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.

A Work In Progress - Sydney CBD

I'm very fond of my home town. I go back to Hong Kong once every year or so and as the years pass, I've also grown to love more and more about my heritage and where I've come from. In particular, I feel an immense passion and pride for the cuisine of my hood. My dad has spent most of his life cooking Cantonese cuisine and as a result I've been blessed enough to have a lot of good memories containing delicious Cantonese food. This is partially why I've been dying to try this new place cause I hear the head chef Patrick Freison knows his stuff.

The Mrs and I arrive just in time as the place was just starting to get busy. The system is very simple: order up at the counter, get allocated a table and wait a little till your delicious goods arrive. We opted to try the Supreme Wonton Noodles, the Curry Beef Lo-Mien (stirred noodle) and a half and half order of chicken (ginger fried chicken & chilli fried chicken). They also have a variety of cocktails and Kirin on tap: sold. 

The food came really quickly which was a good thing because after a long day of work, I was definitely famished. The Mrs and I tried a bit of each noodle first and then swapped to compare. I tried the Supreme Wonton first and I must say that I was thoroughly impressed. The soup itself would have benefited from a bit more heat in terms of temperature but the flavor and the noodles were spot on. They weren't lying when they said these noodles were the closest you'd get to the HK experience. The Mrs however was harder to impress, she thought that the wontons were particularly heavy on the ginger. Overall though, on authenticity points, this dish definitely scores highly. 

The curry beef lo-mien was also good, they chose to use thick noodles instead of thin egg noodles which I thought was a good touch. The beef itself I thought was flavorsome but texture-wise it was missing something. I believe it the beef could have benefited if was more fatty and tender.

The main highlight of the night was definitely the chicken. I've had a lot of fried chicken in the past (that's just Sydney alone) but this fried chicken is most definitely top tier. Crunchy, juicy and flavored perfectly: if you want a feed, make sure you order enough so you don't have to share. The ginger chicken was really good when dipped into the sauce but the star of the show has to be the chilli chicken. Succulent pieces of chicken covered in a spicy and sweet glaze, it had to be the best thing I had tonight. 

I was initially a bit skeptical of the noodles, not wanting to be disappointed and being left with a more intense desire for the real deal. However, I can say with certainty that A Work In Progress does not disappoint. We (by we I mean myself) will definitely hit up WIP again.