Food for Thought: Jones the Grocer

Jones the Grocer appears at first glance to be the perfect grocery store. Its display reminds me of Dean & DeLucca in New York City with its stylish looking shelving units and well-thought out display of merchandise. Right in the centre of store is an open-concept cafe which whips out simple dishes using, as far as is possible, their own products. At the back, there is a purpose-built temperature-controlled cheese room which promotes Australian specialty cheeses as well as stock artisan cheeses from around the world.

What impressed me most is the high quality of their products, for which I am willing to pay a premium price. I was also thrilled to see that they carried a range of items produced by the monks of New Norcia, Western Australia. The Benedictine Abbey is where my darling wife goes for her retreat and meditation and the monastic town was also one of the places we chose to visit during our honeymoon, so it meant something special to us.

The cafe serves good wholesome meals, that is, if you are into sandwiches and salads. Their coffee is roasted by Di Lorenzo in Sydney. In fact we were quite pleased with the food and had absolutely no complaints as far as food went. And we really liked it that they were so generous with the use of greens in all of the dishes.



The greens in the pumpkin salad were fresh and crisp and the balsamic vinegar used was of high quality. Darling wife's salmon sandwich was also good - both the smoked salmon and bacon were not too salty and the topping of water cress added an interesting flavour to the dish. For one who is not a bread or sandwich person, it was surprising that I thoroughly enjoyed my portobello mushroom sandwich. It was just two slices of bread with mushroom and some fresh greens - such a simple concoction yet it was exceedingly delicious.



Our experience at Jones the Grocer would have been a perfect one had it not been marred by the extremely poor service. To begin with, we were made to wait for a long while even though it was clear that there were available seats. Also, I could not understand why it took the waiting staff such a long time to bring us the menu and to take our orders. But the worst encounter was with the cashier who was downright insolent. Such a pity that our experience had to end on such an unsatisfactory note.

I have shopped at their Woollahra store in Sydney and have found the shopping experience there to be more pleasurable and enjoyable.

Jones the Grocer
Dempsey Hill Block 9 #01-02, Dempsey Road

Ambiance: 6.5/10
Service: 1/10
Food: 6.5/10

Pricing: $$

Recommended dishes: Any of their sandwiches and salads

Food for Thought: Shi Xiang Satay

Satay is a popular local snack of Malay-Indonesian origin. The very inventive local Chinese have created their own version of pork and chicken satay along with a less spicy peanut sauce dressed with mashed pineapple to give it an added sour and sweet taste.

I come from a family that really enjoys good Malay beef and mutton satay, a staple at every festive celebration hosted by my late father.

However, I do occasionally enjoy Chinese pork satay. To me, the best part of pork satay is the tiny sliver of pork fats which, when properly grilled, is crispy on the outside and soft and oozy on the inside.


Shi Xiang Satay
Stall No. 02-079 Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Smith Street

Ambiance: N/A
Service: 6/10
Food: 7/10
Pricing: $

Recommended Dishes: Pork satay

Food for Thought: Yuet Loy Cantonese Cze Char Stall

After more than 20 years of eating the same scrumptious dishes created from the wok of the Yuet Loy couple (who apparently hail from Hong Kong), I am still left craving for more. My last visit was last week with my wife, godson and daughter-in-law.

Yuet Loy started their first stall at the now defunct Hill Street Hawker Centre. When that hawker centre made way for demolition, they moved to their present location at the Chinatown Complex Food Centre. The food standard has been consistent over the years and waiting time hasn't been cut. The minimum wait is about 20 minutes on a not so busy night.

My order normally consists of 4 dishes - the kam chin tofu, steamed chicken with salted fish, prawn omelete and beef kailan.

Since my younger days, kam chin tofu has been one of my favourite dishes. The only other eating place I know of that serves authentically prepared kam chin tofu was the old Moi Lum (which incidentally is now on Murray Street with a brand new menu although some of their most popular dishes like their roast chicken and mustard green with crabmeat are still mainstays). Preparing kam chin tofu, I recall, involves a complicated process starting with making the tofu. This requires soaking fresh tofu in cold water first, then in wine before keeping it chilled for several days. After the chilling process, it is deep-fried and left to cool before they are finally ready to be used in the dish that arrives at the dining table. It is one of those traditional Cantonese/Hakka dishes that is venerated for its painstaking preparation and of course its exquisite taste.

Kam chin tofu

Yuet Loy's version is as authentic as it can get although the version I used to relish as a youngster, was garnished with bits of crispy fried salted fish. They have added bean sprout which makes it interesting. My only complaint would be the lack of wine flavouring. Wine is an important element in this dish as it enhances the taste of the tofu.

Steamed chicken with salted fish

Steamed chicken with salted fish is another home-cooked dish popular among the Cantonese and Hakkas. The chicken has first to be marinated in soya sauce, sesame oil and wine before it is steamed with ginger and salted fish. Yuet Loy's version has just about the right balance of the various seasoning.

Beef with kailan

The thing I like most about the stall's beef kailan is the freshness of the beef used. To me, this is crucial because beef that has been frozen for too many days is less tender and tasty when stir fried. The beef is fragrant with a dash of Chinese cooking wine. What my father-in-law does is substitute brandy for the Chinese cooking wine to give it a more robust taste. It is noteworthy that Yuet Loy has tried its best to stick to the original recipe.

Prawn omelete

Lastly, the prawn omelete. A simple dish but it never fails to delight. The texture of the omelete is fluffy as it should be and the prawn is, happily, not overcooked. The dish could be further improved by adding more scallion or spring onion. Also, the chef may consider exercising a little more control over the use of oil in this dish. Otherwise, this is almost a perfect dish.

I have visited this stall many times over in the past 20 years and had never been let down, not even once. What is it that keeps me going back to Yuet Loy? Could it be the way the food is prepared, or the appeal of the menu choice or perhaps because they do not cut back on the ingredients? I leave you with your own verdict.


Yuet Loy
Stall No. 02-151 Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Smith Street

Ambiance: N/A
Service: 5/10
Food: 7/10
Pricing: $-$$
Recommended dishes: Gold coin tofu, beef with kailan, steamed chicken with salted fish, prawn omelete, sliced fish with vegetable of the day