Phone: (02) 9746 7710
Had a late lunch here on a lovely Sunday afternoon. It was boiling hot weather, and I don't know what enticed me to eat chilli but I hadn't had Korean food in weeks and was craving spicy dumplings!
Ceci is a Korean restaurant/cafe with a wide, WIDE selection of dishes. You will know either from looking at their picture menu outside which consists of over 50 dishes I'm sure. The specialise in chilli soup, stirfry dishes & mains, and just bits and pieces of Korean Cuisine. The main selling point here is that most dishes are $10-$15, quite generous servings, and the standardised korean entree dishes are a bonus.
Pictured above is the standardised korean entree dishes provided. They are of course free of charge, and offered to every customer unless you specifically request so. The top dish is a sugared potato salad dish (It tastes as though a combination of soy sauce and sugar is used), then you have kim chi (Korean pickled cabbage - chilli) and marinated soya sprouts (light & refreshing). They also give you one more - chesnut jelly: a grey jelly with sesame & chilli flakes/oil. I specifically requested not to have the chesnut jelly because it's a waste for it to sit on my table because I won't eat it.
This is one of the mains we ordered - spicy BBQ chicken. It is a stirfy made with chilli flakes, onion, shallot, mushroom and strips of chicken. I really enjoy digging for the mushroom. This is a fragrant dish, served with white rice as featured and fairly hot/chilli. I suspect the sauce is made from the same base as the spicy dumplings (see below).
The spicy dumpling dish consists of 6 extra-large dumplings. They are a savoury fried pastry filled with a combination of clear vermicelli noodle, finely sliced carrot, pork mince, shallot and perhaps some other vegetable. The filling is almost reminiscent of a Vietnamese spring roll. Dumplings are then topped with a potent chilli sauce consisting of chopped shallot, fresh chilli and sesame seeds. The texture is just right - since the dumpling is fried, the outer edges are crisp & hardened, the centre soft and the chilli sauce - just devine.
I washed my meal down with an iced plum tea - strange I know. I have a penchant for sour, bitter things, so don't try this unless you're a fan of things like grapefruit, kumquat or bitter citrus-y drinks.
My secret to eating chilli is drinking milk or dairy beverages to neutralize the chilli. So, if you're worried about not being able to handle chilli food - you can try that trick: Ceci's has an assortment of iced beverages (e.g. iced strawberry, iced chocolate, iced coffee) and sundae/desserts on offer. Don't let this put you off though - there is also a wide selection of non-chilli dishes there too. Not all Korean food is hot!
Other recommendations:
Chicken Ginseng Soup -
Chilli soup with ham/sausage -
Sweet & spicy (fried) chicken -
Kim Chi pie -
(Honey?) Potato -
Potato Noodle -
