Mr Stonebowl/石锅先生, Burwood (UPDATED REVIEW)

My brother asked me about this place the other day and since he asked me about it, my sister became curious and wanted to go since we've been losing favourite places in Burwood to eat at. This isn't part of this post but I definitely DO NOT recommend Canton Noodle House in Burwood anymore because of their below average service and when I had Japanese Tofu there last time it tasted super sour and expired, which was definitely not acceptable. So yeah, I used to really like that place but I think they changed their management and staff. It has also become rather quiet at dinner times, for a very apparent reason. But yeah, tofu is inexpensive and to cook and to give your customers tofu gone bad is pretty ridiculous. My sister told them that the tofu tasted off and they replaced it but it still turned out bad like the previous one so yeahhh, no.

Anyway, back to the main deal, Mr Stonebowl at 185c Burwood Road (previous review), I've talked about this place before but since I had different dishes this time, I thought I might as well do an updated review! As always, super busy though, think I got there around 7:30pm and I had to wait until 8:10pm for a seat for 4 people. It was a cold night as well zzzz.

Pork Rib with Mushroom Soup/虫草花原味炖肉排 ($4.80)

It was really really cold so I wanted this soup again! Sadly, it does taste a bit different from memories, like it still tastes good but I feel like they added MSG to it in comparison to when I tried it a year ago. Maybe those signs I saw saying they're recruiting chefs and stuff has something to do with it..lol But yeah, still tastes quite authentic and great for the winter time but it does taste like there's MSG now,

Deep Fried Chicken Fillet with Dried Chilli/歌乐山辣子鸡 ($15.80)

Woo! My sister and her boyfriend loved this dish the most but I really didn't like the after taste of the chilli chicken in my mouth. It's probably the type of chilli they used that I'm not very familiar with so I didn't especially like it but they loved it. It was quite spicy as well but I do admit, it did taste pretty nice and tender.

Pan Fried Pork Dumplings/香煎锅贴 9pcs ($8.80)

These dumplings were soo good! Super recommended! The skin, the meat inside, it was literally perfect. Wasn't too chewy and tasted really soft and crunchy at the same time. Really enjoyed it.

Singapore Style Barramundi/星洲石锅鱼($18.80)

Since every single table we saw while waiting for a table was eating this, we decided to order it as well. It was pretty nice and not very spicy, but it was a bit hard to get the fish meat off at times because it was stuck to the fish bones. Overall, pretty good, when you could pick up the meat, it was very soft and the sauce was more of a sweet and sour taste.

Marinated Tender Chicken/魔鬼嫩滑鸡 ($7.80)

I tried this again! My dinner mates didn't like it very much but I still like it. But I guess it didn't match well with the rest of the dishes since it's better eaten as an entree before all the food comes and not with all the food at once. I really enjoyed it as an entree. It still has that funky light and tangy taste which is really creamy. The chicken was also as tender as ever.

Xiao Long Bao/灌汤小笼包 9 pcs ($9.80)

Xiao Long Bao ($8.80)

Yuum! This was pretty nice as well, not as perfect as the other dumplings but it was still very meaty and juicy which I loveee. It's not crazy good but definitely good for satisfying the craving!

Overall, I think if you're looking for a restaurant with densely flavoured dishes, this would be a great pick since everything is packed with flavour and the dishes come really fast as well! A possible negative would be that most of the service staff mainly speak in Mandarin/Taiwanese and so might not understand anything outside of which dishes you want and table water etc, the simple stuff that is required in all restaurants. I guess it's better to have someone that understands it but not necessary. Overall, it's a good place but I'm not fond of the crazy lines it can have so it's not really a restaurant I'd ever be rushing to get to.