was the last to edit San Bao Restaurant, 708 Dominion Road, Auckland
on Jun 9th, 2010 at 4:33 PM
San Bao Restaurant, 708 Dominion Road, Auckland
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San Bao is a Szechuan restaurant across from Zap Thai on Dominion Road. It was busy when we showed up on a Sunday evening - reservations recommended. (09) 6309633
San Bao appears to have inherited the obviously Malaysian decor from a previous restaurant in the same premises, replete with approximations of a Malay village aesthetic whatever that might be - but y'know, why not? The place was packed, which is always a good sign. My friend L had booked two tables - one of which vacated while we waited.
We started with a cold jelly-like salad with peanuts, spring onion, sesame seeds and chilli oil - limper than konyakku but firmer than jelly - a little slippery and tricky to get hold of but well worth it. My favourite was the "Crispy Rice with Beef" - I had been imagining this dish ever since L described it to be - deep-fried rice with steaming hot beef in sauce - they are usually served together but L requested the two to be separated so that the crunch factor of deep-fried rice did not succumb to soggy-fied mess. The huge fish stew was also popular - served in a large bowl, this spicy stew was HOT and spicy - be warned, steer clear of the peppercorns and chillies or very carefully avoid them, if your HOT threshold is human/amateur level. We also ordered the deep-fried prawn which looked like Cheezels and was decorated with a salt-sculpture of a young monk which everybody wanted to lick/eat/dismantle. I would advise not licking this because Clara already did. It is however, quite possible that they have other salt-sculptures at their disposal. I also enjoyed the cool "Century Egg and Cucumber" salad which complemented the hotness and intensity of the other dishes.
I think I paid about $13 for my share of the dinner which is pretty good value. We had a good time and we all agreed that we had to go back again soon - ideal for a cold winter's evening.
