Jilin Family Chatswood — Restaurant in Sydney

Very interesting experience with this restaurant. Ok let’s start with the actual food. It’s pretty ok, certainly on par with other Northeastern Chinese cuisine. It’s famous for its “Tie Guo Dun” which translates to Steel Pot Stew, which you have to order 1 hour in advance as they need to precook it. The meat was not tender after 1 hour of stewing but acceptable. The taste was nice. Other dishes were also nice. Now.. the interesting bit… The Steel Pot Stew comes with 5 polenta steamed buns. When you sit down at your table, your preordered stew is already bubbling away in the steel pot, the waiter comes around and makes the steamed buns in front of you by lifting the lid of the pot and placing the dough on the sides of the pot and then letting it steam to cook. So along comes one of the waiters without saying a word, makes us the buns without saying a word, places 2 empty plates on the side of the table without saying a word, leaves without saying a word. He makes 13 buns. We didn’t know why there was 13 buns or how long it’s meant to cook for as he “didn’t say a word” He comes in after about 15 mins or so without saying a word, proceeds to lift up the lid and takes out all the buns except for our 5 buns without saying a word, puts it on the empty plates he left previously and leaves without saying a word. Now all this happens while others were coming in and out bringing us dishes, cutlery, plates, tea we ordered etc etc so really didn’t have time to ask him anything and also we actually thought it was just part of the service and he was plating it up for us before it was too late and buns were outta the room. Apparently they use your steel pot to cook extra buns..??? It would have been good to get some communication as we could have quite easily lifted the lid ourselves while everything was cooking and touched or eaten some of the steamed buns but hey I guess that isn’t important to them. Overall it was weird. It didn’t make sense and definitely not the norm compared to other Northeastern Chinese...

7/6/24 - 4 stars

Finally managed to bring a group of friends to come here again. Jilin family is probably one of the most popular Chinese restaurants in Chatswood with big crowds almost every evening during peak hours, thankfully they do allow bookings which I'd highly recommend.

The best things about this restaurant are: Very authentic Nice decor and atmosphere Delicious food and a great place to bring a group to eat around the open wok Service is pretty good for such a busy place 5% cash discount

Some drawbacks: Expensive (~$40/head) Can expect a fairly long wait Hard to tell who's staff since they don't seem to wear uniforms

Beef rib and oxtail hotpot Soup: SS, 9/10. Well balanced saltiness, umami and chilli

Beef: SS, 9/10. Very fresh and delicious, but, one criticism would be that the oxtail wasn't falling off the bone so may need slightly longer cooking. Likewise, the radish was a little undercooked

Cornmeal pancakes: S, 8/10. Cooked on the spot and handmade. Crispy bottom is nice but the body of it is fairly dense and plain. Good enough to soak up the soup

Vegetables: SS, 9/10. Very fresh and tasty, especialy the eggplant. Corn may not be for everyone as it is not the typical sweet corn variety, rather the northern Chinese kind which is a bit more rubbery.

Value: A, 7/10. Base pot is $188 with soup, potatoes, radish and 5 pancakes. $10 for eggplant and $3 for extra pancakes is good value but $10 for corn and $15 for beans not so much

Guo Bao Rou (Double fried sweet and sour pork) Flavour: A, 7/10. A bit tangy and a bit sweet but mostly batter so not much of a pork flavour. Texture: S+, 8.5/10. Very crispy and crunchy whilst not being that oily which was quite good Value: B, 6/10. $28. Wouldn't really recommend unless you love this dish or really want to try it. Definitely better in...

We arrived early afternoon soon after they reopen from the lunch break. When we ordered, the waiter told us that the kitchen staff are eating lunch, and we would have to wait an extra 30 minutes. Why opened the restaurant if the chefs aren't available?

We ordered braised pork bone, fried pork fillet and candied sweet potato. The plates are sure big, but the bones tasted like leftovers from making broth, you also have to eat with your hands and get messy. The fried pork fillet was nice and crispy, but there were more flour than meat, that was probably the least meat I got on a plate ever. I'm used to restaurant preparing the candied sweet potatoes, here is diy, so again it will get very messy, and that is quite expensive for a diy dish.

It was hard to communicate with the staff, only one person spoke English, the rest weren't even trying. The vibe there was odd. They were marinating meat on the front tables, and there was main table occupied by a large families feasting on takeaway food. It was a...