Northbridge Chinese Restaurant also known as Lok Fook by the Chinese population in Perth is a popular Chinese restaurant on Roe St. While it is popular, this place draws a host of criticisms from me in the past for its arrogant lady boss, incompetent service and inconsistent food quality. Earlier this year, it became known to me that the chefs took ownership of the restaurants and so my family decided to have a family dinner here after a long time of being away. Under the new management, Northbridge Chinese Restaurant is a fair bit different now that is has a level of service which is more acceptable.
That night we had two tables of 8, one for the youngsters and the other for the oldies :P! Since it was a special treat for my parents as well as my two aunties who traveled from Singapore and Sydney, it was an all out banquet for the family.
The first dish to reach was an “egg drop" Chinese mushroom soup The thick gelatinous soup did not quite tickle my fancy but was a decent start to the meal. It is probably just me, but I have a preference that other than the good old Shark’s Fin soup with crab meat, I prefer Cantonese style soups which are thinner in consistency yet potent in the sweetness of its ingredients like pork ribs, lotus root, peanuts, dates and a host of other herbs.
Scallops on shell steamed with emperor soy, glass noodles, topped with crispy garlic oil and finely chopped scallions. Scallops are always a treat when served not the table. This was no different. The sweet protein of the sea when cooked to perfection is a no brainer. Here it was prepared simple, yet delicious but a tad overcooked. Thinking of the perfect scallops, I feel the need to revisit Marea in NYC. The scallops at Marea had to be the best I have ever had. See this post here to get what I mean :P!
Next up was another dish that involved some intense finger action. Snow crabs tossed in a salted egg sauce. It is not hard understand why people go crazy over snow crabs. Its large chunk of flesh from the claw easily overwhelms that of any other shellfish on earth. Add a fragrant garlicky salted egg sauce to the equation and boy it was good.
At this point of the dinner, the chef probably thought that it was a good time to give our palates a rest and cooked up a piping hot serve of garlic Kailan. A basic dish that never fails to satisfy. Easily cooked at home, but never the same, restaurants tend to use a bigger “burner” resulting in a drier vegetable dish. At home, most garlic kailan usually comes out watery!
Next was up was the boys favourite, the Pai Kuat Wong or the Emperor Ribs. Crispy deep fried meaty ribs coat in a sticky sweet fruity sauce is a dish that tastes very similar to the Peking Ribs with the exception of the mayonnaise.
Next was another deep fried dish @@! It was a very unhealthy night but hey, once in a blue moon right? haha. The last one was a fusion between an aubergine and a prawn/chicken paste of some sort. I have to say, I was not the biggest fan of the dish for the sole reason of it being way too oily. Aubergine is quite a spongy vegetable. It absorbs things well. Oil in particular. So deep fry something like that and oh that oil! Just a couple of days back we had another Chinese meal two doors down and they served their specialty chicken skin and prawn paste dish which was absolutely moreish when compared to this.
To end were the complementary fruits and sago in coconut milk. Neither were particularly impressive but who am I to complain when the word complimentary is involved :P!
The meal at the Northbridge Chinese Restaurant was a very good one. It is actually the second time I am visiting the place in the last 2 months as I had another big family dinner here when my relatives were here from Canada. Altogether as a family, we were worried initially when we made the booking due to the poor the place rating it had on Urbanspoon. Nonetheless, two successful dinners has shown that the new management is not short of skills when it comes to preparing quality Chinese. This in itself is a good reason to come back. But for everything else Chinese especially Chinese Roast, I would stray no further than my favourite HK Barbecue or Good Fortune :)!
WenY
