Pu'er, Waterloo

If there's one thing I can't resist, it's got to be yum cha style dumplings. So it was with great enthusiasm that we wandered over to Pu'er in Waterloo on the corner of Bourke and Danks street to have some steamed dumpling goodies at night. Pu'er offers a range of food from dumplings to larger share plates, all with a Western flair.

Scallop, $9.00

To start off with, I couldn't resist ordering the scallop dumplings - a Hong Kong style dumpling of prawn, scallop and baby bamboo all encased in a yellow egg pastry. Whilst the skin was a tad thick for my liking, the filling was delicious, had fantastic flavor and just reminds me why I'm a sucker for all dumplings with prawn and scallops.

Hong Kong mini burgers, $15.00

The waitress highly recommended these mini burgers and aren't they just adorable? Smaller than the size of my palm! Filled with a miniature panko crumbed pork fillet, a house smoked chilli paste, hoisin and baby cress, this cute number was a tasty little morsel that was not dry like I expected (being miniature and all). A bit oily, but at least the buns were deep-fried to a wonderful crisp and went really well with the filling inside.

Wagyu tacos, $16.00

Phew, these were spicier than expected! But that chilli kick paired very well indeed with the juicy wagyu beef. All wrapped by a soft bun, this is the perfect finger food snack to knock down whilst having a few drinks on a Friday night.

Three cup drunken duck, $26.00

Boy do you get bang for buck with these two giant duck legs sitting on the plate. Braised to perfection, the duck meat fell off the bone, yet still retained it's juiciness and flavor. Using traditional methods of Chinese braising with shao xing, soy and sugar, this dish really kicked home to my Shanghainese roots - almost like my mum makes at home ;)

Caramelised Berkshire pork belly, $24.00

And as always, it is always a bit risky to order things that are cooked on an often basis at home. I cannot fault the cooking, as the pork remained super tender and soft, but it was lacking that punch of strong soy and caramelized sugar I was looking for. The egg was a nice traditional touch but unfortunately was also lacking in flavor.

Chocolate brownie, $10.00

Whilst I don't normally tend to order brownies at restaurants as I find them to be more or less the same, our friendly waitress said these were normally a hit with the patrons so why not give it a go? For me, it was quite the standard brownie - chocolatey and dense. Perhaps a bit on the dry side but overall what you would expect from a chocolate brownie. I wasn't a fan of the red wine jus but it was the salted palm sugar ice-cream that blew me away. It was the perfect Asian twist on the standard Western salted caramel and truth be told, I forewent the brownie just to eat this ice-cream :P

Coconut & kafffir lime leaf sorbet, $10.00

This single dessert, hands down, was my favourite dish of the evening. Despite being stuffed to the brim (we were warned there was going to be a lot of food!), I managed to find extra stomach space just to eat this. The zing of the kaffir lime made the sorbet something special, seriously. It was even surrounded by pieces of young coconut - a definite win for me :D And the black sticky rice was subtlely sweet, still retained a nice bite to the palette and was wonerful with the sorbet or even dipped into the coconut water syrup on the side.

Quinton spoke very highly of the teas so how could we resist trying one? We told him to surprise us and he came out with the Osmanthus Phoenix ($9.00) which I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of :( But take my word that it was very pretty and beautifully presented! It was fragrant with the flavours of Osmanthus and had a delicate sweet aftertaste that lingered in the mouth. A good finish to our meal, and certainly helped with the digestion considering all that food we ate!

Overall, we ended our meal on a highlight with the sorbet which I would very, very happily demolish an entire pint of if I had one. The atmosphere was very cosy on a Thursday night, making it a cute little date place and service was nothing short of friendly. You even have the option of sitting half outside on the balcony! Which does have roofing by the way, so don't you worry about getting rained on :P Recommended if you're looking for a nice, relaxing night out with plenty of teas under your disposal!

Crystal Noir and friend dined as guests of Pu'er courtesy of Quinton Van Schalkwyk & Siev Gour of Pu'er. Opinions however, are entirely her own.

Pu'er

20A Danks St

Waterloo, NSW, 2017

Opening Hours

Tuesday-Friday
Lunch 12:00 - 3:00pm 

Dinner 6:00pm - late

Saturday & Sunday
12:00pm - late

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