Weird smelling things at Serenade Palace

Just don't be alarmed if you ever see it in its raw form...

A mad rush during lunch hour on Fathers Day this year meant a solid 20+ minute wait for a table at Serenade Palace. Quite a wait, and more so surprising, considering the restaurant has never been more than half full on other days I have been here.

It's a longstanding tradition of my family's to head out for Dim Sim for Mothers and Fathers Day; we'll be there, putting up a fight for a free table and battling all the other dads there who deserve a good siu mai on their special day without needing to struggle with the crowds.

Serenade Palace

The restaurant is still pumping and full of people eager for more rounds of dim sim on their lazy susans. Stacks of bamboo steamers are making their way around the floor on trolleys; some letting out lots of steam, representative of being freshly delivered right out of the kitchen while others not so much, having done many laps around the restaurant.

It is a huge disappointment that the majority of the items we call are barely even lukewarm. We were especially perplexed as to how some dishes that we ordered to be immediately steamed, still managed to come out lukewarm.

I think the only positive thought I left the restaurant with, was how beautiful this painting is. The colours are amazing, and I catch myself staring at this serene painted landscape every time.

Deep fried Prawn and Meat Dumplings - $4.90

We said "Yes, please" to the waitress who offered a plate of deep fried dumplings as our bottoms just touched down on our seats. As it was a frantic and mad dash for food in the restaurant that day, we unfortunately said yes to a plate of three cold deep fried dumplings.

Fresh Prawn Rice Flour Rolls - $5.20

I am somewhat surprised that these rice flour rolls ended up being one of the most satisfying dishes that landed on our table.

Deep fried Crab Meat Dumplings - $5.20

The deep fried crab meat dumplings are golden balls of crab "meat" - similar to the taste and texture of fish cakes, made out of surimi. Serenade Palace's version have a very thin batter, unlike others which might be wrapped in tofu skin and deep fried, giving it a very crisp, shattering between your teeth effect.

Prawn Dumplings - $5.20

These freshly steamed and plump pillows of prawns looked promising as they were plonked on the table, however I was not a fan of the flimsy dumpling skin, which tore apart easily as I tried to transfer it safely to my bowl. 

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns - $4.80

BBQ pork buns are the lovable must-haves at a dim sim chow down with many people, but not an item frequently on our eating agenda. I remember being scolded by my parents when I was a little one, as I had a strange habit of eating the bun and throwing out the filling; the reason for the scolding being not only because it was a waste, but because I'd be unnecessarily filling stomach space too fast. This is probably why we still don't order it these days - strategic eating is the buzz word in my family!

They usually comprise of too much bun (not a negative if the bun itself is soft and fluffy) and too little filling, be it meat or sauce, and these pork buns fit in perfectly well with this description.

Siu Mai - $4.80

The siu mai of chopped prawn and minced pork were satisfyingly juicy, with its high fat to meat ratio. A no no for me personally, but that's the guilty factor that makes them so satisfying.

Beef Tendon in Szechuan Sauce

A popular way of preparing tendon is to simmer the stuff until it is unbelievably soft. I am quite opposed to this way of eating tendon, as it takes away the enjoyment of gnawing away at the slightly chewy, almost crunchy texture of it when it is cooked al dente.

The tendon dim sim is not featured in the menu, but can be prepared when asked for. It is a less known, uncommon dim sim but nevertheless should definitely be tried. Just don't be alarmed if you ever see it in its raw form; if curiosity plagues you, let SeriousEats relieve you.

Steamed Tripe with Spring Onion and Ginger - $5.20

If there was a dish that was worthy of a mention, it is this. Don't get me wrong though - it is worthy of a mention for all the wrong reasons. As I picked up a piece of the steamed tripe, a strong, unpleasant stench started making its way up my nose. As I was about to put it in my mouth, I was mortified - the smell was from the piece of tripe; it reeked like body odour! Even dad, who didn't believe me when I told him initially, realised I wasn't telling fibs when the smell drifted past him.

I'm really not sure what it could possibly have been, but it was unfortunate because it really spoiled the tripe for me - it's usually one of my favourites. I ate one, but that's about all I could manage.

Red Bean Pudding

I practically halted the waitress who was serving these in her tracks; I love red bean! The flavour of red bean is very prominent in this sweet dessert pudding, with the top layer featuring a very compressed paste of it. The rest of the pudding comprises of coconut milk and red bean fragments mixed through, although I wasn't expecting it to be as dense when I bit into it, nor as sweet as it was.

Mango Cake

Instead of the common mango pudding dessert usually served at dim sim, I was highly intrigued by this mango cake that was being touted by the waitresses. Upon taking a bite, we all announced our reactions, which all happened to be the same: surprise. The texture was like nothing we had expected and its appearance gave nothing away - a bit like jelly but at the same time, it's nothing like jelly.

Your teeth immediately sink through the cake, as it is soft, airy and kind of like stiff egg whites. Simultaneously it is quite moist but bland; I wouldn't have guessed it was a mango dessert if not for the vivid yellow colour.

Steamed Fish Balls - $5.20

After dessert, it was straight back to the mains as we were not quite satisfied at this point (quantity and quality wise). As it was getting towards the end of dim sim service by this time (places usually stop serving around 3pm), further orders have to be requested then cooked to order, which is even a better option really!

I ordered some steamed fish balls, which strangely arrived not as hot as one would expect food to be if it came fresh from the kitchen. Steamed fish balls at dim sim are not quite like the fish balls found in packages from Asian grocers and in noodle soups, these are less "bouncier" to chew and taste more genuine.

Chicken Feet with Spicy Sauce - $4.80

Chicken feet are a sometimes food for me, and this occasion was one of those "sometimes not" occasions. Serenade Palace's version looked tempting and flavoursome from being soaked in that vibrantly red and garlicky sauce. The fiery looking redness is just that - fiery looking, but much more mild in taste.

Setting the tables for dinner service

Serenade Palace is a mixed lucky dip bag - you never really know what you will get and it's best not to have any set expectations in place. I have been here a few times for dim sim but never for dinner, and I find that my weekday visits are quieter and generally the food seems to be of a better quality than what we experienced on a very busy and hectic but loving Fathers Day.

Serenade Palace, Warwick

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Serenade Palace Urbanspoon page
Open 7 days
Lunch
Mon - Fri: 11am - 2.30pm
Sat - Sun: 10am - 3pm
Dinner
Mon - Thurs: 4.30pm - 10pm
Fri - Sat: 4.30pm - 10.30pm
Sun: 4.30pm - 9.30pm

(08) 92038828
Warwick Entertainment Centre
Shop 3B, 639 Beach Road Warwick, WA 6024

Did not find love at Home Town's Kitchen

I tried to love this place, but you just can't force it...

If Perth in Western Australia is not your home town, you probably wouldn't be familiar with the ongoing feud between 'Northies' and 'Southies' about the better side of the river to live on. There's a great sense of pride for your own side of the river, but I (a lifetime North dweller) am one who often wishes I lived down under in our Land Down Under. There seems to be a severe lack of great local eateries up my end!

(If you think that's complete rubbish, or you know some neighbourhood gems, or you ARE the neighbourhood gem, please for the love of good food let me know!)

Home Town's Kitchen

As a complete case in point, I spied an advert for Home Town's Kitchen in the newspaper which immediately piqued my interest. I had high expectations as they gained a finalist position in SBS Feast's 2012 'Taste Global, Eat Local' Food Awards, a celebration of international cuisines. Last year's focus was to nominate the best places to find famous international dishes such as pho, gyoza, pad thai, baklava and a favourite I had to try here - curry laksa.

To cut straight to it, it was a disappointment. Every dish on the menu looked promising and the restaurant's furnishings were tastefully dotted around yet while I slurped the last strands of noodles into my mouth, I felt that this meal at Home Town's Kitchen was definitely not worth venturing 45 minutes away from home for.

Chicken Satay Sticks (2) - $4

I requested satay sticks, thinking this was a good way to test the waters of authenticity. It came halfway through our main dishes, and frankly they did not make me want to throw down my chopsticks and claw at these with my hands. The chicken satay sticks are fleshy, but here's a good example where quantity wins at the expense of quality - they're visibly dry and sadly not cooked via grilling as I had crossed my fingers and toes for. Sadly, not very impressed with the deep-fried batter, or the overall run-of-the-mill tasting satay chicken.
The satay sauce is not even its saving grace.

Hainanese Chicken Rice - $10.80

Home Town's Kitchen's Hainanese chicken rice is not on its normal menu and is only available to order on weekends. I was really looking forward to a plate of smooth, juicy serving of chicken only to be presented quite a dear plate of Hainanese chicken rice which fell direly short of my expectations. You are able to select either chicken breast or thigh with your order but even my thigh pieces were not succulent, and I found myself dreaming of biting into the chicken from Tak Chee (If you haven't heard the gossip, Perth's best Hainanese chicken rice probably resides here!)

What adds to the dish's mediocrity the most is the chilli sauce, which I feel more inclined to call a dish of water with chilli colouring added to it. Bland and flavourless; I'd regard it as being there purely for aesthetic appeal, not taste.

Tom Yum Mee Fun Soup - $9.80

The Tom Yum rice noodle soup that we ordered was a good level of spiciness with just the right acidity to make me keep drinking it. Home Town's Kitchen uses thin rice vermicelli, chicken, baby corn and tinned mushrooms, which I actually adore. However in comparison to the memorable Tom Yum that I ordered from the Malaysian Hawker store at the Cambridge Forum International Food Court, that certainly comes out as the victorious one of the two.

Seafood Curry Laksa - $12.80

The moment the curry laksa was set on the table was the moment my anticipation had been building up to the entire meal. The vibrant, vicious looking colour of the soup was a good indication of the spiciness factor of the laksa, which was setting off alarm bells for Andy, who orders Lemon and Herb basting from Nando's, because even the Mild option is too much for him. Even I had tiny beads of sweat on my nose as I slurped up the egg noodles, with minimal soup intake.

I'm used to a milder laksa, but I'm sure this would be a winner with chilli fiends who can't get enough of the stuff in their food. I enjoyed the variety of ingredients used in the laksa; an assortment of seafood including prawns, squid, fish, fish paste, deep-fried tofu and a hard boiled egg.

Claypot Yee Mee - $10.80

Being overwhelmed with the extensive choice of dishes available from the menu, we asked our waitress for her recommendations and suggestions on their specialty dishes, or the dish that was most popular with the customers. We went with her suggestions and ordered the claypot yee mee, which came out boiling hot, the sauce spitting and bubbling in all its glory.

Immediate thoughts: How big is this thing!

We gave the egg yolk a good stir into the noodles and sauce, which was quite abundant. Another thing we thought there was a lot of was salt - the sauce was slightly salty and we couldn't get away from it as a thick layer of it coated every strand of noodle in the claypot.

The noodles ended up being unfinished, but I did scoop out every piece of chicken, mushroom, baby corn and broccoli that were all liberally coated with the brown sauce. I have to admit, the sauce got sickening towards the end of the meal - too much of something is not always a good thing!

On the walls in this home town

Upon stepping into the restaurant, the first thing that striked me besides how spacious the interior was, were the walls. There was a comforting, cluttered feel about them, being decorated with different sized picture frames, paintings, shelves with flower vases and empty wine bottles and a beautiful vintage looking clock that I would much rather have in my own room!

What wasn't particularly striking was the food, which to me had more misses than hits. There are other places for good tasting, good value Malaysian dishes if South of the river is your preference, especially with the popularity of Malaysian cuisine in Perth in general.

I spied their dessert selection, which seems to be full of yummy options such as banana/pineapple fritters, red bean pancake and bubur cha-cha, a Malaysian dessert consisting of coconut milk, sweet potato, yam and tapioca pearls. My brain shouted YES but my belly cried out no, so if you get around to trying it, I'd love to know your opinion :)

Ample seating

Before we left, we were given a card which works like their loyalty system: Collect ten stamps to get 10% off your 11th bill. But the catch is, you must spend over $50 to receive a stamp, meaning you would have spent over $500 to get $5 off - a considerable amount spent on dishes if you ask me!

I tried to love this place, but you just can't force it - love's got to come in the form of great food.
My opinion aside, Home Town's Kitchen seems to be doing well on the foodie forefront, serving up Malaysian dishes that's winning taste buds over. To me, Malay cuisine is my go-to happy food; it's good, it's value and most importantly it's delicious, and it's enough to put a smile on my face :)

Home Town's Kitchen, Parkwood

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Home Town's Kitchen's Facebook page

Lunch: 11am - 2.30pm

Dinner: 5pm - 10pm

Closed Tuesdays

Chinese tea $1 per head, minimum charge $3.50

BYO Beer and soft drinks: $1 per head

10% surcharge on public holidays

(08) 94578889

Parkwood Shopping Centre, 6/78 Vellgrove Avenue, Parkwood WA 6147

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