Tuesday 28 July 2009

wanly noodle shop @ carlingford village, carlingford

Just because two people like food doesn't automatically mean they'll see eye to eye on everything about food. Take for example my dad, he's the cook in the family, loves food and he's not shy to spend money on it. I love his cooking like no other yet when we go out, more often than not, we'll end up in some lengthy debate about what to eat and what to try, and well, dad being dad, usually gets his say.

That's not to say that between us we haven't compromised and lately I've noticed dad has been more willing than he has been in the past. Dad's always been of the thinking that good food is going out to the places you've been to who are known to cook up a good dish and well, what that defaults to is eating the same dishes that have been ordered before. He doesn't think trying new restaurants is a good idea - there have been exceptions (notably when a restaurant is recommended as being cheap) but largely, he sticks to the same places where people end up getting to know us my our names (which is great when it means we get a bit more service).

So where's the compromise? Well lately dad seems to have seen that eating the same thing at the same place every time is quite boring. He's been a bit more adventurous and despite going to the same places, he will break out a little and try something new. Wanly Noodle Shop in Carlingford is a place regularly visited my parents and this what we had the other night:

Something new - Eggy Prawn sitting on a base of crispy fried vermicelli noodles. I'm a fan.
One of the regulars - Curry Beef. It looks like a lot of onion but tastes great.
Seafood with vegetables.
A new take on the omelette. It was a mixed omelette with seafood and meats, served with a sweet & sour sauce.
Dad is a big fan of the head chef who cooks here. It's basically a one-man show and he does a great job at it (and I would agree!). The dishes are all cooked to order, ready in no time and taste great. In Cantonese they would say that all the dishes have good 'wok air' - which really is a compliment to the chef that he's mastered the use of the wok and the food that he cooks out of is superb.

My dad's only warning is be prepared for a substandard quality of food when the head chef isn't there. I guess even with the places that my dad loves to go to aren't always perfect, but I mean, is there really a perfect restaurant out there? If you think there is, let me know!

Anyway, great to see that dad's trying new things when he goes out and eat. And I'll just keep working on pushing him so he tries some of the restaurants which at the moment, only happens when a place closes down and needs to be replaced. Dad will always be Dad!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do we have the same dad? lol Mine is the same! That egg dish looks delicious. I always love that gooeyness that comes with some Chinese dishes :)

panda said...

nqn - glad to hear that i'm not the only one with a fussy eating dad! :P agree with you about the gooeyness of some chinese dishes - this egg dish was one of those gooey ones!

OohLookBel said...

Glad to hear your dad is getting more adventurous. I have the opposite experience – my uncle tries every new restaurant that opens and insists on dragging my family with him. The places aren’t always that good! I may have to point him in the direction of Carlingford – that egg prawn dish looks delicious.

Joanna said...

that egg dish looks delicious !!!

is this shop the one opposite hk cafe?

Mary said...

Hi there!

This is a really adorable website... as a food blogger have you seen Time Out magazine's "Sydney Food Awards" this month? http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/restaurants/sydneyfoodawards is the online version...

What do you think of their lists?? Do you agree with it?

Mary

panda said...

mary - thanks for stopping by my blog. i was actually reading about the time out awards on jenius.com.au and for the places i've visited (mainly the patisseries), i would definitely agree. to be honest, unless you've visited every place on those lists, it's hard to make a call (but i'm sure the guys at time out have done the eating to award those restaurants so i'm sure they've made a good call)