18 June 2013

Fujian Gourmet ~ Chinese - Chinatown [CLOSED]

We were beside ourselves with excitement when we saw this joint open not so long ago. The menu has lots of interesting things we've never tried and it's super cheap. Plus Fujian is a region of China we've actually been to, queue the dream sequence music.

[CLOSED OCT 2013]

Fujian Gourmet is a chain of eateries in China, this is the first one to open in Australia. It seems that Sydney is a key city for Asian franchised food chain stores to open up here (Ippudo, Meet Fresh, Gong Cha, Chatime and nearly every yoghurt joint). We still miss Yoshinoya, come back our gyu-don friend.



Completely renovated from the Japanese joint there prior, we love the new dayglo fitout, even the bowls and plates are bright and cheerful orange, yellow and green. Bound to cheer up the grumpiest old geezer.



#101 Fujian gourmet noodle, peanut butter sauce - $4. One of those magic Chinese dishes that is so simple yet so good. The peanut flavour isn't overpowering, it is balanced just right with the noodles. We've had this dish in China a couple of times (including Fujian) and it's very similar. Mr Shawn is over the moon with this one. And it's only $4!



#111 - Fujian special noodle, dried seafood, pork vegetable - $10.50. Noodle soup with a bit of everything. One of those plain soups that all comes together halfway through the bowl.



#106 Fujian baby oyster pancake - $6.80. This dish looks so bad but tastes so good. It's the exact opposite of fairy bread. It looks like pelican snot but tastes wonderful, like a salty, seafoody omelette. This is a must-try for anybody who loves seafood flavours. The clear part of the pancake is made from potato starch, which gives it that translucent flattened jellyfish look.



#105 Fujian deep fried mini pork wonton - $5.80. We ordered these by accident, a happy accident. The wonton skins are fried to a delicate crisp while the innards are moisty and porky. They're too yummy to dunk into the sweet chili sauce.



#501 Sweet and sour lychee pork meal - $10.50. We read that sweet and sour lychee pork is a classic Fujian dish so we ordered it, with some regret. The deep fried pork is sloppy, reminding us bad country Australian Chinese food (yes, we reckon there is good country Australian Chinese food, it has it's place). Under the pork slop lurks a couple of tinned lychees. The fixin's are great though, our favourite is the broccoli, steamed and gently flavoured, oh yeah. And tea smoked eggs are always good. So is the five spice tofu. And the little bit of pork mince on top of the rice, which has a light curry flavour to it.



#502 Braised pork in brown sauce meal - $10.50. This version comes with fatty pork belly in classic brown sauce.  The flavours and presentation reminds us very much of Taiwanese food, which makes sense as Taiwan has a big influence on the food of this region, well it did where we stayed in Xiamen anyway.



#404 Fujian beef noodle soup - $8.50. A light beefy broth with a slight vinegar tang with a few bits of beef (brisket?). It came with a hefty serve of spaghetti-ish noodles that were cooked just right. Happiness. The irony is that when we stayed in Fujian Mr Shawn had a craving for a soup like this and couldn't find it, now here it is in a Fujian restaurant at home.



#403 Fujian noodle soup [with] prawn, beef, vegetable - $9. A plain broth with those lovely spaghetti-like noodles they do so well here. A couple of prawnies to peel, some quail eggs and slices of the lovely house beef brisket. Not an exciting soup but perfect on a cold wet winter day.



#402 - Fujian noodle soup [with] oyster, pork tripe, vegetable - $8.80. We never thought we'd use the words 'milky' and 'oyster' in the same sentence, but here we are. The broth has a milky consistency and a seafood-y/oyster flavour kind of chowder ish.  The hunks of clam and oyster have a strong flavour, and the broth gets strong by the bottom, turning into a starchy goop with the thin rice noodles. If you love oysters you may love this soup. If you hate oysters you will hate this soup. We love it.



#603 Pork rib with taro congee - $7.50. Great congee with a few chunks of pork on the bone. The small taro pieces are fried and give a real flavour kick. Very happy.



#705 Steamed green vegetables - $4. A serve of veggies for only four bucks, we dig.



Steamed barramundi set - $10.80. A lovely fleshy bony little fishy done in ginger & shallots with a small bowl of rice on the side. This dish and the veggies, together with the rice made a simple and satisfying dinner.



#704 Salty crunchy peanut- $2. Exactly as described. Yum. #703 Pickled salty mustard salad - $2. Classic chinese dish of preserved greens, a favourite.



We ordered #209 deep fried pumpkin cake ($2.50) but we think we got #210 deep fried taro pie ($2.50), a sweet round crunchy pastry filled with sweet gooey taro, more dessert than side dish. #801 Marinated chicken drumstick ($3) is as advertised, we're not sure what the marinade is, soy and maybe five spice, but man we love that sweet fatty skin.


Fujian Gourmet Menu - Click to Enlarge...


Fujian Gourmet Menu - Click to Enlarge...



Fujian Gourmet is on Little Hay Street, corner of Kimber Lane (technically 78-86 Harbour Street). Phone (02) 9280 1618. Published opening hours at time of writing are 8.30am-9.00pm 7 days.

Fujian Gourmet on Urbanspoon

17 comments:

  1. Looks good. And so cheap. I'll be going there

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    1. Get the $4 peanut sauce noodles, a tasty bargain. There's lots of other cheap noodles too.

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  2. Mmm, Pelican snot! Can't wait to try it!

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  3. Do they by any chance do breakfast, given that they open at 8:30?

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    1. We haven't been for breakfast, perhaps they do.

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  4. The noodles with peanut butter sauce sounds great....but I'm not so sure on the oyster pancake....pelican snot...mmmm?

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  5. That pelican snot pancake/omelette is a classic dish n widely available in Malaysia, esp. Melaka/Malacca. Guys when u r next in Malaysia should try the treats there...

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  6. Because I can imagine the pain of typing "spaghetti-like noodles" every time, I thought I'd let you know they are called "lai-fun" in cantonese and are usually available in most southern chinese e.g. HK restaurants if you ask for it. :p

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  7. I got the lyche thing and it wasn't very good. The oyster and pumpkin pancakes were good. The soups looked the go in hindsight

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    1. The lychee pork was dissapointing, indeed. Do try the soups though, they tasted better and far more popular.

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  8. the oyster pancakes in malaysia/singapore, known as oh luak or oh a jian originated in Fujian (i.e. hokkien), and is pretty much the same as the one you ordered.

    the lychee meat has its origins in Fuzhou cuisine. Fuzhou (Hokchiew) is the capital of
    Fujian (Hokkien)
    your note about taiwanese influence on xiamen food I would say should be the other way around. Xiamen culture, being "bigger" in the whole scheme of things Hokkien (historically and culturally), would've influenced the taiwanese cuisine.

    but anyway, I am now dying to go take a look there for some traditional hokkien food. Thank you for highlighting this (hopeful) gem

    source: A singaporean with roots in Xiamen :)

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    1. There's probably some cross the water influences on both sides, we saw a whole Taiwanese street food market in Xiamen in the old town and lots of dedicated restos. We'll see if there are any Hokkien stores in Taiwan in December!

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    2. Thank you for sharing this find with your readers. By all means, check out the stores in Taiwan but please note, as your previous correspondent mentioned, that Taiwanese food is more likely influenced by Fujian cuisine rather than the other way around as you guessed. A great majority of Taiwanese people have their ancestral origins in Fujian, mainland China, so it is far more likely that the Taiwanese cuisine has derived from Fujian and not vice versa.

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    3. That's most interesting and helpful - thanks a lot!

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  9. Went to this place and loved the peanut noodles. Decided they would become a regular feature of our lunch time or even a quick snack. On our return just a week later we discovered a for lease sign and a completely empty shop. So hope they turn up somewhere else because we are left hungry and sad. :(

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    Replies
    1. Awww man, was just about to go back for more peanut noodles...

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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).