Mother’s Chu Taiwanese Gourmet

Food was ok… nothing gourmet about it. I had the brisket and tendon noodles… tasted alright. In Taiwan, this type of noodles come with a side of sour pickled vegetables. Here you have to pay $ 2. Friend also wanted to order, Xiao Long Pao (mini soup dumplings), not good at all. It was dry, not soupy, filling had no taste. I probably won’t go back!

The good: everything on the breakfast menu (they call it something else but basically the first 2 pages), including the tofu soup, sticky rice rolls (apparently the direct translation is «United rice»), and the scallion beef pancake. And the prices: I think the most expensive thing we had was the $ 9 pancakes. Also, I am not an expert on authenticity, but I was the only non-​Asian in there, which I take as a good sign.
The bad: no table water with this much salty food? I may have mild hypernatremia. Also the location is not exactly somewhere you choose to impress your date. Definitely more of a «China, pre-​development» vibe.
The bottom line: $ 24 got 2 of us more full and more satisfied than I would have ever guessed. Great little place for a unique breakfast.

Ah my veggie appetite drags me to the most interesting sometimes! Not to forget my awesome colleagues. A frequent here, my colleague took me here on my request to take me to her favorite places… and here it was. A huge menu to choose from, vegetarians…(like me who are not acquainted with Taiwanese food) be ready to be surprised! Between the 3 of us we ordered Pan fried Pork dumplings, Pan fried Vegetarian dumplings, Kung Pao Chicken and Vegetarian sauted noodles.
The vegetarian dumplings were yumm! I think I said this about Seabay somewhere… but this place beats it hands down. They were actually yummmy… not just a dumpling for the sake of having a vegetarian option. if you know what I mean. I couldnt help but order the Kung Pao Chicken because for some reason I haven’t gone to the right Asian food places. and never saw Kung Pao anywhere else! Noodles were good
colleagues enjoyed their Pork dumplings as well.
Definitely try this place if you are looking for some good Asian food experience. I loved the ambiance. with the very attentive and sweet staff… who are not best at English but their service more than makes up for it… and hell it’s a part of the experience I guess!
It’s a no nonsense, good food kinda place. Not for your fancy occasions but definitely for a very hungry day! The prices are nominal. where each dish is on an average would be for $ 12 — $ 16.
Bookmark this one guys!

Over priced based on the quality of the dishes. The taste is not good and definitely not traditional Taiwanese taste. will not recommend it to any one.

It’s good. Not super but decent. Oyster omlet is very light on oysters. Seafood congee uses imitation crab… yuck. Cash only. Gets 4 stars because it’s very reasonably priced.

Cheap and cheerful. I had the vegetarian combination soup and a vegetarian steamed bun. Delicious!

Loved it! Was taken here by a local. don’t ask me what I had, it came n I ate! Which makes me a bad blogger! Hence love using these apps that only require me to give a short spill. The only photos taken were that of some of the food that was on the table. One that I can say is a stand out is the Taiwanese Oyster noodle. Oamisoir (蚵仔麵線 /​ô-​á mī-​sòa). The night market ones tried whilst I was over there was s£|te! the one here although lacks a tad bit of salt is great on the oyster! Really good! It wasn’t heavy on the corn starch (used to thicken the soup so much that it’s paste-​like).

Mother chu Taiwanese is a quick cheap Chinese food, mainly snack and light bites, very common set up style in Asia.
This is not the place for romantic dinner, gourmet feeding, but other than that it does the job fine.
The place is small and service is minimal, and now they ask you to pay as you order and I have noticed decline in food presentation and taste.
It’s a lot more «take away» style than what it used to be, it’s fine for a quick snack (which is the hero of Taiwanese food) but it’s substandard if you are looking for anything more than that

Standard Taiwanese food right across the street from a popular cream puff seller. I ordered the beef tendon and beef flank noodle soup, a favorite Taiwanese dish of mine. I’ve had a lot of good beef noodle soup in the past and can say this was nothing special. The broth was alright, but the meat was quite tender. I also ordered soy pudding for dessert and it was alright as well. Average food, average rating.

I had heard about Mother Chu’s from the vegetarian circuit and when we were caught unprepared with friends at lunchtime (with four kids) we thought we’d give it a go.
Firstly, there is a Mother Chu’s vegetarian restaurant, and this Taiwanese one (this was my first time at either) that serves both meat and veg dishes.
We thought that the vegetarian food on offer isn’t particularly nice. We tried the veggie steam buns (bland mushroom & tofu), black bean tofu (gelatinous sauce served only with green capsicum no other veg — quite yuk), veggie udon noodles (ok, but whole reconstituted shiitake mushrooms!!!), and egg pancake (roti style egg wrapped around something that looked like an éclair minus the filling ?!?).
Unfortunately, not somewhere I would go again. If you are a veggie, or out with one and are hankering for yum cha, PLEASE go to Bodhi at Philip and Cook park, you’ll thank me for it.

Sometimes you have to have Asian cuisine and after a few weeks in the land of Oz, I was in dire need.
The funny thing about Chinatown in Sydney is because of the amount of «eat and runs» that happen, you order and then you have to prepay… That was something we learnt fast when the server looked at us awkwardly after we ordered…
This was the only place open early enough for breakfast too and it was good!
We had the tofu soup, green onion pancake with egg (because egg screams breakfast), Xiao long bao (soupy dumplings) and seaweek salad. It was super good.
The meat in my dumpling could have been a little bit leaner but being Asian food deprived for so long, I was willing to chow down.
They had a great menu. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to try a few more things while I was there…
The set up is nice. They have this kind of old temple feel to the exterior. They also have red lanterns that they have hung on the outside. I just don’t approve of water down your condiments. I had a bowl of vinegar by the end of it because it was so weak!
Now I kind of want to fly back for breakfast…

Cheap but you get what you pay for since the only thing worth eating were the dumplings. Everything else was bland and unappetizing. The sauce on the noodles looked mushy and the oyster pancake was put together haphazardly. Service is nonexistent but I really don’t expect much from a place like this.

This place is good for a quick authentic feed. Prices are very reasonable as well but the best part is the variety of Taiwanese dishes. I have tried numerous ‘comfort’ dishes here from congee to dough sticks, to rice noodles, to dumplings and then to tofu and soy milk. The glutonous rice rolls with different fillings has become a favourite take away order for me as it’s a perfect easy to eat meal.
The congee is a little different to Cantonese style (read Superbowl), a little thicker but equally enjoyable and is great hangover food. Mother Chu’s opens early which is a god send when you get up early after as big night. A congee and a dough stick — what more can one want for breakfast ?
I will get around to trying the traditional beef noodles one day, I just need to get out to this place in the afternoons and not late night or early mornings.

The prices are ok. The food is fast and tastes pretty close to the real thing. Go try it out! I had the salty soy milk bowl, oyster pancake and egg pancake. The meat in the beef noodle soup was kinda tough, I would say skip and just go for the bfast.

Whenever I feel like chowing on a good ol’ Taiwanese breakfast I head over to Mother Chu’s Taiwanese Gourmet, because I can’t think of any other place to get good congee, vermicelli, bean curd, and doughnuts (youtiao).
This place is not fancy at all but friendly… so you know it’ll be pretty good. They offer indoor and outdoor seating and service is prompt; you pay right after you order.
Now to the important part, how’s the food?
Nom Nom Nom! Portions are large, prices are cheap, and you can get a sampling of something sweet (bean curd) or something savoury (noodles) with refreshing drinks.
If you want to a venture out and try a different kind of brekkie (non-​western,) this is the place to go.

Mother Chu’s takes me back, old school style… To the days when Sydney and I were new-​found lovers on a holiday fling.
I remember the first time I galavanted through Chinatown; some kids love candy, this kid loves Asian food, and I couldn’t imagine selecting only one eatery to settle into for lunch. Somehow, Mother Chu’s managed to suck me in with her all-​to-​allusive dumplings and steam buns, and never ending menu of Taiwanese delights for what had to be the cheapest prices on the main strip in Chinatown.
I can hardly remember that first meal now, but I do recall that that bowl of vegetable tofu noodles were absolutely superb. So superb in fact, that I returned to see mama Chu this past weekend, and I’m happy to report that she hasn’t aged a bit!
Although I was craving the foggy memories of the god sent noodle bowl I slurped down before, I wanted to be adventurous in my selection: congee, and if it doesn’t sound familiar to you, it didn’t to me either. It’s times like this where I wish I would’ve had a Taiwanese friend on call to answer my foodie inquiry. Similar to a porridge, the congee was different from any dish I’ve had in Sydney; which is I guess what I was after! For around $ 10, it was a bang for your buck and came out quickly, within only a few minutes. Although the main flavor was quite bland, a splash of vinegar really helped bring out some flavor, and I left full and satisfied for having ventured off my well trecked path of noodles, saucy noodles, and vegetable noodles.Yum. Noodles.
Sum-​up: Mother Chu’s is the cheapest food you’ll find along the main Chinatown drag. Simple and scrumptious, it’s definitely worth it for a quick and easy afternoon lunch.

Cheap and delicious food! I ordered the Taiwanese Style Seafood Potage Noodle Soup, which was a great combination of seafood, vegetables, and noodles. The soup itself was very nice. I think the noodles were a little too soft but that might be just me. If I am ever back in Sydney, I would love to come back and try more dishes on the menu. (They have a huge selection!)
The service was good. I got up after I ordered to take a storefront photo and when I got back, one of the worker was confused. She asked another worker if the previous person at the table had left, so I told her that I was the one at the table, and at first she kind of ignored me and she asked the other worker again. Hmmm… I don’t know what to make of this.