Ky Chow & Ying Chow, Adelaide, Australia

Forkers, please forgive me the embarrassment of not having posted anything since my trip to Chile...without further adieu, two amazing Chinese restaurants I went to in Oz.

Adrian and I went to Adelaide for the sole purpose of going to Kangaroo Island, a small island right off the southern coast of Australia with tons of wildlife. I had read about these two sister restaurants in my Lonely Planet, so I figured it was worth a shot.

The first we went to was Ky Chow, because I couldn't remember where Ying Chow was. Ky Chow is a small restaurant in Adelaide's Chinatown, with extremely reasonable prices and fast service. We went in at the start of dinner and had our food in no time- Chinese green vegetables, honey chicken and duck with sun-dried Chinese bayberries (the latter as per the recommendation of Lonely Planet).

The ambiance was low key, the decor was non-existent, and the atmosphere bright. The food was great, hot, and fresh. The duck was outstanding. The honey chicken reminded me of this soul food I once had in Harlem. The green vegetables were green.

Clearly, I am a fan:


After going to Kangaroo Island, we came back and went to Ying Chow, Ky Chow's busier, bustling, older sister restaurant. We waited about 20 minutes for a table, and there were plenty of people waiting outside as well. We were seated and immediately the order was taken- crocodile with snow peas, aniseed tea duck and some beef satay for an appetizer.

The beef satay was fairly standard. The aniseed tea duck was good, but not as good as the previous. But the crocodile with snow peas was a total treat. I've never had crocodile before, and I don't really remember when I ate alligator with my aunt in Key Largo, so I was pleasantly surprised. Tasted like chicken, but just a tad bit chewier. Absolutely delightful.

I unfortunately have no photos of Ying Chow, as we were starving and wolfed down the food like we hadn't eaten in days.

One thing that totally struck me about both of these restaurants is that Adelaide is an incredibly small town (reminded me of Cleveland, no joke), and yet their Chinese food is better than any Chinese food you get in New York City's Chinatown, where we have people living who don't even speak English. How is this possible? I guess proximity, but seriously. It was incredibly disappointing returning to New York and knowing that the best we can do here is some Peking duck (which is of course good, but still).

Now I want to go to China.

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