After a sweaty afternoon of rock-climbing, a group of friends and I find ourselves at Céci to fix our collective hunger. I have been recommended this Korean eatery by multiple sources, mainly for its value-for-money large serving sizes. The décor is decidedly eighties with many splashes of peach and floral prints but what we’re here for is the food.
Mistress and I are the first to arrive after parking her car and we are lucky to secure a table for eight after the staff ask a couple to relocate to a table elsewhere. Following our being seated, a queue quickly begins to grow at the doorway. The eatery is small and the service swift. We are asked several times how long our friends will be and whether we would like to order first. I leave the ordering to Mistress as she has eaten here previously. We decide to choose a few items and double up on serves so as to cover our long rectangular table.
As usual, there is an array of Korean side dishes but I’m disappointed that there’s no cold, creamy pasta. Something I like to eat on its own and also something that helps take the heat away from other dishes!
We start the evening with ‘Spicy Dumplings’ and ‘Seafood Pie’. The dumplings are large, plump and filled with minced pork and vegetables. They taste to have been deep-fried prior to being stewed in a spicy sauce.
The ‘Seafood Pie’ is your usual Korean seafood pancake but is thicker and features a lot more filling than I’m used to seeing elsewhere.
Up one end of the table we have a serve of ‘Barbequed Beef’ where thin slices of beef are brought out to be cooked atop a hotplate on an individual gas burner. Up the other end of the table we have the ‘Barbequed Chicken’ (not pictured) which is in a spicy sauce. Both feature a mixture of vegetables as well as curiously thick slabs of white onion.
Mistress tells us the ‘Sweet & Sour Chicken’ is quite a well-known dish at Céci but what surprises us about it is its resemblance in taste to Cantonese-style sweet and sour pork! The chicken pieces are encased in batter before being tossed in a sticky sweet and tart sauce.
And, our only dish devoid of any heat of the evening is the ‘Japchae’ (potato noodles) which is a lovely mix of springy noodles with crunchy vegetables, including my favourite cloud ear fungus, and thin strips of beef.
The food was served in quick succession and we barely had enough room to put all of it. Despite our rock-climbing induced hungers, there was too much food to finish and two plastic containers’ worth were taken away. And like normal, sane people full of dinner, we ventured to the Gelatissimo nearby for dessert almost immediately afterwards!
Céci
37 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW
Tel: (02) 9746 7710
Opening Hours: 7 days 10:30am-10:30pm
happy eating!
I've only really done Korean once, it was upstairs somewhere, all I remember!
ReplyDeleteI too have only really tried korean once and it was BBQ. I have so much more to discover! I really would love to try japchae (even though i love heat).
ReplyDeleteOh Strathfield is a treasure of Korean restaurants isn't it? I haven't seen a pajeon called a 'seafood pie' before but I could do with some of the jap chae!
ReplyDeleteI've decided to get into rock climbing this year. I'm looking forward to the post climbing food now.. I hadn't thought of this part :D
ReplyDeleteCeci is an interesting name for a K restaurant! Love the barbecue beef and the noodles, so delish.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks delicious! I haven't had Korean for so long.
ReplyDeleteHey Fiona, haha, often a lot of Korean hotpot places are for some reason! But so much other stuff to try =)
ReplyDeleteHey Sara, there's Korean barbeque then there's hotpot and a myriad of other things!
Hey Helen, it's the first time I've come across a pajeon called a seafood 'pie' as well! LOL
Hey Conor, it's like planning pre/post show/movie dinners...Food's always part of the equation, isn't it?!
Hey Joey, it's not your usual Korean restaurant name, that's for sure!
Hey Lorraine, love the sweet spiciness of Korean food =)
Hey missklicious, plenty of opportunity to sample Korean food around Sydney now!
As sydney korean-australian I have to say that actually ceci is a pretty poor example of good quality korean food...!
ReplyDeleteMy fav places are:
1. City BBQ liverpool street city, around the corner from hungry jacks and up the stairs.
2. Jongajip rowe street eastwood, around the cnr from eastwood pub. This is arguably the best korean in sydney - must try their 'bossam'
3. bakehouse garden in north strathfield
Happy eating!
Hey Anonymous, thank you for leaving a comment and recommending a few places =) They're now added to my to-eats list and I'm glad they've come from someone local to the food!
ReplyDelete