Shò Noodle Bar

Main Gaming Floor – Crown Casino
Phone 03 9292 6885

Shò Noodle Bar is the latest attraction wowing punters (literally) on the Main Gaming Floor at Crown Casino. We’d scored an invite care of the media relations department, and whilst I’d ummed and ahhed about attending (you know, we bloggers can be rather philosophical things), the allure of Master Chef Pin Tan and his magic hands sounded too good to pass up.  But don’t worry, the dining experience is not a bought one.

As you can see, Chef Pin Tan is a rather talented lad.  It took him only a few short minutes to turn his lump of flour and water into stringy lengths of noodley goodness.  He was also quite informative about the process of choosing the right flour (with the right amount of gluten), and that each batch must be tested for its elasticity before being subjected to a good stretch. Great stuff.

This was followed by the equally impressive Kung Fu Tea Master, who whipped that little teapot around like it was a lethal weapon.  Head over to Ed’s site for some video footage.

After being entertained by noodle-making and tea-fighting, we were perched at the coalface to witness all the cooking action.  The kitchen itself was a grand show – lots of flameage and steam as woks were stirred, noodles boiled, dumplings steamed and vegetables chopped.

Our fellow dining companions was a bevy of intrepid food bloggers – most of us with cameras at the ready.  At the end of the bench was a huge “tea mountain” which apparently brings good luck according to feng shui prinicples.  I wonder if the casino punters give it a rub on the way through?

But onto the food.  To kick things off we each received a little steamer basket of dumplings, which were actually pretty good!  The tender porky sui mai and a perky prawn har gow were the highlights, while the vegetable dumpling was a little floppy, but still tasted alright.

Next up was a mixed plate of roast meats; soy chicken, char sui (bbq pork) and roast duck. The duck was the highlight; tender, flavourful and crispy. A little dish of plummy hoisin type sauce sat to the side.  Least favourite was the pork, but only because I’m not that fond of consuming our porcine friends.

Chefs in action, a plate of deep fried crayfish ready for serving.

Speaking of which, this is the cray!  The head had been split, floured and deep fried for garnish (although little bits of tasty meat remained), and nuggets of cray were battered and deepfried and swished through a honey, chilli, spring onion sauce.  To be perfectly honest, the cray was quite dry and overcooked, and the sauce a little too sweet. But it was edible, and the coriander was awesomely fresh.

Another of their specialisties is the baby barramundi with a chilli and oyster sauce.  The barra had been filleted for our eating pleasure – so all of the flesh, once again, had been portioned, deep fried and doused in a sauce.  The meat was delicate and tender, although they erred too much on sweetness.

The beef rendang was probably my least favourite dish of the night, only because it was just too heady with star anise and spices.  It also had quite a kick.  It was certainly tender, but I only had a bite or two of this one.

A plate of stirfried gai laan was tender crisp and absolutely perfect, the chilli chicken looking good but quite lacklustre.  Perhaps the rendang had killed out tastebuds by this stage?

Then to the dish which we came for – Chef Pin Tan’s Penang style Char Koay Teow. I near salivated over my keyboard after reading about it in The Age, so thought I’d best come test it out.  Verdict: well, it was good. It had nice breath of the wok, it was smokey, salty, prawny and oily (not overly, just right).  It would have been nice to have this dish served after the dim sum.

Along with the food, we also had the pleasure of sampling a variety of teas, incuding a brew, Pu’Er, which had been maturing for 35 years!

So my thoughts overall?  Well, I like the fit out of the venue; the abacus inspired room dividers are particularly impressive (but then, $6 million for renovations will do that).  It also has quite a buzz about it, due in part to the excitable punters in the gaming area surrounding the venue. But being a non-gambler, it’s probably not a place I’d go to for a meal. Yes, if you’re having a punt it’s a perfect spot for a bowl of noodles – that is its intention and it succeeds.

The food: well, the price is decent and it’s a goog hearty feed. I just wish those noodles Pin Tan made at the start of the night were whipped up into a dish for us to consume, instead of the wading through that very generous banquet.  I would have been just as happy with that, and in truth, it would have offered an nice continuity of experience.