Endless Delight Chinese Restaurant, Perth (Northbridge)

Sweet and sour pork?  Lemon chicken?  Special fried rice?  These are some of the local Chinese restaurant dishes I knew of when growing up.  As we (or maybe just I) got more cultured, the variety of options across opened up including more choices for Chinese - which perhaps shows the large choice of dishes available that sit under the "Chinese cuisine" banner - and in particular I'm thinking of Dim Sum and roast duck and pork right now - yum!

However, sitting in the Northbridge side of Perth is a Szechuan Chinese restaurant that goes by the "interesting" name of Endless Delight Chinese Restaurant.  Aside from the name, the Chinese restaurant is quite simple inside and able to cater for tables for 2 (or solo) through to those big round tables with a Lazy Susan.  Endless Delight Chinese Restaurant specialises in Szechuan cuisine.

Upon being seated, Endless Delight has two menus (at least at lunch time).  The menus are written in Chinese and English but when I say English some dishes may be in English just phonetically - eg the "Yu Xing" Pork Set below.  However, somewhat helpful is that one of the menus has pictures of some of the dishes in it, and the waitstaff will help you to the best they can upon request.  However, the service can be lukewarm and cold - I've experienced quiet but somewhat helpful upon request through to almost indifference to you being there.

Getting down to the food, the menu is supposed to be authentic Szechuan Chinese cuisine.  The dishes encompass a range of choices: dry dishes versus sauce and soup dishes; vegetarian to meat; chicken through to beef and pork and "other" different selections; and a variety of sauces and styles from stir fried to steamed and mild to spicy.  The dishes are intended to be Asian style share dishes, but at lunch you can get lunch specials designed for one person at a lunch-meal price (e.g. around $10-$15).

Yummy Chicken Set - $13 (lunch special)

With a name like "yummy chicken" I had to give this meal a try.  This set came with what seemed like half a tender boiled chicken, surrounded by a whole lot of sauce.  The chicken itself was cooked quite nicely being tender and somewhat moist, not quite to the extent of some Hainanese chicken rices out there, but at least not dry.

The sauce, of course, is what really makes this dish.  The base of sauce was largely a soy based sauce but had different flavours running through it - from what I could taste there seemed to be a fair amount of chilli, and some sweetness and garlic flavours.  Also noticeable was a fair amount of oil on top of the sauce which was quite unavoidable when dipping in the chicken.

Topping the chicken was a mix of spring onions and crushed peanuts, and of course this chicken dish was served with steamed rice.

Yu Xing Pork Set - $10 (lunch special)

This lunch set was a plate of steamed rice accompanied by a pork stir fry.  The stir fry itself had thin slices of pork accompanied by a variety of vegetables including capsicum, carrot, onion, and a crunchy black fungus.  Notably, not only did the vegetables provide texture against the soft tender pork slices but the crunchy black fungus added even more texture in the form of a crunch that was quite a welcome addition to this dish.

The thick sauce used to stir fry the pork was all of salty mixed with a moderate vinegar like acidity and light sweetness.  The stir fry was also not lacking oil, it's shiny glaze coming off the dish and giving off a slightly oily taste in the mouth.

Overall, although the ingredients and flavour was a little unique (generally in a good way) for me, this is for those of you who want a "typical" stir fry dish.

Pan Flat Dumplings - $10 (lunch special)

When this dish was ordered, I thought it would be a pretty standard pork dumpling dish.  However, when it came I was surprised it was served upside down.  It looked like the dumplings had been steamed in a pan with a very thin edible starchy base that became attached to the bottom of each dumpling, linking them all.

Apart from the different presentation, the dumplings were quite standard.  They were filled with pork and chives, seasoned with a good amount of salt, steamed, then served with Chinese vinegar for dipping.  The dumplings seemed well made and tasted quite good, though they didn't seem that fresh - and we noticed them carrying frozen dumplings to the kitchen (understandable that they would freeze the dumplings, though a little unfortunate).

We liked: Some good flavours in the dishes; Szechuan cuisine, different to "local" Chinese.

We didn't like: Some dishes may not be so fresh; not knowing what some of the dishes are by name; the tea wasn't to our liking at all - bitter and harsh black tea.

Other things to note: There are cheaper lunch specials; BYO.

Endless Delight
145 Newcastle Street
PERTH WA 6000
(08) 9228 9778