Chefs Gallery Hurstville has a new name, a new menu, and it’s spicing up the southern Sydney suburb.
Update: The Hurstville restaurant is no more. BUT the chef still has galleries in Regent Place, Town Hall; Macquarie Shopping Centre, North Ryde; Westfield Parramatta; and Metcentre, Sydney.
Chefs Gallery first burst onto Sydney’s dining scene in 2010 and – with restaurants in Town Hall, North Ryde, Bankstown, Parramatta and Hurstville – has been a favourite go-to ever since for mid-priced dumplings, noodles and other Pan-Asian goodness.
So when the Hurstville store – which now goes by the name of Chefs Gallery Classic – jiggles up its menu, you take notice. Everyone’s dumpling and noodle favourites are still on the menu (relax people), but there’s a few new faces. Appealing to the local community, the Hurstville concept restaurant has a revamped menu that’s all about traditional Southern Chinese cuisine. Specifically from the Sichuan and Hunan provinces, the new dishes are a study in the restrained yin and yang of Chinese cuisine.
A lesson in Southern Chinese cuisine
First, you need to succeed in the challenge of finding Chefs Gallery Classic (it’s tucked inside Westfield Hurstville’s Forest Road entrance – if in doubt refer to the Westfield directory screens, as I did), If you pass this test, you’ll be treated with the luscious smell of chilli as you walk down into the basement restaurant.
Handed a beautifully-illustrated menu, the size of a George R. R. Martin novel, choosing just a few dishes is a challenge. There’s a choice of 90+ share plates – from seafood and pork to rice and Sichuan-style hot pots – and they’re all delicious-sounding. Except maybe the braised pig ears and chicken gizzards – you’re on your own with the offal.
So much choice, it took the husband and I 30 minutes to come to an agreement on what we wanted to order – there was so much debating anyone would have thought we were trying out for the debate team.
This is what we agreed to share…
Pork wontons in a Shangainese spicy sauce
Handmade noodles in a chicken soup, with omelette strips and vegetables…
… served with a fried pork chop
Fried rice of prawns and diced Chinese olives. My favourite 🙂
Wok-fried pork ribs, calamari and chicken wings, served with diced onion, capsicum, garlic, celery and chives
Sadly, the emoji custard balls were all sold out (who doesn’t want to see a grimacing emoji spew custard?). So we settled on the egg pancakes with mango ice cream.
As for drinks, there’s a small selection of juices, iced teas, wines, beers and ciders to choose from, along with milo. Or you can BYO wine ($10 bottle corkage).
Chefs Gallery Classic is…
Chefs Gallery Classic is a winner. The servings are generous, the service efficient and the price reasonable. You can get a serious feast for less than $100, which is unheard of in my world. Plus, everything is super fresh and flavour-filled.
It’s the perfect Hurstville dinner (or lunch) option. Especially if you’ve finished shopping or about to see a movie and don’t feel like another round of Oporto, or whatever your food court choosing of choice is. It’s also family-friendly, so feel free to bring the brood.
I can’t say that I’m fluent in the art of Southern Chinese cooking but I am fluent in eating, and it’s hard not to be impressed by Chefs Gallery Classic. At the very least, you’re guaranteed to be impressed by the chefs in their zoo-like glassed kitchen, hand-making noodles like it’s an Olympic sport.
Chefs Gallery Classic | Westfield Hurstville, Forest Road entrance, Hurstville, New South Wales
Phone: (02) 9580 4524
chefsgallery.com
