My workplace likes to have communal Friday lunches. It's a chance for us all to forget about our various diets, and healthy eating plans for one afternoon of the week and spend an hour indulging in a meal that is less than ideal for the waistline.
This week Chinese was suggested to much applause and rapture, and before I could search Yelp for any suggestions someone stated they knew of the BEST CHINESE TAKEAWAY IN BRISBANE that just happened to be down the road from the office.
We were all prepared to take a punt on a new contender, and I took some orders and set off to pick up the cargo-load.
The place itself is modest to say the least. Aluminium tables out the front, glass warming bays inside with your standard drink fridge, but everything had a very clean appearance. Something I look for in a decent take-away restaurant.
The lady who served us was very warm and friendly and warned us about the amount we had ordered - 6 dishes + x2 special fried rice - she seemed to think this would be excessive for 6 people. We looked at each others hungry eyes, shrugged and said we would take the risk.
Well, it turns out she was right to warn me. We walked out twenty minutes after ordering carrying two heeeeavy plastic bags bulging at the seams. The servings were super generous, I would even suggest one serving could feed two people easily.
We ordered a selection of (Australian) Chinese staples. Mongolian beef, sweet and sour pork, beef and black bean, honey sesame chicken, kung-po chilli chicken, chicken and vegetable with garlic (+ x2 special fried rice).
Everything was fresh and had great flavour, and each dish had a really good amount of meat. We all expressed delight with the soft, succulent chicken pieces that featured in the chicken and vegetable with garlic. There was far more than you would expect from any other similar take-away place.
The sweet and sour pork was succulent with a crispy, fresh shell. The batter was chewy enough to feel fresh and the sauce had a great balance of sweetness and sourness.
Everyone commented on the lack of "oiliness and greasiness" and the fact that the salt levels were just perfect. Not too much, and not too little. Just enough. There was ZERO post-feast-thirstiness that can occur from eating some Chinese food.
We ended up spending approximately $85 in total, split between 6 people, which is INCREDIBLE value! For such freshness, heavy servings and generous ingredient mixes we were all amazed.
I will absolutely be going back again once we have done the rounds of other local cuisines and am in the mood for some more tasty (Australian) Chinese. read more