When we have a family celebration with the nonagenarians (people aged in their 90s ...we looked it up) it’s always a toss-up between Billabongs at East Maitland Bowling Club or Place One… with Place One winning two out of three times.
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It's not the sexiest looking Chinese restaurant you'll ever see from the outside - truth is it's pretty basic inside too - but all that can be overlooked for one very good reason. The food hits the spot. Each time, every time.
It’s pretty cheap too, and service is fairly quick, which is all you can ask from your local Chinese.
And no pressure to use chopsticks either - silverware is on the tables, but they’ll bring chopsticks if you ask for them.
Our problem has always been trying new dishes as everyone has their favourite and doesn’t want to budge – a favourites button would save us a lot of time!
Our dinners invariably start with a discussion about how we're going to be more adventurous, and then we proceed to pretty much order the same dishes again and again.
Oh we might throw in a different dish here or there, but it's all tweaking around the edges.
So here goes. Welcome to the family Chinese.
We always start things rolling with steamed dim sum, which most of us coat with a dip of the hooey-hot chilli sauce and soy sauce that’s served on the side – and because there are only six of the pork stuffed morsels ($6.80) we usually order two serves. Better safe than sorry.
And did I mention spring rolls? Well, they're a given too. Crispy delights with plum sauce.
Now for the main game - it’s time to fill up on the mains.
BBQ pork with plum sauce ($16) is a fail-safe bet every time.
Another of our go-to dishes is the roasted duck Cantonese style with sweet chilli sauce ($30). The duck is crisp on the outside yet somehow the flesh manages to retain that essential juicy tenderness that gives it that bit of wow factor.
A hearty serve of king prawn omelette ($25) keeps the old fella happy, while the clan’s matriarch loves the sweetness of the salt and pepper soft-shell crab ($28).
Depending on how many members of the family are with us, the noodles tend to be our first reserve dish: one we're happy to go to at any time, but not an essential inclusion.
There’s a small but adequate wine list with half a dozen whites and reds, but it’s also BYO so we usually take our own (see breakout story, left).
And on the occcasion when you're feeling like a cold beer instead, there's a decent enough selection.
