16 December 2010

Sizzling & Hot Pot Kitchen ~ Chinese - Dixon House Food Court Chinatown


Sizzling & Hot Pot Kitchen in Dixon House Food Court must be the busiest stall in Chinatown.




Sizzling & Hot Pot has to be THE most popular of all the food court stalls in Chinatown, this place is always busy, and has been for many years. The big attraction is the sizzling hot plate dishes, served on lovely cow shaped metal hotplates. There's often a queue, even if the rest of the food court is quiet, it must drive the other stall holders crazy.

The boss lady stands out the front with her cash register and notepad taking orders and ensuring the right meals gets to the right customers. If you don't hear when she calls your number, don't worry, she'll find you. Even if I'm eating from a different stall I like to sit near this stall just to listen to her operate, she's amazing.



Sizzling Sichuan Beef Hot Plate - $8.90. This was surprisingly spicy with a lovely fresh sichuan pepper taste. The hot plates here really SIZZLE, loud, bubbly and steamy.



Sizzling Duck in Special Sauce - $13.80. We're a sucker for anything served in foil. We saw another diner with this dish and just had do have one.



We open the foil and can barely see the duck for the steam.



Look at those gorgeous, chunky hunks if fleshy clucky duck.  It is in a simple sauce that we guess is sugar and soy. Underneath are slices of cucumber which work surpisingly well.



Sometimes duck can disappoint but this dish was amazing, the duck was soooo tender and gobsmackingly delicious.



Sizzling & Hot Plate Kitchen Menu Dixon House - Click to Enlarge



Sizzling & Hot Plate Kitchen Menu Dixon House - Click to Enlarge



There was one more menu of specials that I was about to photograph but I got in trouble from the boss lady - 'no pictures!'  In hindsight I probably was being a bit rude and should have asked before clicking, sorry Mrs Hot Plate Lady!!!!

Sizzling & Hot Pot Kitchen is at stall B11, Dixon House Food Court, corner of Sussex and Little Hay Streets, Chinatown.

Interestingly, when doing some googling I find a note on eatability saying the original owners of Sizzling & Hot Pot Kitchen from 2001 to 2009 now have the Joy Luck restaurant in Ashfield. We'll have to give it a try.

15 comments:

  1. Try the roast pork with special vegetable next time - the chinese words actually say this dish is pork belly with preserved vegetables, and if done well, it is amazing! the pork in this dish is usually very tender and flavourful from the preserved veg. That's my favourite home cooked dish with steaming rice =)

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  2. Oooh Pork belly with preserved veggies sounds divine, might have to go back for that one :-)

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  3. the 2009 change of management explains why suddenly the sizzling dishes seemed less spicy and the onion-to-meat ratio (so important in a sizzling)seemed to head in the wrong direction. or maybe it was all in my head?? anyway, i'll give he duck dish a try and hope to be re-inspired. my dirty little sizzling secret is that these days i only ever really eat at their place for the mabo tofu. i think of myself as a bit of an mabo tofu connoisseur and i gotta say theirs is not only my favourite in sydney, but it's a HUGE serving at a LITLE price.

    when i get off the plane from europe in two weeks it is possibly the first thing i will eat. as soon as i take off my thermal underwear of course

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  4. Hehe - great to hear from another mabo tofu fan :-)

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  5. ps - our Sichuan beef had a surprising chili kick :-(

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  6. used to eat here a lot...large servings and cheap and good - but very often very oily

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  7. I am bringing my takeaway box there tonight hehe

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  8. This blog is my food bible - it's got to the point where I trust our taste bud similarities so much I don't just go to the places you recommend, I often end up ordering the same dishes (sometimes by coincidence, sometimes not). I owe you thanks for many many many delicious meals I've had this year!

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  9. Just Had Sizzling Satay Chicken with Extra Chilli.
    AMAZING!!

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  10. TRY SZECHUAN CHICKEN !!!

    *DROOLS* ...

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  11. My favourite is number 27, the Sizzling Spicy Octopus. I have been ordering this dish from their outlet since 2003. I have introduced many friends and work collegues to this place and it's become a talking point more than once! The sizzling dishes are a treat and a novelty, especially as the smoke pouring off the sizzling plates as they come out, causing patrons into break into fits of coughing, laughing and spluttering!! Last week I ordered the King Prawns on Fire and it was terrific!!

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    1. Mmmm, spicy octopus, might have to give that a go.

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  12. Yeah for me the bestbus their sizzling spicy baby octopus everytime i go there i tried to order other dishes but i always fall to the baby octopus

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    1. I used to have the baby octopus here years and years ago - now I must try it again, thanks!

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  13. The Sichuan beef is great, as is the chicken variant of the same dish I normally have it when I go here. Other than that and the duck, what are some of the more interesting dishes here? There seems to be a lot of 'Aussie Chinese' stuff, obviously with a huge menu there's got to be more treasures in there.

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Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).