Day 6-Dinner at Billy Kwong-12/31/2017

 Owned by Kylie Kwong, one of the most loved celebrity chefs in Australia and named her restaurant after her dad, Billy. Billy Kwong offers some of Sydney's best modern Cantonese cuisine and is known for creative dishes with fresh, bio-dynamic and organic ingredients. Her community-driven ethos shines through on the menu, sourcing ingredients from local producers (as local as a few streets away from her Potts Point restaurant) and magically telling the story of those ingredients through every dish. 

The restaurant is located is Potts Point neighborhood in Sydney.

Store front

Entrance to the restaurant.

You walk into a narrow walkway, passing by a long bar/kitchen located on the right side.

Open kitchen concept.

A seat at the bar will give you the best view in the house.

The kitchen wrapped around and a lots of counter space with a chance to see all the actions in the kitchen.

The dinning room.

The menu

The menu.  We decided to go with a 10 course dinner banquet menu.

Our table.

Hoa wanted a cocktail and the waitress recommended the most popular cocktail in the house.

Kevin and Kristie, newly engaged!

Goong Goong’s Chinese pickles

 The pickles recipe came from Kelly's mother’s father, or Goong Goong, who took great pride in growing his own vegetables and feeding his family. 

Goong Goong’s Chinese pickles is a great way to start a meal.  Crunchy, sweet, salty, and acidic.

Steamed Sydney Rock oysters with XO sauce and Spring onions

Really delicious.

Steamed vegetable dumplings.

Steamed prawn wontons with brown rice vinegar

Crispy organic Saltbush cakes with Chili sauce and Tamari

The crisp doughy cakes are stuffed with Saltbush, a native green plant to Australia and served with her famous chili sauce.

This is the dish I wanted to try the most as Saltbush is not available in the U.S.

Saltbush have a juicy flesh that surrounds a crunchy seed, similar to pomegranate. Their tart cranberry flavor has a distinct saltiness with fresh grassy undertones.

Steamed mini steamed pork buns with chili and Rooftop Honey. The Rooftop Honey comes from the beehives on the roof of the Wayside Chapel made by the homeless.

Nice way to invest in the community and help those in need.

Steamed snapper fillet with ginger and Spring onions & shiro Shoyu

The fish is served with rice A classic Chinese dish well executed.

Crispy Skin Duck with Orange and Davidsons plum is their signature dish and it did not disappoint.

The tartness of Davidson's plum balances the rich crisp-skinned duck with orange.

This is dish have been on the menu since day 1 and it is still the most popular dish.

Here you can definitely see the plums.  Really exceptional dish.

Desserts.

All the dishes are traditional Cantonese dish with a twist here and there by incorporating Australia's native ingredients.  All the dishes are well prepared but to me they did not stand out with the exception of the last dish: the Crispy Skin Duck with Orange and Davidsons plum.  It took all of us by surprise as we were definitely not expecting it to be this spectacular.

The meal ended with a great note, service was very good, and it has a very warm and nice ambiance. 

NEXT... Day6- Fireworks