I have heard friends talk about Queen Chow, a trendy Chinese eatery in Enmore (plus a Manly location which opened earlier this year) that offers traditional Cantonese style food, but with surroundings very different to the busy, bustling and no-nonsense Chinatown locations which normally jump to mind when we talk about Chinese food.
Why has it taken me so long to try Queen Chow (in fact, I wouldn't have tried it but for my friend's birthday dinner)? Much to the astonishment of friends and acquaintances, Chinese food is my least favourite cuisine and my last choice when it comes to dining out. Having said that, I appreciate good food when I taste it, but it takes very special Chinese food for me to be impressed.
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| Queen chow steamed dim sum platter, $32 |
The dim sum platter comes with the following selection of dumplings - wagyu beef xiao long bao, vegetarian dumpling, prawn dumpling and prawn & scallop dumpling. The flavours are balanced and delicate, but with the exception of the prawn & scallop dumpling are the rest really worth the price tag at $4 a pop? I don't think so. You can get equally delicious dumplings at a lesser price at the more no-frills dumpling bars.
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| Queen Chow baked and fried dim sum platter, $26 |
If the steamed dumpling platter was unimpressive, this is even more so. Again, the flavours are nice enough, but nothing special. However, I should disclose that I think the ordering of fried dim sim is a mistake, full stop: which is why you generally won't see Chinese people ordering such food at yum cha. We all know as far as dim sim goes, steamed dim sim is where it's at.
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| Mongolian lamb sang choi bao, $28 (large) |
The leaves-to-meat ratio is not the best. The lamb is a little too salty for the pitiful amount of (albiet lovely and fresh) leaves you get. The lamb is very well-cooked and juicy, I suppose you could always order a side of rice to ameliorate the saltiness.
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| Salt n pepper squid, $35 (large) |
The squid is bouncy, soft and not chewy at all - a very respectable salt n pepper squid indeed. The batter could do with a bit more salting. Also, I think the price is very steep considering the lack-lustre batter.
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| Salt n pepper tofu, $20 (large) |
First, let me own up to the fact that I forgot to take a photo of the dish as it first came out, and by the time I remembered the dish had been well and truly divvied up. The tofu is beautifully fresh and silky, but again - the batter is simply not salty enough, especially when you consider the fact that tofu is a bland ingredient that only comes alive by absorbing the flavour of its accompaniments.
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| Vegetarian fried rice, egg, tofu, shitake, $25 |
The rice is cooked very well - a good fried rice is one where each and every grain of rice is shiny, well-separated and full. This is a respectable enough fried rice, but the ingredients are very cheap - yet the price tag suggests otherwise. There is a version with cuttlefish and char siu for just $3 more - get that instead, if you insist on having fried rice.
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| Stir-fried egg noodles, bean sprout, garlic chives, premium soy, $18 |
The noodle dish is respectable, the soy flavouring well-balanced, but is it special? No.
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| Roast duck with plum sauce, $40 (half) |
We are ending on a high note. The roast duck at Queen Chow is delicious - the meat juicy and succulent, the plum sauce is particularly moreish and simply the perfect accompaniment to the duck meat - viscous, sweet, divine. Highly recommended.
Score: 2 / 5
Every dish is well-executed, yet the only dish that really stood out was the roast duck. I really can't fault any dish, but it's difficult to be excited about an eatery when you think, I can have equally good stuff at a cheaper price. A truly good eatery leaves you no room for price comparison.
Price: relatively expensive for Chinese food. I guess you're paying for the name and the atmosphere.
Address: 167 Enmore Road, Enmore, NSW, 2042, Australia
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