20200117 Dumplings R Us and Brunelli DRINK: Cappuccino TURN: Con

A very busy week at work for me - lots of housekeeping activities for our program. Even though I enjoyed the week, I was glad when 5pm came around on Friday and I headed to the local watering hole.

To my surprise, Chad was there already - sitting in our booth. He had been to First Aid Training and had finished at 3pm. He had the Fringle Magazine with him and we talked all things entertainment. Chad already had eaten a bowl of crisps and I got another bowl.

A couple of shows Stephen & I are seeing this year: Jonathon Pie, Jason Alexander and The Nights (a play). Chad also recommended we see Tom Gleeson - we'll ask Richard to organise a group event for us.

Stephen came in around 6pm and Con and Richard wandered through later. Two of the group's friends showed up - Graham and Gina. Con, Chad and Richard were happy to catch up on old news and recent happenings.

It was Con's turn to choose tonight and one of the things I'm going to do at the end of the year is do an analysis on the type of restaurant each person chooses. With Con, I am already predicting it is going to be 'Asian'.  No surprises, he choose Dumplings R Us. Nice enough and we were all happy to go along.

We like the cafe's decor - upside down pot plants, Piggy jar tops, Monkey clouds to name a few of the whacky items on display.

But Dumplings R Us are not all about the decor. It's about the food. And what did we think about it this week?

I had the Vegetable Dumpling Laksa - always a winner. I come here lunch time sometimes and have it - particularly in the winter. Great flavour, a lovely well-balanced meal.

 Stephen was very good in ensuring everyone had water on the table.




Stephen had something very similar... the Laksa but with Chicken Dumplings. Again, he thought it was great and ate it all. Even having one of my dumplings.






Richard had steamed pork dumplings as an entree. Mix that with some of the sauce on the table and viola! the perfect dish. Because Con was waiting so long for his meal (about 20 minutes), he had one of Richard's dumplings.

Chad had the Chicken Dumplings in Chilli soup. It had the right kind of kick with the heat and he commented that it was what he was expecting.




For main, Richard has the Gong Bow Chicken with peanuts and rice. He commented that it was too overwhelming. It was hot but not flavour-some.

After the 20 minute wait (which the cafe did say), Con had his meal. It was in a smaller bowl that the other 3 laksas/soups. However, it looked delicious. Chicken and Prawn Wontons in Laksa. The wontons looked like squiggly noodle bags. No complaints from Con.

   All in all, another successful decision. The average price for the meals were less than $15 a
bargain!

Scores for the evening...
Elizabeth - 8
Stephen - 8
Chad - 8
Richard - 6
Con - 8

After seeing the Monkey cloud... we each shared our words of wisdom for the evening... here goes...

Chad - 'He who travels to America had many tales to tell his disciples'

However, I liked Chad's next quote....

Chad - 'The more the monkey climbs, the more of his ass you see' - a pertinent quote and down-to-earth reminder about my recent promotion perhaps :-)

Stephen - 'He who eats dumplings feels better'

Con - 'Whooooo, cheeeeee, wahhhhhhh'

Richard - 'Nothing can hurt you as much as your own unguarded thoughts'

Richard also had another up his sleeve, 'Deviened prawns are Devine'

I was so overwhelmed by the words of wisdom from the group, that I kept quiet absorbing the sage advice :-)

We strolled next door practically to Brunelli and scored a table. I tried to leave my A4 Diary on the table next to us, but the waitress suspected that we'd left it there. In the end, Con took it back grudgingly :-). Con ended up ordering the coffees and Chad helped out.

No special drink tonight - the humble Cappuccino won out. I joked I would have a Long Island Iced Tea - maybe next time I'm not driving.

Richard will be in North Adelaide next week and asked if we could organise the meal there. It's technically my turn, so I'll think on it.