Ruyi Dim Sum - Calamvale

Readers might remember that my local favourite for yumcha is Haoke, which has been closed since the start of the year. Ever since, I have been on the hunt for second best in town, to no luck. So of course my interest gets piqued when RuYi Dim Sim opened across the road at Calamvale Central at their new foodie laneway. Having held back long enough to see some preliminary mixed reviews, I jumped at the chance to visit with Brisvegustation and family last weekend.

 

Service was a bit of a hit and miss, like most places, they appeared to be fairly short staffed. We weren't shown to a table and there appeared to be people queueing to order, so we found a booth and sat down. There was a QR code on the table to allow for ordering, so in hindsight, counter ordering is probably for those who are not as tech savvy. The selections on the menu didn't have as much variety as other places and the prices were definitely steep, especially when portions weren't big.

Tea was $2.50 per person, it was adequate, not too weak but not particularly strong either.

First to arrive was the BBQ pork puffs. For $6 a dish, these were definitely a disappointment. The pieces were small, but worst of all they were served cold. In hindsight I probably should have waived down a waiter to ask that they be reheated, but staff were so hard to get a hold of, it would have been hard to do so. The pastry itself was flaky and the char siu was flavoursome, but no one likes a stale pastry.

Next up was the pork and century egg congee. This was served steaming hot, a marked improvement on our last dish. Again it was expensive and the serving wasn't too big. The rice texture was a little underdone in my opinion, and I could do better at home. On the upside, the deep fried dough sticks were crunchy and fresh.

Some fresh steamed dishes came next, my favourite steamed bean curd rolls and the yumcha crowd pleaser siu mai. Both were really hot. Again portions were small, each dish having one less piece than the standards at other restaurants. I liked how saucy the bean curd rolls were but found the mince filling to be fairly ordinary. The same can be said for the siu mai, whilst fresh, it wasn't out of the ordinary and was definitely not worth $7 for three.

We also had some custard buns, these were black and had gold spots on them just for appearance, they tasted largely the same as the standard white ones. The bun was fluffy and the filling was not very sweet but not runny either.

Given the price of the dim sims, we also had a larger dish to share, this was the stir fried beef with flat rice noodles. It was done quite well and the price was reasonable for what you got. The beef was fairly tender and the ratio with noodles was quite fair, my only criticism was that it was extremely oily, otherwise it was done fairly well.

I find it hard to have yumcha without some rice noodle rolls. This time we had it with deep fried dough sticks, which is always a crowd pleaser. Unfortunately this one was really quite disappointing. Portion size was of course an issue, but this was minor compared to the fact that the dough sticks were soggy and stale, which was quite surprising given the ones we had in the congee were fine. 

 

Our last dish was the deep fried glutinous dumplings. Ordinarily they would come shaped a bit like a football but these looked like pears and were fairly adorable. Freshly fried, the dough was crispy outside and chewy inside with a flavoursome meaty mince filling. It was probably the best executed of the dishes we had, but still not worth the price.

Overall we had a decent time at Ru Yi, if nothing but to satisfy our curiosity. The dishes weren't bad, but honestly they were nothing special. The prices were expensive, but that seems to be the case for most yumchas in Brisbane these days. Unless they change their menu a bit, I don't think I will have any rush to go back.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 6/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 8/10  

Metro Kitchen - Sunnybank

Locals of Sunnybank would have noted the closure of Suncrop several years ago. In its place is the new Metro Butcher and Seafood Market. With quite an assortment of fish including sashimi, it might be one to rival Sunnybank Fish Market soon. Anyway, they opened a small restaurant next door Metro Kitchen, which obviously is affiliated with the market. I had been meaning to go there for a while now, being unable to make a reservation for some time but been unsuccessful given it only has five tables and apparently no dining time limits each night. But after many attempts we finally made it.

After being seated, we were given a menu. The dishes reminded me a lot of the authentic street style dining I had in Taiwan, where the food was a fraction of the price though. 

Further to the paper menu, there was also a seasonal seafood menu. It turns out that the deceptively cheap quoted prices are "cooking fees" which you pay on top of the item of seafood you get from next door.

So we walked over next door and picked a fish to die for our dinner.

While we waited for our food, we had a lot of fun with the tea setup on our table. Apparently it is a stove, which boils water as needed. The pot on the side is water for washing hands. There should have been water coming from the tap but that wasn't working though. We also were able to add as much tealeaves as we wanted, so I made sure we had a strong brew going all night.

Our first dish to arrive was of course the large sashimi. Although the plating is nowhere near as good as Japanese restaurants, or arguably myself even, the fish was undeniably fresh. It comprised of mackerel, salmon, arc shell, scallops and tuna. My favourite of the night was the sweet scallop. Despite its presentation, it represented good value for money and we would come back and have it again.

One of my all time favourite dishes is seafood tofu pot. The tofu was deep fried and then braised as is the custom, but surprisingly there was no fish fillets in the pot. The veggies, calamari and prawns did soak well in the oyster sauce base though and it all went well with rice.

Next up was the Braised Beef Pot. It also came in a sizzling boiling saucy stone bowl, the beef was tender and juicy, the tofu skins absorbed a lot of the juices and there were even slippery tendons to go with it too, another crowd favourite to go with rice.

One of our vegetarian dishes of the night was the stir fried eggplant. I'm not usually a fan of eggplant but this was done quite well, the eggplant was deep fried first and then stir fried with an oyster sauce base along with the other veggies.

One of the more obscure dishes on the menu, which is one of my favourites is the deep fried pork intestine. I love the chewy taste and the salt and pepper goodness that it comes encased in. The veggies were also crisp and countered the pork flavours well. I just wish there was a bit more intestine.

We couldn't resist getting a serve of scallops seeing as we were at a seafood restaurant. These were steamed with a generous amount of garlic and vermicelli to soak up the juices. The scallops weren't too big and perhaps they were over-steamed a little bit, but they were tasty nonetheless.

Our penultimate dish was the fish that gave its life for our dinner. It came out braised with a soy based sauce. The sauce was a bit thick for my liking and I suppose for a freshly killed fish basic steaming would have been a better option, but we wanted to try this instead and it wasn't bad. The fish was soft and tender without any excess fishiness given how recently it was killed. 

We also had a token dish of stir fried veggies, it was served with some salt and garlic, sufficiently flavoursome and crunchy but otherwise not particularly special.

All in all, we had a good time at Metro Kitchen, I can definitely see why it is always booked out. It is a restaurant I would recommend coming back to with family.

Price Range: $50 - $70pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10

Apandim Uyghur Cuisine - Sunnybank

Have had cravings to go back to Afanti Uyghur after our last time, however as with many restaurants recently, the original store at Sunnybank Hills had closed down. Thankfully, they had a second store opened at Sunny Park, which is where we went for our weekday date night. Little did we know that even on a weekday night, it was very difficult to get a table without having first made a reservation. It took us only 20 minutes to get a table, but larger groups took considerably longer. 

 

Once we got a table, we realised that ordering was done via our phones through their QR codes, but payment was still done at the counter afterwards. The menu was decidedly a lot more Chinese and less Uyghur than their original store, with a large assortment of dumplings on their menu. Prices were also definitely not good value as I had remembered. Notably the lamb skewer with bread dish was $25 last time I went, but now it is $38.

Despite my cravings for Uyghur food, when presented with the option of beef noodle, I will always gravitate towards comfort food. It came as a set with a drink, some pickles and a braised egg. The pickles and egg was fairly ordinary, the egg was a bit rubbery but didn't stand out. The beef noodle was fairly standard also, the taste wasn't very different from what you would find in a regular Chinese restaurant. The bowl was big but there wasn't too much by way of noodles, meat or veggies though, instead being filled with mostly soup. The noodles had good texture but there was definitely a lack of meat in the bowl. Taste wise, it was still wholesome and warming as I had expected, I just wish there was more.

Our other dish was the Lamb Skewers with bread. We had really enjoyed this when we had it last year but found that this iteration was a bit worse than we had remembered. The seasoning was strong and peppery like previous, but the meat texture was definitely a downgrade, being quite tough and chewy. The portions were very generous, but this has to be taken into account given the increase in price. The bread was surprisingly served at room temperature and not warmed, while the sauces gave it the much needed sharp tanginess which I really liked. Overall though, I think that what made Afanti stand out as a venue has been lost at Apandim, and I will be in no rush to return.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 5/10

Ginga - Fortitude Valley

When you think about authentic Japanese food in Brisbane, Ginga would probably not get into the top ten in my rankings, with a lot of their dishes having been quite Westernized to suit their client base. Having said that, when I heard that Takashiya's sous chef, Leon had taken up residence there, I made a point to go check it out the next time I had the opportunity because I knew I would be in good hands. 

It just so happened I had a vegetarian event earlier in the evening with Jenny and as a non vegetarian, we decided that we needed something substantial to round off our evening. Arriving at around 8pm on a Thursday, we were surprised at how full the restaurant was so late in the evening. We were quickly shown to a table and provided menus.

The main menu was as I had expected, not very authentic, with an assortment of main meals, sushi, side dishes and even dim sim. We ordered one sushi roll from the menu, but we were definitely here for something else.

It took me asking the waitress a few times before showing her Chef Leon's photo of their toro offerings before she went behind the counter and took out their secret blue fin tuna menu. For $49, their greedy set was excellent value and apparently the only thing on the menu that hadn't been put up in price. 

 

We put our order in our food came out very quickly after, on the super adorable robot waiter.

 

The greedy set was a sight to behold, with two pieces otoro sashimi, two pieces chu-toro sashimi, four pieces akami sashimi, two pieces of otoro nigiri, two pieces akami nigiri and mini amkami roll, it made for excellent value. Whilst the tuna was a little bit chewy, it was very fresh and buttery, the slices were thick and generous and the sushi rice was well seasoned. All in all, a very satisfying platter of sushi that I would come back for.

Our other dish was the wagyu roll. It came topped with thinly sliced aburi wagyu, was filled with cucumber and topped with crispy garlic chips. As you can see in the photo, the beef was sliced very thin, although it was quite tender and buttery. I particularly liked the crispy garlic chips on top but wish there could have been a bit more substantial toppings and fillings in it. 

Overall, a good experience at Ginga, we weren't hungry enough today to try out their nigiri sets but that is something I'll definitely come back for in the near future. 

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 7/10