Chinese BBQ is really not something that I have all that frequently, preferring Korean and Japanese usually, however most recently one opened up near my home and I am often tempted by the fragrant smell of garlic and cumin as I pass by daily. I was interested in going, however the place looked really shady and there were no menus and a string of fairly disastrous reviews online. Wanting to try for a safer alternative, we headed over to Mr 7 at Sunnybank Hills, which has long been a local favourite for some quality skewers.
The restaurant was nearly empty when we arrived for a mid week dinner. The waiter was therefore able to be very attentive to our table throughout our meal. Ordering was interesting because we were given a menu but also told to scan to order via QR code. This however also followed with paying at the counter at the end.
I'm not particularly familiar with North Eastern Chinese Cuisine, so I just ordered a random assortment of their skewers, main dishes and sides. Prices were not as cheap as I had initially envisaged though, but not unreasonable.
It's not really north eastern BBQ without beer, right? Tsingtao was the perfect pairing for our grilled meats.
Our meats were served individually as they were ready to our table.
First to arrive was the Taiwanese Sausages. I'm not sure that this is North Eastern fare, but it was delicious, with a lightly crisp skin, a firm texture and a sweet garlicky filling. Having said that, these were undoubtedly store bought and of the same variety as the ones in my freezer, and therefore not worth the $3.80 price tag each.
Next to arrive was the pork belly. This was fairly fatty, and surprisingly quite thinly sliced. It was doused in peppercorn, cumin and fennel though, making it addictively more-ish. Although somewhat expensive at $3 each, I did really enjoy this.
Our larger bundles of skewers came all at once. The darker ones were the lamb skewers and these were a delight to eat. Fatty and tender, they were infused with just the right amount of spices to be very strong but not overwhelmingly so. These were definitely addictive and I could have had more than ten of these alone.
Although the beef was given the same seasoning, it wasn't as tender as the lamb. Although fatty, it had quite a few parts that were fairly chewy. We still liked the beef, but next time will probably rather more of the lamb instead.
To temper the heat of the bbq, we had a side serve of cold spicy noodles. As you can see, it was drenched in soy and chilli. This was also intensely flavored but still cooling, despite the chilli. I really enjoyed its soft slippery texture and would come back for this.
I also opted for a dish of stir fried beef and pork tripe. As with the other dishes, it had copious amounts of peppercorns, cumin, soy and chilli. The flavour profile really worked well with the chewy offal texture and it would compliment a bowl of rice or noodles perfectly.
Detracting from the numbing spicy flavours, we had a bowl of Wanton Soup for variety. This came in a light chicken broth with seaweed. The wanton tasted fairly average, more or less like the frozen variety you get in the supermarket, but coupled with the chicken broth and sesame oil, it really hit the spot for us.
Rounding off our meal were the grilled scallops. I love a good north eastern scallop because it always comes covered in garlic and vermicelli to soak up all the garlicky flavours. These were executed well and the scallops were large and plump. Overall we had an enjoyable meal at Mr 7. It made for a nice foray into north eastern BBQ, and I would be keen to try other restaurants of similar nature soon.
Price Range: $30 - $40pp
Taste: 7/10
Value: 6.5/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 6/10
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