The first time I heard of Dan Hong was on the 1st episode of the terrible Australian version of Iron Chef, where he squared off against Neil Perry. Even though Dan lost this battle on scoring, anyone who actually watched the episode and listened to the judges' comments could have sworn he should have won. Nonetheless, it seems he's doing pretty damn well on his own now.
I had read a little about Mr. Wong and it's place in the stratosphere of trendy as well as the 2 chef hat rating (with prices to match). As I was in Sydney to have a look at Vivid around the Opera House, Mr. Wong was ideally located for this.
I was a little bemused that I turned up at 8pm to be told there was no availability for 2 until 10pm. This wouldn't seem so odd if it wasn't for the restaurant policy not to take bookings for less than 6 people (for dinner) and that I saw several 2 seat spots at tables or the counter vacant. If you don't take bookings, who is going to use those? Perhaps they have a written waitlist for people who turn up and place names at the door. Who knows.
Anyway the next day lunch seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a booking and attend. Strangely enough on a Saturday noon sitting, the place wasn't completely full. Good overall for me I suppose.
- Scallop & prawn shumai $12 - I had read about this as one of the best dumplings in Sydney. It was a half-sliced scallop atop a standard yum cha dumpling. It was fine, but very expensive and not all that memorable;
- Prawn & crispy dough chueng fun $15 - a sensational combination of prawn stuffed inside a Chinese doughnut and enveloped lovingly in chueng fun. The best version I've had of this anywhere in the world. I wonder if adding char siu to the mix would be a good or bad thing...;
- Abalone, snow crab & white rice bamboo roll $15 - for some reason I expected a thick, fried roll and instead received stick rice with a small piece of chewy but tasty abalone, a bit of crab meat and a bit of lap cheung (Chinese sausage). Quite underwhelming for the price;
- King crab & sweetcorn fried rice, trout roe & crispy conpoy $22 - I hadn't considered this dish until the waiter asked if I wanted rice with the mains. This was phenomenal. It takes the salted fish (of the Cantonese-style salted fish & chicken fried rice) and adds succulent King crab meat and roe. The overall dish is a multi-textured, umami fried rice that is easily one of the tastiest I've eaten in the world. The small size is quite big for $22, but next time I'll order the large version for $29;
- Crispy fried Balmain bugs with spicy salt $38 - tender bug meat morsels coated and fried in a light coating of very salty batter. There was a hint of chilli to it, but I'd personally prefer more Sichuan pepper and less saltiness;
- Sweet & sour crispy pork hock $28 - I couldn't decide between this (because of Longrain), the Shandong beef shortrib or the sweet & sticky pork ribs (as ribs are my thing). The waiter suggested the pork hock was a house specialty, so this was it. The pork hock meat is pulled apart then stuck together and cubed, before being deep fried. The meat itself had a crisp surface and a slightly chewy middle. The sauce wasn't the sweet, sticky, palm sugar Longrain/Ezard-type that has become my standard. Nonetheless it was a fine dish and smelt lovely.
Dinner here is expensive. That's what you get in the middle of the trendy district in an expensive town at a place that is hip and new where people will queue up as you can't get decent bookings. What do you expect? At least the food is good.
Next time I would order the chueng fun from the dim sum menu. The king crab fried rice is the delicious carbohydrate which I'd supplement with the other two dishes that I couldn't decide upon - Shandong style Wagyu beef shortrib and Grandma's sweet & sticky pork ribs. I'd probably go hunting for dessert somewhere else.
