When I was first introduced to Pu’er, I was told that this is a restaurant that specialises in “modern and traditional Asian food, with a western flair“. Well…as someone that has an Asian background and truly appreciates authentic Chinese food, that was, frankly, a little worrying — until I actually tasted their food.
The experience reminded me of the two big names in the Sydney food scene: Mr Wong and Ms. G. Admittedly, Pu’er is not as sophisticated as Mr Wong, nor is it as funky as Ms.G; however, the style and execution of the dishes that this little kitchen was able to pull off truly deserves great recognition.
—–HER{curio}MAJESTY SCORE SHEET—–
Visited: 15 March 2015
Food: 8.5/10 || Ambiance: 8/10 || Service: Excellent*
What I liked: The wagyu taco. The golden manto. The dessert.
Will I come back: Yes.
*HER{curio}MAJESTY dined as a guest of Pu’er.
Pu’er is on the corner of Danks Street and Bourke Street in Waterloo. Its shopfront is not particularly attractive as it is on the ground floor of a commercial office building that features an orange and silver design that I personally am not fond of.
Luckily, the interior of Pu’er saved the day. The fitout cleverly made use of wood and bamboo elements that balanced out the orange on the outside.
The one-pager food menu offers some of the most interesting Chinese dishes that I had never seen in Sydney.
The manager, Quinton, explained to us that Pu’er used to be a tea house. Food and alcohol was introduced much later, and they have since then evolved to the full-fledged restaurant that they are now.
Spicy prawn (canton style of chili marinated prawn and baby bamboo in a lightly chili pastry), $8. Its eye-catching colour distinguishes itself from the usual flair you get at your local Saturday yum cha. The prawn was fresh and the texture of skin had just the right balance of chewiness and softness.
It wasn’t remotely as spicy as it looked, though.
Shanghai (juicy pork & soup dumpling, served with fresh ginger and black vinegar sauce), $7.
I thought these dumplings were Din Tai Fung styled dumplings, but they actually tasted more like mini pork buns – meaning the skin was slightly thicker.
After I got over the initial confusion, I savoured it like a pork bun and I totally enjoyed it. I especially liked how the mince and the soup was not greasy at all.
By the way, they steam their dumplings with tea – how very fancy!
Wagyu tacos (9+ Oakley Ranch Wagyu beef, in house chili paste, Chinese taco bun, four leaf greens), $16.
Last time I checked, these were known simply as buns. Do people call them Chinese tacos now? Anyway, I maintain that “gua bao” is their real name.
The portion of the wagyu was a lot more substantial than I had imagined, and it was so tender. Even though it was the first time that I had tried the combination of wagyu beef and gua bao together, it felt like they were meant to be. The bun itself was not as soft as the Ippudo buns, but the texture was actually closer than the gua bao that I used to have in my hometown, Taiwan.
Hong Kong mini burgers (panko pork, house smoked chili paste, hoisin, baby cress, golden mantao), $15.
Golden mantao was my absolute childhood favourite and I was so impressed that this was on the menu. Do be prepared to get your hands all greasy as it is what it’s supposed to be – deep fried baby!
We had the Premium Jasmine tea with our meal, $9. I am not unfamiliar with tea, but the aroma and elegance of this tea really amazed me.
You get a whole tea set and instructions from the staff on how to best enjoy the tea. For this particular tea, Quinton suggested leaving the tea leaves in the pot for 3 minutes for each brew. As tea goes, each brew tastes differently – we were told that the charm of the tea reaches its peak at its third and fourth brew.
Three cup drunken duck (Shao Xing, soy, sugar, slow cooked with shiitake, fresh basil), $26.
Three-cup chicken and three-cup squid are popular dishes in Taiwan, but I had never heard about three-cup drunken duck before. For those that are not familiar with the three-cup concept, it refers to the combination of sesame oil, soy sauce and wine; and basil is usually added to the wok as a final oomph.
The duck was tender and flavourful. I tasted the Shao Xing wine, but I couldn’t taste a hint of the usual “three-cup” flavours in this dish. Probably because the basil was only placed on top of the dish as a garnish rather than being cooked with the meat or the lack of sesame oil.
Caramelised Berkshire pork belly (Pu’er and spice infused tea eggs), $24.
Did you say tea eggs? You’ve gotta be kidding me, tea eggs were another one of my childhood favourites! It’s so rare to find these in Sydney restaurants. And guess what – the eggs were infused by Pu’er tea. Yes, I only realised that this place was named after the tea blend “Pu’er” half way through my meal (oops).
A close-up for the tenderness of the pork.
For the quality of the food that we had, it was pretty incredible that they all came from this tiny kitchen.
Now, dessert. Coconut & kaffir lime leaf sorbet (young coconut, coconut water, black sticky rice), $10.
I am pleased to announce that the dessert at Pu’er was a strong finish to our delightful night.
I will definitely come back for this sorbet. It’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s coconut-y, it’s refreshing, it’s one hell of a sorbet.
Chocolate brownie (banana, spiced wine jus, salted palm sugar ice cream, salted almond praline), $10.
The salted almond praline and the salted palm sugar ice cream were the highlights.
I think I will come back with my girlfriends for a Chinese high tea next time.
{Puer} Address: 20a Danks Street, Waterloo NSW Website: http://www.puer.com.au/