Thursday, May 15, 2014

Papparich, Ultimo

With over 70 restaurants open across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and China, PappaRich first graced its presence with a restaurant in Chatswood. However, the north shore is quite a trek for me so I was happy to see the opening of a restaurant right next to my university campus. Malaysian food is probably one of the Asian cuisines that I am less familiar with but a flaky, crispy roti is something that is always welcome.

Menu
There is quite a line happening outside the restaurant upon arrival at 6:30 but the rate at which it moves is very fast. Signs that service inside is efficient. Gingerbreadmanne and I were seated quickly and menus were produced. Ordering here is different from what you would receive at normal restaurants. Provided on the table are pencils and a pad with you fill in the dishes that you want. The dishes are numbered on the menu so you simply just jot it down and the waitress takes it away to process it once all is decided. It took a while to pick and choose though - the menu is very extensive.

Coconut delight
Gingerbreadmanne and I couldn't resist ordering the coconut delight to share despite the cold weather outside. What's not to love about this concoction of ice blended young coconut juice, a dash of coconut milk and a sprinkle of coconut flesh on top? Refreshingly sweet.

Biryani rice (2 dishes) with beef rendang & sambal prawns
This was the first dish to arrive and was quite a spectacle with the circular papadum on top and it's large serving. The bright yellow colour that is a signature of the tumeric rice would have benefited from soaking up the sauce of the beef rendang and sambal prawns as it was quite dry by itself. But there was much too large a portion and much too little sauce from the small size of side dishes and end up leaving majority of the rice untouched. I can imagine how the cucumber would have provided a nice cooling effect if the prawns and beef had been spicy enough.

Curry laksa (chicken)
I'm not sure how this would fare compared to a good laksa as it was my first time having laksa. There was a beautiful rich coconut fragrance to the broth which I would normally equate to desserts such as coconut sago. It came with a generous amount of toppings - chicken, bean sprouts, tofu puffs, bean curd skin, eggplant pieces and sliced fish cakes.

Roti
The roti was a saviour though. We were expecting to be able to mop up the sauces with a extra side of roti however there wasn't much for us to do so. No matter - even eaten by itself, the roti was very moreish. Buttery and flaky with a crispy outer, there was a slight sweetness that would've easily tipped it over to becoming a dessert with just a slight sprinkle of sugar more.

Egg sago pudding
And you all know me with my weakness for everything coconut. I know coconut sago is easy enough to make at home, but how could I not order it? This one had a cute egg pudding snuggled in the centre of the tapioca pearls and coconut milk mix which had a texture very reminiscent of the firm, jelly-like ones you can buy in plastic tubs at your local Asian supermarket.

Overall, we left PappaRich a bit underwhelmed with the whole experience. Half our order had been cancelled without any mention of it to us by the waitstaff and it was only when we asked that we were informed they didn't have any of the ingredients left in the kitchen to make it. A shame because I was very looking forward to the deep fried chicken skin. However, everything else is what you would expect from a chain restaurant - service is efficient, food is served one dish after the other at a quick succession and is of decent standard. Good for a quick bite to eat during uni classes throughout the day.

PappaRich
Shop 5 / 185-211 Broadway  
Ultimo, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Sunday - Wednesday: 11:00am - 9:00pm
Thursday - Saturday: 11:00am - 10:00pm

PappaRich Broadway on Urbanspoon

16 comments:

  1. Yummo! So glad it convieniently opens up close by to Sydney Uni. Definitely dropping by whenever I can cause it was one of my favourite places to eat at near Chadstone in Melbourne.

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    1. At least you don't have to travel all the way to Melbourne for you fix :P

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  2. PappaRich seems a great dining place. Want to dine here with my special one.

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  3. was looking forward to this restaurant opening for a while since chatswood is way too far for me to get to. shame that the experience was average for you. dishes looked really yummy though

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    1. At least you don't have to trek all the way to Chatswood! Maybe I ordered the wrong things - they're bound to have better things on the menu :D

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  4. Hmmm, sounds a bit hit and miss...which I've heard before. It's funny that it's so busy then...but I'm still going to try it out (hopefully next week).

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    1. Service is quick which is always a positive I guess :) Hopefully you end up with better choices than the ones I picked!

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  5. I feel you, Sherrie - canceled orders when you're already psyched is not a very good experience. But based on your awesome pics, I think they served great dishes. How I wish to see Teh Tarik and Nasi Lemak, too! Thanks for the review!

    Julie
    Gourmet Getaways

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    1. If you go, please do let me know if they're good! If only we managed to get our chicken skin!

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  6. How strange that half your order was cancelled! I'm not in a big rush to try it now after reading this :)

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    1. I was super disappointed about not being able to eat the deep fried chicken skin!

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  7. A shame that some of your order wasn't delivered. It's been incredible to see how busy they've gotten so quickly but hopefully they'll iron the kinks out soon.

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    1. Hopefully the kinks are because they're still getting into the swing of things! I really wanted to eat the fried chicken skin - maybe next time :P

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  8. I was so excited for it to open, because my bus would go past it every day on the way to/from uni!! :) I think I had a better experience than you (the one time I managed to make time to stop by to try it! haha) but that might have been because I went at a quieter time so everything was quick and efficient. If you like sago, their sago pudding is really good too! The drink looks so good!! Will have to try that next time ;)

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    1. That's good news - at least you had a good experience! :) Ooh yes the sago was pretty tasty - I just had it with the extra egg pudding :D

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