With a fiery intensity, The Rise of Phoenixes chronicles the story of an ambitious prince and a perceptive genius - played by seasoned actors Chen Kun and Ni Ni - fighting for love and power. The enthralling tale of deception, ambition, and sacrifice creates a nail-biting experience reminiscent of a phoenix's tale.
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I suspect that this may be what the chef is watching, on Youtube, as we enter Flavours of Jiangnan, tucked away in a quiet corner pocket in Dickson.
She doesn't flinch as we arrive, but instead we are greeted with a warm smile and a handful of menus by her daughter Claire who runs the floor by herself, whilst her parents cook in this little Shanghainese suburban gem.
The restaurant has a family feel, which is convenient, as we are dining with the kids tonight.
There is a notion they have just met their long-lost Shanghainese family they never knew they had.
The dining room is just a room and it has a view of the semi-open kitchen where the food is cooked. There is no mood lighting, but there is an industrial-style concrete wall, where the "Check in Canberra App" poster still hangs.
I don't see anybody checking in. There is no music. The lighting is fluorescent. But somehow, there is plenty of atmosphere. It takes me a while to work out that the energy of the people in the room creates all the warmth and comfort that is needed. It's an environmental by-product of this family of three, who sincerely appreciate you coming in to try their food and experience a few hours of their restaurant life.
Within 30 minutes, the small restaurant is heaving, inside and out, and Claire darts about as manager, waitress and cashier, taking orders, and delivering soft drinks, noodles, dumplings, rice and hot-pot-style dishes to a very receptive crowd of about 30 hungry diners - local Chinese families to university students and all of those in between who appreciates a big fat noodle. At one point, she even jumps into the kitchen to check the dumplings on the stovetop. She neither breaks a sweat, nor loses her smile.
Seasoned fresh cucumber ($10) comes exactly as described. It is seasoned beautifully, with a hint of spice in the dressing, and tastes like it has come out of the warm dirt in someone's market garden that morning. No false advertising here.
Sesame prawn toast (two for $8) consists of a plump little prawn on a plump little piece of toast, fried golden brown with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
The panfried lamb dumplings (12 for $15) arrive perfectly formed, with a lightly toasted underside and soft and juicy upside, stuffed with tasty ground lamb. The kids hoover them up.
I have to order the stir-fry tomato with egg ($18), as this is a dish I have eaten dozens of times in the old days of staff meals whilst working as a student at Chairman and Yip in Bunda Street. Chinese cooks first began to experiment with tomatoes in Shanghai in the 1930s, when it was the most cosmopolitan city in China. It's basically wok-fried tomato with lightly scrambled egg. My wife and kids hated this dish. I loved it.
The sweet and sour pork ribs ($30) come in little mouth-size bites with chunky bones. The butcher has cut the baby back ribs across the bone and the result is tender little nuggets of flavour. There is no pineapple or capsicum in sight, thank goodness.
We double down on the pig and try the specially cooked Doungpou pork ($29). This is a traditional dish of braised pork belly, supposedly created by Su Dong Po, a famous writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song dynasty, a millennia ago. The pork belly rests on a ginger and scallion base, and slow braises upside down in Xiaoxing wine, soy and rock sugar for 90 minutes, then flips to skin side up for a further 90 minutes in the steamer. The result is a firm but extremely tender meat with rendered soft fat (see flavour) and an addictive base stock.
It makes great foil for the seasoned sticky rice cake (two for $8), which comes piping hot out of the steamer and wrapped in banana leaf.
A side dish of organic Chinese chives with shredded tofu ($17) rounds out our vegetable course and we are back in the market garden. It's crunchy and fresh and the palate is cleansed and in harmony with the world once again.
There is no dessert, so we agree to visit the bubble tea shop next door on the way out. It's now 8pm and Claire and her parents vigilantly wipe down the kitchen and dining room, ready for another day of restaurant life. Claire's mum will probably squeeze in a few more episodes of The Rise of Phoenixes before then. Check in to Flavours of Jiangnan and check it out.
Your family, and their family, will thank you for it.
Flavours of Jiangnan
Address: G6/8 Cape St, Dickson
Phone: 61933421
Website: flavours-of-jiangnan.business.site
Hours: Seven days, noon til 3pm. Friday to Monday, 5pm til 8.30pm.
Chef: Mei Sun
Dietary: Plenty of options
Noise: No problem
