Review: Din Tai Fung @ Chatswood

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Out of impulse, we decided to head to Din Tai Fung for dinner on a rainy night. We got there at about 5-5:30PM, there was a micro queue but we managed to get a seat for two right away. We were warmly greeted as we walked in and the food arrived promptly upon our orders were put in.

 Mango Shrimp Rolls - 2 for approximately $7.50

This was surprisingly nice, it is essentially a slice of mango with minced shrimp and mayo, rolled in a deep fried batter.  The sweetness of the mango balanced out well with the savoury filling. Anything tastes good deep fried, I mean c'mon. 

Shrimp and Vegetarian Wonton Noodle Soup Approx $12-13

 This was quite refreshing, the shrimp dumplings were a little over gingered. I'm not a big fan of ginger, hence the complaint. Other than that, noodles were cooked till al dente. The soup was lightly flavoured, you can definitely add some chilli sauce and vinegar into this!

As for the Vegetarian dish, the wontons were very delicate, only eat the wontons using the spoon provided or their skins could easily tear. The way these wontons are so delicately wrapped is part of its charm. As these wontons are hand-made and are definitely NOT your tougher dough coated, frozen and reheated wontons. With tasty mushroom and spinach that really brought the soup to life with sensational herbal flavours.

Worth Returning?

I think so... I think we'd go back again, but not on a regular basis. I prefer the variety of Chef's Gallery as opposed to Din Tai Fung.

Rating
7/10

Review: Alice's Tea Cafe @ Chatswood

I purchased a voucher off Groupon or Scoopon some time ago. I couldn't pass an opportunity for high tea at the low cost of $25. I am over paying $50pp for some sweets and sandwiches!

This cafe is located smack bang in the middle of Chatswood Westfield. An open plan design, allowing wild-lings, aka other consumers/shoppers to use the gap between each table within the cafe as a pathway to their next destination.

Alice's Tea Cafe is Alice in Wonderland themed - mind you, I now regret not eating at the Alice in Wonderland themed restaurant in Japan.

The Cafe had giant teddy bears and giant chess pieces as decors. You'll find a picture of Walt Disney's Alice at the back of their menu... I sure hope they have copyright.

 So that was our High Tea for 2.

I liked the fact that you can waltz in on a weekend and demand high tea instead of having to pre-book.

Base Tier we have our poached chicken sandwiches on brown bread - TICK. This was nicer than what I imagined, in comparison to The Tea Cosy - this was significantly TASTIER.

Second Tier is the home to two scones. 1 raisin and 1 plain. Initially I thought, they're scones, you can't get them wrong... it's flour and lemonade! Oh I was so wrong. These scones were quite awful. Very dough-y very chewy and kinda sticks to the roof of your mouth. Jam was out of a packet..... disappointing..... the cream evaporated as soon as I dug my knife into it... double disappointing.

Top Tier was very exciting, we have our custard filled strawberry and chocolate glazed cronuts. First time trying cronuts and two thumbs up. It was as diabetic as I have expected it to be. The macarons were great, much better than the ones I made, which looked like raw steak. We knew something wasn't quite right there.

Worth Returning?
Probably won't be going back, there are a number of high tea venues I'd like to try out. This was rather medicore to be honest, I would've been huffing and puffing if I had to pay $50 for this... Thank goooooddness for discount vouchers!

Rating
5/10