Queen Chow- Enmore, NSW
An evening spent in Enmore, a prelude to the theatre
It all started with an evening at Enmore, in anticipation of seeing a comedian at the theatre. Amongst the offerings in town, I chanced upon the menu for Queen Chow and decided it was worth a visit as I have attended and enjoyed my meals at most Merivale venues.
As with every Merivale venue, the drinks and food are of great quality and I found myself enjoying my short meal here as the service was attentive with the staff conscious of any time constraints for our meal.
Wagyu tartare
I am a fan of tartare in all its forms and order it regularly whenever I find it on the menu and it often thrills me to find the difference in taste profiles between the eastern and western adaptations.
This rendition, interestingly enough, made me think of Indomie Mie Goreng with the aroma of the fried shallots and sauce packets of kicap manis, a familiar staple of mine through University times.
Steamed egg custard with Duck XO
A well steamed egg custard, it was not overdone or steamed too roughly as the custard was silky and light.
My only gripe with this dish was just with the Duck XO as I felt like it would have benefited with having a stronger focus on some of the other included aromatics to bring out the nuttiness of the duck.
The inclusion of the mushroom in the sauce was a homage to the original ingredients found in an XO sauce but I found myself wanting more.
Chong Qing Chicken- 辣子鸡
A well known dish in Sichuan known as La Zi Ji, this chicken dish embodies the hallmarks of the region with the use of a simple marinade and aromatics imparting heat, the floral notes of the numbing spice of a Sichuan pepper.
Typically the chicken thighs are marinated in Shaoxing wine before they are coated and stir fried with a number of dried chillies, chilli flakes and Sichuan peppers. This allows for a truly beautiful savoury tender chicken against the heat and aromas imparted by the mix.
Queen Chow Fried Rice
The Queen Chow fried rice has cuttlefish and charsiu in it- and you can see sweet corn in it as well.
While I am firmly on the “no peas and no corn” bandwagon for fried rice, I would probably make an exception for this fried rice as I found the cuttlefish a pleasant addition to the traditional recipe.
I would definitely opt to come back here again someday as I have a few more items on the menu I would like to try when I am in less of a time crunch- these items would be the Burrata with Chinkiang vinegar and Chilli Crisp, the Tuna Ceviche with “strange flavour” listed on the menu (I must know), prawn toast as well as their roasted meats.