai bao'!! I felt so cheated since I had built up such excitement for it and even missed my train because I was waiting for my takeaway and need to wait another 24mins... D=
At 1/12/2010 10:03 pm,
Helen (Grab Your Fork) said…
Hi R - Oops, I never responded to this comment. Am sure you've visited St Honore in the interim. Looking forward to catching up again soon.
Hi Mellybelly - The pictures are somewhat lacking given my newly acquired knowledge of say, focus, but thank you :) And yes, this place is a long-time fave for many.
Hi Joskies - I had to admit I've never tried the xiaolongbao here before but a shame they didn't live up to your expectations. Perhaps this is more the style of Uighur than the Shanghainese thin-skinned variety you were looking for?
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