Mother Chu

If you're after Taiwanese food, you'll know Mother Chu is the one place to go to. It's very homestyle, very authentic, and won't break your wallet.
It's funny because having pass by this place countless time, and have also heard raved review from many people, I just never tried it before myself. Hence, after recently dined in the quite expensive Din Tai Fung, i decided that I'll try the cheaper version of Taiwanese food.
Mother Chu is located in China Town, it's a rather small, pack, and functional restaurant. It is always crowded, and they also set up small table to fit 2 -3 people along the outside of the restaurant. Remind me of those hawker stall back in Malaysia.



There are 3 of us, and we're ask to wait for about 10 mins for a free table. I ask for the menu while we wait. Browsing through menu always bring a sense of excitement to me, and time seem to pass by faster. There are a whole page of small/side dishes which is very famous amount the Taiwanese, as well as a huge range of main dishes, categories into rice mains, and noodle mains. There are some desserts too but the drinks menu seems to be longer, with many different types of pearl milk tea.


Taiwan Beef and Tendon Noodle Soup ($8)

We were seated before i finish browsing the menu, and the 2 boys were already eager to order.
Although they all seems to be more interested to order a selection of small/side dishes only, I manage to persuade them to order some main dishes as well.
Husband lock his eyes on the famous Taiwan Beef and Tendon Noodle soup, while T could not decide what to get. Since we've ordered the noodle section, I suggest that we should try the rice section of the mains, and we choose the Preserve egg and pork congee to share. What is congee without Yu Tiow? So we order Yu Tiaw with egg pancake to go with the congee. Apart from that, we also order some small/side dish such as the steam beef dumpling and Taiwan Siao Long Bao. Having just dined in Din Tai Fung the night before, we are just curious to do compare the siaw long bao of both places.


Preserved Egg and Pork Congee ($8)

The food arrive very quickly, and almost all at once. We ask for extra bowl and share everything together. The beef soup is very hearty and fragrance. I particularly like the handmade noodle, just the right amount of chewiness, and the beef was soft. Perfect for winter as it really warms you up, but husband feels that the portion is a bit too small.
The Preserved egg and pork congee is a little disappointing, it's more bland, and both the preserved egg and pork were microscopically small that we can hardly taste them.
The Yu Tiaw though, was very good, crispy and chewy all at the same time. The boys enjoy the egg pancake that wrap around the yu tiaw too. The congee is then used as a dipping sauce for the yu tiaw, which at least, serve it's purpose in a useful way!


Yu Tiow with Egg Pancake ($5)


Steam Beef Dumpling 12 ($7.50)

The steam beef dumpling is good value for money, although, it's nothing too exciting about it. It's the siao long poa that keeps everyone talking about going back to Mother chu.
It's a serving of 8 pipping hot little gems!! After the first siao long bao encounter, we know we have to be patient and wait for a while before biting into them, as the hot soup that burst out will hurt our tongue!! So, we mop up the beef dumplings first, and then it's the saiw long bao time!!
Boy they don't disappoint, the skin was just enough thickness to hold the soup that when we pick up each bao with chopstick, there was no breakage. I like to dip mine into black vinegar and sent the whole thing straight into my mouth, while husband likes to slurp the hot soup with a small opening first, and then gallop the whole thing. No matter which ways you like to eat your siao long bao, they are good. And I can loudly proclaim that it is better, if not as good as those in Din Tai Fung, but at a much cheaper price.

Siaw Long Bao 8 ($6.50)

We'll definitely be back!

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

Shop 1, 86-88 Dixon Street, Haymarket,

Sydney

Tel: +61 (02) 9211 0288