Chinese New Year wouldn’t be Chinese New Year without a slap up Chinese meal, and as this year is the Year of the Rooster we thought we would celebrate at our local Chinese restaurant in Five Dock – Simply the Best.
Aptly named, Simply the Best is a family run restaurant with a twist. William the owner is wonderfully friendly, always welcoming us back with his sayings, “Welcome Home my Friend, good to see you, come in, come in” and gives us a hug and warming smile every time we visit.
His quirky charm certainly brings us back time and time again, with the restaurant well-positioned along Great North Road. We arrived just before 8pm and were surprised to see the restaurant empty; however William soon told us they’d had a mad rush from 5pm and just wait and see as the tables would soon be bustling for the second rush of the night, whilst the phones would continue to ring for delivery orders and pickups.
We took a table by the window and soon perused the menu. This time we decided to try some entrees and I went for the homemade Rice Paper Rolls, and we also shared some Spicy Calamari – both house special dishes. For mains we went for the Szechuan Chicken and a Crispy Beef dish, with Singapore Noodles.
Our entrees soon arrived and the Rice Paper Rolls were massive. I knew there were three of them for around $7, but they could have easily fed two people. The Rice Paper Rolls are served cold and full of beansprouts, chicken and prawns and were really yummy with the accompanying dip. The Spicy Calamari was also good, but we had to stop eating to avoid full stomachs before our mains arrived!
Next up our Singapore Noodles were brought to the table, and was served without prawns due to my boyfriend’s seafood allergy which was a nice touch knowing everything is made fresh. The noodles had a good hint of chilli and the chicken was superbly tender and there was plenty of it.
Again both the Szechuan Chicken and Crispy Beef dishes were massive, you could easily have one dish between two people. I had asked for the Szechuan Chicken to be served hot as it comes medium hot and William gives you the choice of having it extra hot and “sexy hot” too which will “blow your bloody brains out”! We decided we best not go for that extreme heat tonight – definitely want to keep my brains intact!
The beef was super crunchy and superbly moreish and went down a treat, although we had to ask for the remaining dishes to be bagged up to take away with us – definitely not wasting this food! During the night William gave us a red envelope for good luck and due to it being Chinese New Year whilst our night ended with some fortune cookies and chocolates – yum!
Overall Simply the Best is a fantastic restaurant in Five Dock that serves enormous portion sizes for affordable prices. Specialising in Chinese and Vietnamese cuisines, all dishes are homemade and the Chef’s Recommendations are certainly worth trying! If dining in then you can BYO wine, whilst if you order takeaway and collect then the food is also just as good as eating in!
If you love Chinese food and live in the Inner West area, then be sure to try out Simply the Best, where you are sure to have one of the best Chinese meals in Sydney!