Yummy Paradise

 

It's been past a week since our last post as Miss food hunter was down with gastroenteritis but is now well on track with recovery and decided on Thai for some punchy flavours. Unfortunately, Kai Gai at Centro Pinelands was closed for lunch and we ventured to a new joint that specializes in Gui Zhou (贵州) cuisine. We aren't familiar with China geography but judging by the menu fare, Miss food hunter took a guess that it was probably near Sichuan. Indeed, both are neighbouring south west provinces of China.

The interior is nicely presented with that lil' extra special touch given to the diners, relative to most other casual sunnybank restaurants. Miss food hunter likes in particular, the choice of lime green plush seats on one side of the restaurant.

We ordered one of the whiteboard specials; Fish Soup with Rice cakes and from the menu; Twice-cooked Belly Pork in Chilli seasoning (回锅肉) and instead of 2 bowls of plain rice, we opted for one of their special Peanuts & Lup cheong (chinese sausage) Glutinous rice. We are considered novices to Sichuan cuisine, let alone Guizhou fare, but there are a couple of spicy dishes that may please fans of Sichuan dishes.

Fish Soup & Chilli dipping sauce

The Fish soup was one of their new promotional dishes. The tender fish  chunks (thick basa fillets?) was cooked in a broth of salty preserved mustard vegetables and there were plenty of them. The chewy rice cakes were the slim tubular types and worked well in the soup. The one problem we had was, the soup was overbearingly salty that most of the liquid had to be left behind.

After seeing the Pork in chilli seasoning, we thought that this dish may just be from or inspired by Sichuan.  The chilli oil and chilli paste is so typical of the cuisine and tasted similar to versions I've had from other restaurants before.  The roasted chilli paste and oil takes the intensity out of the chillies so you can enjoy the 'flavour' more without setting your mouth on fire (still not for weak chilli eaters though!).  The pork was soft and tender but we would have prefered some chinese vegies instead of the sliced tofu just to help contrast the flavours a little more. 

The Glutinous rice with lup cheong and liver sausage was an unusual dish, the flavours are strong with the spicy chilli paste and peanuts on the side, At first, we thought it was meant to be eaten like plain rice but in the end we decided it was best just to have it alone.  The main dishes were so strong that they became muddled when eaten together.  Not great but not bad either.... gave it a shot out of curiousity :-P.

It was good to have trialled out other traditional chinese cuisines apart from the usual cantonese or taiwanese type dishes. Food here is overall tasty but best shared- judging by the amount of oil in all of the dishes, Gui Zhou dishes are to be eaten  xtra- moderately!

Yummy Paradise
Shop 45 663 Beenleigh road
Centro Pinelands
Sunnybank Hills