Chinese Noodle Restaurant

This is it. This restaurant will change your life.

Melbourne blogger Claire put it well when she said every Sydneysider likes to think that Chinese Noodle Restaurant (CNR shall we?) is his/her own little secret.  Any serious attempt at such a claim at this stage is pointless (every tom, dick and surry hills hipster harry eats there now), however I certainly like to think that I rode the early wave of CNR's extra-chinese-australian-community fame several years back.

Ownership claims aside, I find a visit to CNR (also known commonly as 'dumplings' or 'fake grapes' - the reason clear upon entry) an absolute necessity at least once a week when living in Sydney.  Jiǎozi, the Beijing style dumplings that are the claim to fame of this place, are becoming all the time more available and popular (I even recently tracked down a decent restaurant - or perhaps i should say dealer given the desperate following these things have - in Berlin), but the simple truth is that there is just nowhere like CNR.

Sydney Madang

 













Tonight I went solo to one of my all-time favourite places to eat in Sydney. 

Meals from Madang are extremely high on my nostalgic cravings list when I'm somewhere else, and there was not a trace of disappointment in this evening's experience.


Sydney Madang is an institution among Korean food fans.  In a week or so I will feature a more thorough exposition of the menu and the restaurant itself, which is from one perspective best enjoyed in a sizey group, but tonight I want to talk about the other way to bathe in the heavenly food aura which surrounds Madang.  This is best done alone, in order to minimise the potential for distracting conversation, and to capitalise on your portions of banchan (which merit a blog entry in themselves and accompany every korean restaurant meal worth eating).

Sydney, January 2010

After 13 months away I am returning to the city I called home for four years, my missed friends and family, and the sure chance of burning my poor Vitamin D-deprived skin.  I’m bringing with me a camera, an appetite and a (potentially bloated) suitcase full of expectations.

My mission: write my first blog, featuring all the food I think is amazing in Sydney.

My time span: three weeks.

My budget: uncomfortably low.

My secret fear: that everything I have raved about to those overseas regarding the food in this city might contain a hefty dose of nostalgic distortion. That is – is the food in this town really that good??