257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood
![Rice crust with fish fillet and tomato at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8781-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5702/22547636327_aaec0bf9c3_o.jpg)
This is the first time we’ve heard of a Chinese restaurant enforcing two sittings at dinner time. We’re kinda glad they do because otherwise you’d never score a table - even with a booking. Locals have jammed this Eastwood newcomer, dishing up Chinese fare with an emphasis on Shanghai cuisine.
257 Home Kitchen looks more like a hip cafe – exposed brickwork, copper pendant lighting and bentwood chairs – but the menu is serious, with 120-plus dishes proving there’s more to Shanghai cuisine than xiao long bao soup dumplings.
![Shanghai-style baked bran at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8719-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/667/22343242904_691f427016_o.jpg)
Shanghai-style baked bran $9.80
Take the Shanghai-style baked bran for instance, a sentimental homestyle favourite made from wheat gluten. It looks like a deep-fried tofu puff but is actually a steamed mixture of gluten, bran and yeast. The resultant sponge is perfect for soaking up sweetened soy sauce and sesame oil, braised with wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, dried lily flower buds and peanuts in a combo known as "Four Happiness".
![Green onion pancake at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9129-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5746/22547638627_b7bfdf210c_o.jpg)
Green onion pancake $7.80
If you’re looking for more familiar territory, the crisp house-made spring onion pancake is a winner.
![Deep fried pork chop at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9152-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/751/22573835099_32cab04291_o.jpg)
Deep fried pork chop $16.80
So is the deep fried pork chop in a golden panko crumb.
![Pan-seared pork dumpling at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8771-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/698/22977127611_cf1fb71f54_o.jpg)
Pan-seared pork dumpling $9.80
And yes, they do dumplings, everything from pan-fried pork dumplings to fancy egg dumplings, pork wrapped in an omelette skin that arrives in a massive tureen of combination soup.
![Combination soup with egg dumplings at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9142-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5715/22952581242_a5878109c2_o.jpg)
Combination soup $25.80
with egg dumplings, pork balls, salted chicken, Chinese cabbage and vermicelli
![Vermicelli noodles, pork balls and salted chicken in the combination soup at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9147-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/659/22966000075_a5f082283a_o.jpg)
![Egg dumplings in the combination soup at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9171-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/723/22547640117_495699903a_o.jpg)
Egg dumplings using a skin made from an omelette
![Prawn and pork mini wonton in soup at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8733-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/605/22952574902_13ab6f25b1_o.jpg)
Prawn and pork mini wonton in soup $9.80
![Noodle soup with pork and preserved vegetables at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8777-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/756/22977127881_c0cd02e73c_o.jpg)
Noodle soup with pork and preserved vegetables $9.80
![Live barramundi soup with vermicelli at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8762-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5835/22547683208_7ee8cc2488_o.jpg)
Live barramundi soup with vermicelli $36.80
![Stir-fried crystal shrimps at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9162-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/643/22777980810_e6c335ab0b_o.jpg)
Stir-fried crystal shrimps $20.80
The ruckus of Chinese families and friends is likely to be hoeing into Shanghai classics rarely seen in Sydney. That means the glossy and tender stir-fried crystal shrimps or the whole raw crab boozed up in Chinese rice wine, “grandma’s style”. We want to hang out with grandma more often.
![Crab in Chinese wine Grandma's style at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8724-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/590/22344814953_c4f4741437_o.jpg)
Crab in Chinese wine Grandma's style $15.80
![Rice crust with salty egg yolk at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8739-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5809/22343245394_b8b522ce0b_o.jpg)
Rice crust with salty egg yolk $16.80
Rice crust is a new kind of awesome too, a deep-fried rice cake that you can get smothered in salty egg yolk or drenched in a tomato sauce with fish.
![Rice crust with fish fillet and tomato at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9223-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/706/22344824023_dc8d6f7cbd_o.jpg)
Rice crust with fish fillet and tomato $18.80
![Live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9197-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5811/22977132281_759a4b644b_o.jpg)
Live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce $36.80
The live barramundi in sweet and sour sauce is pretty darn spectacular, the whole fish deep-fried so it curves back on itself.
![Salt and pepper pork knuckle at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF8751-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5806/22939966416_68a31c0860_o.jpg)
Salt and pepper pork knuckle $18.80
Pork knuckle comes salt-and-pepper style or doused in black pepper sauce.
![Pork knuckle with black pepper sauce at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9243-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5697/22939973506_26ca6cb8f3_o.jpg)
Pork knuckle with black pepper sauce $18.80
![Sweet rice pudding at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9252-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5727/22344824913_85e59cf646_o.jpg)
Sweet rice pudding $12.80
![Red bean paste inside the sweet rice pudding at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9262-1507](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/718/22977133731_a435e97c18_o.jpg)
Red bean paste inside the sweet rice pudding
![Mini sesame rice balls in sweet rice wine at 257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9260-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5669/22952583982_acc7f04d75_o.jpg)
Mini sesame rice balls in sweet rice wine $8.80
And we reckon grandma must have a hand in the mini sesame rice balls in sweet rice wine too.
![257 Home Kitchen, Eastwood DSCF9115-1507](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5730/22939969036_12e1f2bb52_o.jpg)
257 Home Kitchen
257 Rowe St, Eastwood, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9874 6118
Open daily 11am-10pm
This article appeared in the September 2015 issue of Time Out Sydney [Read online]
Read more of my Time Out Sydney reviews
posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 11/13/2015 01:11:00 am
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6 Comments:
At 11/13/2015 9:32 pm,
Tania | My Kitchen Stories said…
Wow Helen this sure looks like an interesting place. One day I will get to go with you to one of these places so I can order the right things!
At 11/13/2015 11:31 pm,
Ramen Raff said…
I want all the pork knuckles!!
At 11/14/2015 4:20 pm,
Linda said…
So many delicious looking dishes! :)
At 11/14/2015 5:34 pm,
Hotly Spiced said…
I've noticed a lot of restaurants are now doing the two-sitting thing. I can understand why but often (if you're at the first sitting), you can feel very rushed through your meal. Your entrees were definitely favourites of mine xx
At 11/15/2015 9:47 pm,
Unknown said…
ooo i've never seen vermicelli noodles with salted chicken in a combination soup before. I usu have the one with pork balls, mushroom and veggies in a soy milk base. Might need to give this one a try!
At 11/16/2015 1:34 pm,
Nick Jordan said…
Wow this looks hectic!
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