Noodlemee, Wynyard Station

It was raining today at lunch, and since I found myself in Wynyard Station, it was a good opportunity wait out the rain by trying out "noodlemee". Noodlemee, which translated means "noodlenoodle", has a variety of made-to-order noodle and rice dishes, as well as a counter of ready-made dishes.

I ordered one of the more unusual dishes on the made-to-order menu, called "ramen and rice". Which described the meal pretty well. The ramen was in a mildly spicy soup with egg stirred into it, and was quite tasty and not too salty. The noodles looked and tasted like your usual instant noodles - which is perfectly fine, but doesn't quite live up to the full name of restaurant, which is "noodlemee - home made fresh noodles". Now the rice - to be honest, I wasn't sure what to do with it! I ended up putting the rice in the soup, but perhaps the noodles are supposed to be a dish to be eaten with rice. If you know, please enlighten me! In any case, the rice was quite nice soaked in the soup. By the end of the meal, I had drunk most of the soup.

Other dishes that noodlemee has are stir fried noodles, laksa, Korean jjigae and bibimbap. If you dine in, they have dolsot bibimbap, in a hot stone bowl. Always a nice treat for lunch!

Noodlemee is in Wynyard Station, on the left hand ramp leading up to George Street.

Ooh Rice!?, Hunter Connection

In case you thought there weren't enough Asian food stalls in Hunter Connection off Pitt Street, a new one has just opened, called "Ooh Rice!?". Billing itself as the "Rice Barista from Japan", Ooh Rice!? specialises in onigiri (rice balls wrapped in seaweed), curry rice and various fried items.

Today I tried the curry rice with two fried items: the white fish fry and the chicken tempura (drowned in the curry sauce in the photo above). For those not familiar with Japanese curry, there should be as much sauce as there is rice, and Ooh Rice!?'s version didn't disappoint. The curry itself wasn't as rich as some others I've had, but it did come with the essential red pickles. The fish was satisfying, the chicken less so - it had neither the crunch of a fried chicken cutlet nor the juiciness of Japanese karaage fried chicken. At $8.50, the portion size was decent. One word of advice if you go for the chicken tempura - grab a pair of chopsticks, otherwise you'll be hunched over the bowl trying to bite off a piece of chicken from your spoon. I found this out the hard way...

As well as curry rice, Ooh Rice!? has many varieties of onigiri. It's good to see something a little more authentically Japanese in Sydney than the ubiquitous sushi roll!

Ooh Rice!? is on the upper level of Hunter Connection. There are free samples of onigiri on the counter, so get them while they last!

My Chefs Gallery, Metcentre on George Street

Continuing the trend of Chinatown restaurants opening branches in the city (we also have Ding Tai Fung and Mamak Village), Chefs Gallery has opened a branch on the ground floor of Metcentre on George Street, up the ramp from Wynyard Station. Like the other offshoots, My Chefs Gallery has a reduced menu, offering just enough to keep fans of the main restaurants coming. Other than the classic wonton noodles and steamed and fried dumplings, My Chefs Gallery has some Chefs Gallery signature dishes, like dan dan pork ribs noodles and century eggs with tofu.

Today I tried the prawn & pork wontons noodles in spicy sauce. The noodles themselves were delicious, well cooked to whatever the Chinese equivalent of "al dente" is. The wontons had real prawn, putting them a notch above most of the other offerings around the CBD. But where is the "spicy"? Perhaps I was expecting the glowing red deliciousness of the spicy wonton noodles at Ding Tai Fung, but the hint of chilli buried under the noodles here was a disappointment. Though luckily on the counter is a tub of chilli - you can see I helped myself to that!

At $10.50 for smallish bowl of wonton noodles, My Chefs Gallery is at the more expensive end of lunch options, but the quality is not bad. I'll be back to try some of the more exotic options sometime.

Menya Mappen, George Street

It's a good 15 minute walk from my office to this Japanese gem, so for those of you who work near Town Hall and the George St cinemas, I'm envious. Situated in an arcade on George Street between Bathurst and Liverpool Streets, Menya Mappen is a haven for soba and udon lovers.

The concept is this. Pick your noodle - soba or udon. Choose how you take it, whether hot or cold, dry, in soup or in "sauce", and what toppings you would like on it, such as a half boiled egg (ontama) or tuna. Then help yourself to the selection of tempura and other fried goodies. For the healthy, pick from an assortment of small tubs of vegetables in the fridge. Then pay, grab a cup of water, and eat.

I had the bukkake soba (bukkake means "in sauce", but don't google it unless you're ready for a shock), with a skewer of fish cakes and a small tub of mountain vegetables. The noodles had a nice consistency to them. The fish cake was satisfying and not too greasy, and the mountain vegetables - well, I wish there was a bit more of it.

There are many other options on offer - personally I like the takoyaki octupus balls and the vegetable kakiage tempura. So this is a place you can keep coming back to without having to repeat meals. And being able to "build your own meal" makes this a good option if you're not too hungry, and don't want to pay for a huge portion that you can't finish.

Menya Mappen is at 537-551 George St.

Manna Healthy Way, Hunter Connection

Three dishes with rice or noodles seems to be the norm at the upper level of Hunter Connection, the predominantly Asian food court sandwiched between Hunter, George and Pitt Streets. Four Korean stalls, four Chinese, one Taiwanese, one Thai and one Vietnamese. Today I tried "Manna Healthy Way", a Korean stall. At least I think it's Korean - some version of Korean anyway. The japchae-style noodles are the hit - these could be a dish on their own. My choice of 3 were the omelette (nothing special), chilli pork (best of the three choices, this almost passes as being authentic), and fried chicken (a bit greasy). Today they also had a tofu dish, and a couple of vegetable dishes. This is not your traditional Korean lunch (they also have made-to-order dishes which look more authentic), but not a bad option if you're in the mood for something Korean-like.

Pho Ha Noi, Hunter Connection

One of my favourite Vietnamese dishes. OK, it's not that authentic, but hey, it's fried chicken! Sadly, this is a barely passable rendition of this dish. The rice has been sitting under heat lamps too long, the chicken is only mildly crispy, and the pieces are large enough to make eating with either chopsticks or a fork quite challenging. The soup is best ignored, and the plates are so greasy it's best not to think about it too much. Still, when the yearning for fried chicken strikes, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...

Pho Ha Noi is on the upper level of Hunter Connection, at the top of the escalator nearest the Pitt Street entrance.