Reflective Piece - Does anyone remember Dixon Restaurant in Hurstville?

I've been feeling rather nostalgic and sentimental lately...memories of simpler times floating in and out of my daily thoughts. Each glimpse bringing back a sensation, a feeling, a flavour that takes me back to my childhood. We all have a restaurant like that right? One which means the absolute world to us because of all the happy memories you've built up there. Restaurants that have stood the test of time and have become the fabric of what you consider to be your home and local community. A place where the moment you walk in, the staff greet you like an old friend returning for maybe the second or third time that week. Where they instinctively know what you're going to order because you've been ordering the same thing all your life without ever getting sick of it.

For me, that happy place unfortunately shut down some 6 years ago. See, there used to be this restaurant in the middle of Hurstville called Dixon. I hadn't started blogging or taking photos back then so I don't have any photos to show you other than what I can find online (I do not own any of the photos) but I can remember the place like I'd just been there yesterday. Not the most glamourous of fittings but the place certainly had a very welcoming character to it. Old, weathered black seats surround multiple burgundy coloured tables with a bright neon sign out front and shutters permanently half drawn as to not let the sun distract or blind the diners. One small window allowing a glimpse of the kitchen and your food being prepared.

*Sourced from Google Search*

Though it's been some time already, everytime I bring it up with my younger sister, our eyes light up again and as if transcending space and time, we're both instantly brought back to our childhood where we regularly enjoyed a plethora of culinary delights they had to offer. My sister will happily claim that they made the best Vietnamese spring rolls ever and that they had amazing fried chicken wings that usually came as as side to a steaming bowl of hot soup noodles. What amazes me even further is the fact that, my work colleague, who used to live in the same area as a child but had moved to New Zealand for most of her teenaged life still remembers Dixon as well. On her very first day on the job, whilst getting to know each other better, we learnt that we had shared the same experiences at Dixon and that she still fondly remembers the Laksa she used to have with her parents when dining there. It's absolutely amazing how many lives that restaurant had touched.

*Sourced from Google Images*

Dixon was in operation for exactly 18 years....how do I know that for a fact? My mum loves telling the story of how my sister was born the year they had opened. And from when she was a baby until she had matured and reached adulthood, we ate there weekly and almost religiously. For me, the place means so much because it's where I learnt to appreciate food and the joy it brings to people. I am the glutton that I am today partly because of that wonderful restaurant. It's where I had my first bowl of Pho...where little by little (and then exponentially from there on) I learnt to appreciate the intense pain of spicy chilli. Thinking back, I know for a fact that their Pho probably wasn't even that good...but it held a special place in my heart and still does. I'm still honestly trying to find a bowl of Pho that'll make me as happy as the very last one I had all those years ago. The owners I believe have since retired but if anyone knows if they've re-opened elsewhere or have passed their recipe on...please let me know.

*Sourced from Google Images*

For me, this post isn't simply about telling people about this place, it's my attempt find kindred spirits who have also had the same experiences. It's also my way of immortalising an amazing part of Hurstville history as the suburb continues to change into something I barely recognise anymore. I'm sure we all have that place, that dish, that flavour that brings us back to our roots. I'm interested to know: has anyone else had a similar experience with Dixon? Does anyone else remember the restaurant I'm talking about? What about another place? What's the place that means the world to you? Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below.

Chicken Maru - Hurstville, NSW

Lately, I've been feeling a bit tubby...which is to be expected since as you may know, I've had a LOT of fried chicken lately. Fried chicken of the korean variety...with abundant cheese powder. But can you really blame me? I mean, it's so succulent and crispy that you just can't resist eating it again and again. The only reason I've managed to keep my waistline relatively in check is that KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) wasn't exactly the most accessible item...until now.

It seems as though in the short time I've been staying away from Hurstville, it's evolved to encompass so many more cuisines than I last remember it having. One of the new additions is Chicken Maru, Hurstville's first Korean Fried Chicken establishment (which we believe is also a chain in Korea as indicated by the packaging they provide for takeaway). When I first learned of this place, I legitimately had a moment of internal conflict. My heart said no but my stomach said "gimme gimme gimme". Alas I was able to stave off my appetite until last night when the family wanted to go give it a try. From that moment on, I realised that I was doomed.

If you know Hurstville, you'll know that parking is an absolute nightmare. Luckily, if you're willing to pay for it (and keep it to an hour) you can park up at the train station for $2...or just go shopping for groceries and validate your ticket. You really wouldn't normally expect a place to be packed on a Sunday night but it was. Tables of friends, students, families all devouring piece after piece of delicious fried chicken. The smell wafting through from the kitchen was maddeningly irresistible, like an olfactory siren song.

You do get your usual banchan (korean side dishes) to which in my opinion was ever so slightly disappointing in flavour but obviously, not a major detriment as you don't really come here for legitimate Korean food. That said, we still found it obligatory to order a seafood pancake and soft tofu hotpot for comparison. In my humble opinion, the seafood pancake was only satisfactory as it was definitely not the worst I've had but far from the best. The outside rim was rather crisp but it got a little doughy in the middle which might float some boats but I personally have a preference for crispy all the way through.

I was definitely more impressed with the soft tofu hot pot though as the soup was tummy warming and had a decent amount of heat to get the tastebuds racing. Packed with soft tofu and delicious vegetables, the soup really made me happy to be dining at Chicken Maru that night as I had just woken up from a nap and needed a bit of a pick me up on a slightly colder night. I also really appreciated the fact that there were clams and bits of cuttlefish to go with the soup.

As the kitchen was supremely busy with the amount of orders it had to cook, the last items to arrive on our table were our orders of fried chicken. No issue though as this was primarily why we decided to visit and we were all rather excited to dig in. For those of you who share my love of Kentucky Fried Chicken Hot & Spicy flavour (and get equally distraught every time they take it away) I say to you, fear no longer! We now have a suitable and permanent replacement in the Chicken Maru original flavour! I really didn't expect it to be spicy but it was...and it was so much more delicious for it. The crunchy, batter covered exterior housed the most moist and succulent flesh and as you continued to devour your piece of fried chicken, the appetising heat builds up to a crescendo of gustatory elation. Worth. Every. Bite.

Our second order of chicken came shortly after and although it did give me an equivalent amount of joy, I also found my mouth a bit burnt out from all fried chicken. Mind you it was delicious to have cheese powder dusted on top of the chicken but alas, it didn't mask the fact that it was still the same kind of chicken we had just previously had. I believe that if we didn't order the original chicken and instead had opted for a saucy kind, I would have enjoyed the snow cheese chicken MUCH much more. For this, I have to regrettably admit that I didn't do the snow cheese chicken justice but I know better for next time. Lesson learnt: half sauce & half Cheese makes for a happy dining experience.

On the one hand, I'm really glad to see the area that I grew up in develop into such a thriving foodie hub but on the other, I'm also filled with sadness as I've only just discovered this place just as I'm imminently about to pack up and move to another area of Sydney. Hopefully, the Mrs and I will be able to enjoy coming here with our friends and family whenever we do come and visit. I know for a fact that if I'm ever craving snow cheese chicken, this is the first place I'll be hitting up.

The Mister's Fantastical Ramen Weekend - Sydney, NSW

Hello everybody! Apologies for the small hiatus, the Mrs and I had a few things which had recently kept us rather pre-occupied so as result, we didn't get much time to blog. But that doesn't mean we didn't have time to eat though...oh no, we ate plenty. I recently had the most wonderful weekend packed with bowl after bowl of my absolute favourite noodles: Ramen.

So the Friday night before last, the Mrs and I headed to Newtown to attend a friend's birthday party. As the festivities were scheduled at a later time, we took this opportunity to go grab a bite to eat. Surprisingly, the Mrs allowed me to choose what to eat so I chose this small ramen shop on King St which looked relatively new. Tokyo Noodle Bar Zu Zu Zu looked exactly like what I was craving so without hesitation, we went in and ordered our noodles. I typically order a Miso ramen (if available) as that was the first flavour I had back in Japan and I use it as a benchmark for how good a place is. Soup wise, this place did the dish right. The soup was thick and held a lot of umami from the miso. The noodles were of the straight white variety and the toppings were rather standard. The disappointing thing was that the Chashu (roast pork) wasn't nearly as thin or tender as it should have been and the eggs weren't marinaded but overall, a great bowl to stave of the winter chill.

The next day, I was lucky enough to be able to grab lunch with my mum and sister where we went to a local favorite: Manmaruya. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of their original store in Campsie but as Hurstville was closer, that's where we decided to go. Mum went for the Spicy Miso Ramen which is typically what I order. The Chashu here is also not as tender as it should be but compared to the bowl I had at Zu zu zu, this has more character. The fresh chillies and ra-yu (japanese chilli oil) give the already flavoursome miso a good heat and kick which makes every slurp of slightly wavy noodles all the more exciting.

I saw a special called the Samurai Ramen and intrigued, I order that as my ramen and I have to say, I was thoroughly impressed. As is the more popular variety now, Manmaruya seems to also have embraced Gyokai fever by adding a spoonful of powdered bonito to their standard tonkotsu ramen. A small difference goes a long way as the flavour of fish really layers the soup and adds a level of complexity to it. I also appreciate how as opposed to their standard ramen, they serve the egg in the Samurai whole.

The sister wasn't all too hungry so she went with a Salmon Sashimi Donburi (which I didn't remember to photograph) and Takoyaki. As a special, they had blue fin tuna available so without hesitation, I ordered a plate of that as sashimi. I didn't get what all the hype was about blue fin tuna before but after eating this, I'm sold. The decadent slices of fresh fish marbled so magnificently makes for a tremendously satisfying treat. For the premium that this dish demand, I can't say I'd be making this a regular purchase (I'll just stick to my Salmon belly) but you definitely can't deny how pretty each slice is.

On the Sunday, the Mrs and I decided to go shopping and upon remembering that Ippudo had also opened up at Macquarie Centre, I demanded that we go there for lunch. Unlike the city branch, the Macquarie Centre branch is much less busy, possibly due to the fact that this place has a diminished menu...sorta like Ippudo express. The Mrs and I both chose to have the lunch set where I chose the Akamaru Shinaji and Gyoza, she chose the Karaka men and Karaage. Ippudo really is famous for a reason: you can't go wrong with their Shinaji. I was a little disappointed that my order of additional egg was missed but it really didn't detriment the bowl of noodles all too much. The combination of spice from the bomb and the hit of garlic from the black garlic oil really works well with the viscous, milky pork bone soup.

The Gyoza was another delight as I had never tried a place which offered Yuzu Kosho as a condiment. When mixed in with the dipping vinegar, the gyoza had a slight but refreshing bitterness and pepperiness which made it really nice to eat. The karaage was....different which is what I believe they were going for. The crunch and flavour was decent but not nearly as good as other places which offer that standard starchy crunch. I think in this case, I ordered the better side. She did order the better ramen though...

Overall, I'd have to say that I had a wonderful weekend (obviously at the expense of the Mrs) but I'd say I earnt it, what with all the brunches I take her to. We'll return to our regular content regularity very soon once we get a few things sorted this month but stay tunes for more coming this week!

Canton Noodle House - Hurstville

Firstly, before I go on my usual spiel, I'd like to say a few things first. I know it's been a while since my last post, the Mrs and I have been extremely busy organising various things, we haven't even had the time to sit down and breathe! Luckily, a nice, mellow season is coming so I can continue to try and keep the content coming. Secondly, I'd like to announce that we've hit 1000 total pageviews! We'd like to honestly thank each and every reader that's ever come by our blog. In comparison to more well known bloggers, this seems like an insignificant number but to us it means the world. It's a massively humbling and gratifying feeling to know that so many people have read our page. A very big thankyou to everyone!

Now, I'm a St. George boy through-and-through (believe me, my inevitable move to the west scares me...the things you'd do for love) so it absolutely baffles me how long it's taken me to write a blog about this place! It's a Hurstville staple and in my humble opinion, the best cantonese noodle joint in Sydney. It may be the fondness from my high school days speaking but this place is the regular for the Mrs and I. She absolutely loves the won-tons they serve here. 

In the past seven days, I've had the opportunity to visit twice in the same week. On my first visit, I went with the Mrs for a nice Friday night dinner. Whenever we come here, the Mrs will always order (make me order) the same thing: Wonton noodles w/ 'Laam Tsup' or beef flank sauce. Canton does a killer beef flank but if you're not feeling like demolishing a large bowl of noodles AND plenty of beef, you can actually order a plain wonton noodle soup with a ladle of the reduced sauce they make the beef flank with. The noodles are cooked to a perfect al-dente and the large, plump wontons are simply.The perfect combination of prawns,pork and crunchy wood ear makes for a delightful accompaniment to the beefy broth and the abundant noodles. 

I on the other hand felt like something dry so I opted to order the combination chow mien. Now, this might seem like an awfully western thing to order but trust me, When the standard of food is so high, even something so ordinary becomes spectacular. Crispy noodles surround the outside which give the whole dish a crunch factor but if you dig into the middle, you'll find the glossy noodles coated in the immensely flavoursome chinese gravy. Made from the restaurants own superior soup and other sauces. Each item on the dish is coated in the stuff which not only keeps it at a perfect temperature for longer but also accentuates the flavour profile ten-fold. I could have a just a bowl of rice and that stuff and I'd be perfectly happy.

Above all else though, if you ever visit this place you must (and I mean MUST) order the Hong Kong Milk Tea. I can vouch for this place...it is as legit as it comes. One-for-one like the streets of Kowloon and Hong kong. Just like you'd get each an every morning at your local Tea lounge. No place in Sydney does milk tea quite like Canton does. As odd and embarrassing as it is, the Mrs will request (make me) go in and just order takeaway milk tea...and she actually has. I personally have a preference to have it cold but if you want the OG Hong Kong experience...have it hot. They'll even give you the classic stainless steel sugar tin. 

For those who don't live in the south, fret not as there is a secondary branch in Burwood but in my personal opinion, Hurstville is the place to go.