Jade Temple is located at the site of the former Rockpool and showcases Neil Perry’s take on Modern Cantonese cuisine, as reflected in the elegant grandeur of the decor.
Today we’re trying their three course Express Lunch for $39 a head, which allows diners their pick of 3 different options for entrees and mains, and a set dessert of Duck Egg Custard Spring Roll.
To start, we went with the Roast Pork Belly Bao which was a DIY affair, with the fluffy bao coming in its own steamer basket, and the roast pork belly on the side together with some pickled onions and chilli condiment for you to add to the bao to taste. The result of this combo of flavours was an explosion of tastiness, mostly because their pork belly had been cooked to perfection with crackling on point and also thanks to their very deliciously addictive chilli.
Roast Pork Belly Bao
Our other entree was the three piece Dim Sum and the daily selection we got featured the classics of prawn har gow in a translucent casing, pork shu mai and also a deep fried wonton. Each morsel hit the spot and got our tastebuds going for the next round.
Dim Sum
Moving onto the mains, we were impressed by the strong umami flavours in the lightly battered Stir Fried Chilli Salt Squid, though the portion is quite generous and is best shared with your dining companion.
Stir Fried Chilli Salt Squid
This approach also means that you can try some of your dining companion’s selection – which in my friend’s case was the Wonton Noodle (surprisingly with no soup though, despite the menu saying it was a soup noodle). No complaints from us though, as the chewy noodles and silky wontons were tossed in a delicious Sichuan style chilli sauce that kept the dish from being too dry.
Wonton Noodle
We rounded off our meal with the Duck Egg Custard Spring Roll which is the first time I’ve had duck egg in this form. It is a bit richer than your usual egg custard but worked well with the lovely garnet plum and vanilla ice cream on the side. The dessert all melded together nicely to create an interesting blend of East meets West flavours and textures, though the spring roll itself was quite hard to crack into. We were also treated to a delectable honeycomb and vanilla cupcake as part of our dessert as it was a birthday celebration – a nice and unexpected touch from the restaurant!
Duck Egg Custard Spring Roll
We were thoroughly impressed by the range of flavours and calibre of the ingredients on offer in the dishes available through the well-priced Express Lunch at Jade Temple and think it is fantastic, conveniently located spot for a business lunch or a luxe catch up with friends in the city during the week.
Jade Temple
11 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9252 1888
