Dinner with friends at Szechuan Gardens in St Leonards.. a place Chris and I used to frequent all the time but hadn’t been in ages. Generally, I don’t like fancy Chinese restaurants, I feel like they’re just kidding themselves and it’s not real Chinese food. But with Szechuan Gardens, I always make the exception. The food really is authentic and very very good.
Service is a bit random. At the start of the night, the waiters weren’t particularly friendly, and probably a bit brusque. But as the night wore on, they got friendlier and chattier.. and by the end of the night (when we were the last table there), they turned on the TV to Jurassic Park and we all watched it together *lol*!
Food was spectacular, as usual. My favourite was the Braised Pork Ribs Hunan Style, which is de-boned for you, leaving meltingly soft, moist pork. It is divine!!! Was also a big fan of the Salt & Pepper Fresh Mushrooms, which were plump mushrooms lightly battered and dusted with salt/pepper. It sounds like it could be too salty, but it wasn’t, and the flavour of the mushrooms really came through. Also had a Eight Treasures Vegetables dish, which was a bit of a surprise for us but turned out to be a nice one, with plump fresh veggies lightly stir-fried. And of course, we had the typical Szechuan dish – Ma Po Tofu, which is like a spicy tofu and mince pork stew. It’s perfect comfort food when eaten with rice, IMHO. And we had Egg Fried Rice to go with it, because white rice is just too boring 😛
Great food. Great company. What more could we ask for? 🙂
Chris’ tee says “We’re in your base, stealing your flag”. Only total nerds would get this 😉
Our food! Mmmmm!
My favourite, the Hunan braised pork ribs
Deep-fried ice cream, made fresh
Banana fritter and ice cream
Complimentary chocolates and fortune cookies! What a lovely touch!
Girlies
hello! i was just surfing through friends of friends (as you do when you’re bored haha) and came across your very interesting journal.
do you mind if i add you? 🙂
Not at all! I’ll add ya back too 🙂
yay! nice to meet you beverly 🙂
hello! i was just surfing through friends of friends (as you do when you’re bored haha) and came across your very interesting journal.
do you mind if i add you? 🙂
Not at all! I’ll add ya back too 🙂
yay! nice to meet you beverly 🙂
I love mapo tofu! For me, the spicier, the better! *^^*
we were chickens and asked for less spice.. us girls are a bit weak! 😛
Those desserts look delectable.
We were pretty full, but still left room for dessert. Bwahahahah
I love mapo tofu! For me, the spicier, the better! *^^*
we were chickens and asked for less spice.. us girls are a bit weak! 😛
“But with Szechuan Gardens, I always make the exception. The food really is authentic and very very good”
Lols…. not that you’ve actually dined in Szechuan or anything… 🙂
I’ve always pondered the authenticity of Szechuan or China food in Aust in general as I’ve never dined in China. So for all I know, all the shanghainese or szechuan fare that I enjoy here could very well be the china equivalent of our Singapore Noodles or Mongolian Lamb!
.. close enough, from my dreams 😉
I figure if the chef is from that place, then we’re going good!
Yum. I definitely want to go back there…the food was SO good! Loved it all. Hee, and the waiters did warm up in the end, especially the dessert dude. 😀
Hehe ya, I really like the place, but we stopped going after I moved to the City!
Those desserts look delectable.
We were pretty full, but still left room for dessert. Bwahahahah
Yummy! I love deep fried ice cream! I haven’t had any for ages…
My mum’s friend makes baked ice cream, it tastes quite different but just as good. It just has a little extra batter on the outside.
Ooo I’ve never had baked ice cream, it sounds so good!
All you needed to do was to place some miniatures in front of Chris to make the look complete.
Haha yes!
“But with Szechuan Gardens, I always make the exception. The food really is authentic and very very good”
Lols…. not that you’ve actually dined in Szechuan or anything… 🙂
I’ve always pondered the authenticity of Szechuan or China food in Aust in general as I’ve never dined in China. So for all I know, all the shanghainese or szechuan fare that I enjoy here could very well be the china equivalent of our Singapore Noodles or Mongolian Lamb!
.. close enough, from my dreams 😉
I figure if the chef is from that place, then we’re going good!
Yum. I definitely want to go back there…the food was SO good! Loved it all. Hee, and the waiters did warm up in the end, especially the dessert dude. 😀
Hehe ya, I really like the place, but we stopped going after I moved to the City!
Yummy! I love deep fried ice cream! I haven’t had any for ages…
My mum’s friend makes baked ice cream, it tastes quite different but just as good. It just has a little extra batter on the outside.
Ooo I’ve never had baked ice cream, it sounds so good!
All you needed to do was to place some miniatures in front of Chris to make the look complete.
Haha yes!