Hui O.

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  7     

I've been for dinner and yum cha several times now. It's never been my idea to come back to this restaurant but come with other friends. In general, I feel its somewhere between good and just ok, it is a reasonable Chinese restaurant for Chatswood in terms of food but most often, the service is poor.

Yum cha prices in general isn't cheap at most restaurants in Chatswood and the city, usually works out about $30 per head nowadays. The quality of the yum cha can be quite good hence the busy lines but sometimes variable. If you haven't tried it, it's worth a try, would say its about as good as any other in Chatswood.

Dinner is quite good and arguably better value. We had a great deal of food last night and over ordered by a couple of dishes, worked out at about $40 per head but we had several containers of extra food. Service was pretty poor as usual, barely spoke to us, were generally slow but we had a good time with friends anyway.

My old review from 2008: Food was quite good, wouldn't say it was the best Yum Cha but above average. It definitely gets very busy though quiet when we first got there (before 11am on the weekend) it was very busy at noon with a long line queuing up.

The biggest problem was the service though at Chinese restaurants, it's almost normal to expect bad service. We had an irregular group size of about 17 with a number of babies/toddlers. We got there early, the restaurant was only half full and yet their service was very poor. Didn't want to help us put tables together and a senior waiter came and told us off for standing around too long before sitting. He said that it looked like we weren't being looked after. Ok fair enough but he could have tried to be polite.

When bringing boosters, a waiter dropped one and kicked it to us. Hmm... Anyway, we tried to overlook all this and still managed to have a decent time there.

Feb 20, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  7     

Had lunch and a coffee here the other day. My smoked salmon bagel wasn't great though, the bagel tasted a bit dry and, perhaps, on the stale side, and there wasn't nearly enough cream cheese so I was disappointed. The waitress was very friendly though and I enjoyed my cappuccino. There are several places to have decent coffee in Kingsford now but this is one of the better options.

Jan 16, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  4      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

I always thought Tensaya was great to have in Kingsford (since there isn't much Japanese around this area) so I hopped in with a friend. I ordered the Tensaya Bento box and the box was large with many parts to it including nigiri sushi, sashimi, tempura, chicken karaage. There was a crack in the base of my bento box which didn't bode well.

I started with the tempura which was crispy and delicious. The karaage wasn't quite as good, it was hot and crispy but the batter seemed too thick and there was a smell to the chicken, not as overpowering as some Japanese restaurants though so I didn't think too much of it. The real let down was with the sashimi and the nigiri sushi.

The consistency of the fish (salmon and tuna) wasn't firm and the tuna nigiri was simply poor, I couldn't bear to swallow it which is the first time this has ever happened to me. After this I pretty much lost my appetite. There was also a cut up sushi roll with just crab meat and, perhaps, some seaweed inside which I didn't eat, they should at least attempt to put a few more ingredients in there or substitute it for California roll. My friend had the tempura bento box and enjoyed it but there was no sushi or sashimi in his box.

I felt very disappointed by my meal tonight, I love sashimi and I've had good meals at Tensaya when it first opened. I'm not sure if this was a one off bad night but I feel they need to raise their standard even if they are serving in a student area. It will be a long time before I dare to return.

Jan 15, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

Asian style bakery with many types of sponge filled cakes, cheesecakes and other baked goodies. I mainly like the sugar coated doughnuts, the coffee roll and the baked cheesecake. Some of the other cakes aren't really to my taste probably because I'm not too used to the Asian style of cakes.

Jan 15, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

I've been here many times and been to the Chatswood branch a few times. It does get crazy busy between 6-9pm so best to avoid unless you want to queue up for most of an hour. We tend to go for supper on the weekend. Our favourite dish is the satay, marinated sweet just like in Malaysia, char grilled and small bits of chicken on it, not huge chunks like many places like to do. The sauce isn't quite right though, a bit too sweet but acceptable. They also provide red onion and cucumber but no rice cake.

The roti themselves are ok, not great. Maybe its the ghee that's not present. Not sure but we always ask for extra crispy otherwise they tend to come out undercooked on the edges which doesn't taste good at all. The curries are pretty good, the fish curry has huge chunks of fish and I like the maggi goreng. These are fried instant noodles and expensive considering the ingredients but tastes great. Another hit is the fried chicken.

The ambience inside is busy even after midnight and the service tends to be rather rushed but the chap at the counter is always friendly.

Jan 15, 2012

6 Average

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  4      Value  7     

I've been for dinner and yum cha several times now. It's never been my idea to come back to this restaurant but come with other friends. In general, I feel its somewhere between good and just ok, it is a reasonable Chinese restaurant for Chatswood in terms of food but most often, the service is poor.

Yum cha prices in general isn't cheap at most restaurants in Chatswood and the city, usually works out about $30 per head nowadays. The quality of the yum cha can be quite good hence the busy lines but sometimes variable. If you haven't tried it, it's worth a try, would say its about as good as any other in Chatswood.

Dinner is quite good and arguably better value. We had a great deal of food last night and over ordered by a couple of dishes, worked out at about $40 per head but we had several containers of extra food. Service was pretty poor as usual, barely spoke to us, were generally slow but we had a good time with friends anyway.

My old review from 2008: Food was quite good, wouldn't say it was the best Yum Cha but above average. It definitely gets very busy though quiet when we first got there (before 11am on the weekend) it was very busy at noon with a long line queuing up.

The biggest problem was the service though at Chinese restaurants, it's almost normal to expect bad service. We had an irregular group size of about 17 with a number of babies/toddlers. We got there early, the restaurant was only half full and yet their service was very poor. Didn't want to help us put tables together and a senior waiter came and told us off for standing around too long before sitting. He said that it looked like we weren't being looked after. Ok fair enough but he could have tried to be polite.

When bringing boosters, a waiter dropped one and kicked it to us. Hmm... Anyway, we tried to overlook all this and still managed to have a decent time there.

Feb 20, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  7     

Had lunch and a coffee here the other day. My smoked salmon bagel wasn't great though, the bagel tasted a bit dry and, perhaps, on the stale side, and there wasn't nearly enough cream cheese so I was disappointed. The waitress was very friendly though and I enjoyed my cappuccino. There are several places to have decent coffee in Kingsford now but this is one of the better options.

Jan 16, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  4      Ambience  8      Service  7      Value  6     

I always thought Tensaya was great to have in Kingsford (since there isn't much Japanese around this area) so I hopped in with a friend. I ordered the Tensaya Bento box and the box was large with many parts to it including nigiri sushi, sashimi, tempura, chicken karaage. There was a crack in the base of my bento box which didn't bode well.

I started with the tempura which was crispy and delicious. The karaage wasn't quite as good, it was hot and crispy but the batter seemed too thick and there was a smell to the chicken, not as overpowering as some Japanese restaurants though so I didn't think too much of it. The real let down was with the sashimi and the nigiri sushi.

The consistency of the fish (salmon and tuna) wasn't firm and the tuna nigiri was simply poor, I couldn't bear to swallow it which is the first time this has ever happened to me. After this I pretty much lost my appetite. There was also a cut up sushi roll with just crab meat and, perhaps, some seaweed inside which I didn't eat, they should at least attempt to put a few more ingredients in there or substitute it for California roll. My friend had the tempura bento box and enjoyed it but there was no sushi or sashimi in his box.

I felt very disappointed by my meal tonight, I love sashimi and I've had good meals at Tensaya when it first opened. I'm not sure if this was a one off bad night but I feel they need to raise their standard even if they are serving in a student area. It will be a long time before I dare to return.

Jan 15, 2012

6.8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  6     

Asian style bakery with many types of sponge filled cakes, cheesecakes and other baked goodies. I mainly like the sugar coated doughnuts, the coffee roll and the baked cheesecake. Some of the other cakes aren't really to my taste probably because I'm not too used to the Asian style of cakes.

Jan 15, 2012

7.3 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  8     

I've been here many times and been to the Chatswood branch a few times. It does get crazy busy between 6-9pm so best to avoid unless you want to queue up for most of an hour. We tend to go for supper on the weekend. Our favourite dish is the satay, marinated sweet just like in Malaysia, char grilled and small bits of chicken on it, not huge chunks like many places like to do. The sauce isn't quite right though, a bit too sweet but acceptable. They also provide red onion and cucumber but no rice cake.

The roti themselves are ok, not great. Maybe its the ghee that's not present. Not sure but we always ask for extra crispy otherwise they tend to come out undercooked on the edges which doesn't taste good at all. The curries are pretty good, the fish curry has huge chunks of fish and I like the maggi goreng. These are fried instant noodles and expensive considering the ingredients but tastes great. Another hit is the fried chicken.

The ambience inside is busy even after midnight and the service tends to be rather rushed but the chap at the counter is always friendly.

Jan 15, 2012

6.3 Average

Food  6      Ambience  5      Service  7      Value  7     

Update: Went again last night for dinner as my friend wanted to try the Wat Tan Hor. I was worried due to our last visit a few days ago but after much hesitation, I gave the chicken laksa a go. Laksa is my favourite hawker dish and sometimes I'm so desperate for it that I'll even try it in a Chinese or Thai restaurant (knowing that it won't be quite right) but it'll give me my fix! When I had the laksa a couple of years back for lunch though, it wasn't good at all and I'd vowed to stay away from it.

The laksa this time was a lot better, I ordered the chicken and prawn so there were large thin chicken breast slices (just a little dry) and large prawns fortunately not done to the annoying Chinese super crunchy style. I don't mind the crunchy prawns in a Chinese restaurant but they have no place with other cuisines.

So the ingredients were good but the gravy was a bit lacking, tasted overly salty after several gulps as though it had too much salt or fish sauce in it but I still enjoyed it and would still rate it as an above average laksa. You do need to ask for sambal which they give you on the side, and though it is mild, it adds flavour to the soup.

My friend did like the Wat Tan Hor and said that the dinner was a thumbs up compared to the lunch we had a few days ago. That time he had nasi lemak and I had the fried turnip cake and otak-otak. Due to the laksa being better, I've bumped up the food rating though it's at 6 because of the hit and miss nature of the dishes. My previous thoughts on the fried turnip cake:

My fried turnip cake came on a huge platter, it was somewhat over fried and a bit too salty. The turnip cake seemed chewy at the top and bottom of some pieces as though the cake had been left to dry out. I did eat most of it and I did like that there was fried pork fat in it... yum.

The otak-otak (fish cake grilled in banana leaves) was good but not great, the first one went down well (had it hot) but I had left the second one for a few minutes and after it cooled down, it tasted a bit dry and didn't particularly like the consistency anymore. My friend had the nasi lemak and gave it the thumbs down.

Jan 13, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  7      Value  7     

I had yum cha with a group here last week and it was above average I'd say. It can be a bit hit and miss though from past experiences. Last night I shared a Peking Duck with a mate and they were generous with the pancakes - 12 in total. I found it good, they mainly serve the skin only without any meat (some prefer meat - I don't mind both but if you want it crunchy, then skin alone is best).

The skin was crispy though seemed like there was quite a lot of extra oil on it and I liked the pancakes though my friend found some of them a bit doughy. For the 2nd course, they made noodles with the duck meat, there was a lot of duck and not so much noodles but tasted good anyway.

Service was fairly friendly although they did warn us that the duck would take 45 minutes since we didn't prebook it. Never realised I had to but it didn't actually take that long. Felt like it was less than half an hour but they weren't busy so take note in case you want to order it.

Ambience in the restaurant is fairly nice with large windows right across but there's not much to see at night.

Jan 12, 2012

7.5 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

Had a couple of takeaway coffees here which is good, probably the best I've had so far in Kingsford. Friendly service by the barista and the place has had a facelift, looks much better than it did a few years back.

Jan 11, 2012

6.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  6      Service  6      Value  7     

They have cheap lunch specials at only $7.50 for most dishes (unless you get seafood). I had the Tom Yum noodles with pork and my friend had the Pad Thai with chicken. He thought the pad thai was too salty although when I had a small taste it seemed quite nice. The Tom Yum noodles were quite good, not particularly spicy but had a lot of flavour.

They've tried to be cool with the ambience inside, stone tables and glass chairs but they feel a bit grotty, its not been kept particularly clean although it looks nice at the first glance. Looks a bit cheap inside now with printed paper plastered here and there and printed out lunch menus.

Jan 11, 2012

7 Recommended

Food  6      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  7     

They have some chicken specials on Tuesday night, chicken with some sides is what we ordered and my mate and I also ordered a full platter of BBQ pork ribs which is supposed to be one of their specialties. We were a bit let down with the ribs, I guess we had been expecting sweet BBQ sauce whereas the sauce was a little spicy and more salty than sweet and also there wasn't really enough sauce. The meat was good though as was the chicken.

Service was friendly and the ambience inside is quite nice compared to the multitude of restaurants nearby that mainly cater to students. Value was pretty good considering the Tuesday special.

Jan 11, 2012