Will Meppem
On the face of it, there are several reasons why Stanley − Manly’s new waterfront Cantonese restaurant − shouldn’t work. The interiors are brooding and dark, a curious choice on a wharf splashed with yellows, blues, brightness and light. It also has room for more than 200 diners, a huge number of seats for any venue to fill in these precarious times. Then there’s the food, which could easily have stuck to the sedate and safe. Instead, chef Louis Tikaram (who also runs the Brisbane version of Stanley, on the corresponding Howard Smith Wharves), refuses to patronise his guests’ palates, working with flavours that are bombastic and unflinchingly spiced.
All risky moves. And judging by the completely packed dining room on this sunny Saturday afternoon, risky moves that have resolutely paid off.
The steamed dumpling platter, plump with siu mai and har gow, is a solid way to start. The scattering of caviar on two of the four varieties gives them a gleeful pop, and the tray of chilli condiments − which range from fresh chopped to fermented hot sauce − puts you in the driver’s seat for heat.
A surprise contender for dish-of-the-menu is the cold masterstock pork belly entrée. It doesn’t look like much; layers of meat on a bed of curled spring onions. But Tikaram has hidden a ton of flavour in and around those pale rectangular slices; big, bass-toned blasts of aged black vinegar, loads of Sichuan pepper màlà and a hailstorm of crunchy cashews on the top. Management may want to think about implementing an order minimum, because I could happily take up a table to eat this on my own and on its own.
The family opposite orders a whole lobster, its orange shell as glossy as Bakelite. From where I’m sitting it looks like it’d been steamed with soy, ginger and shallot and its fragrance makes me wish we also had one on the way. I’ll settle, however, for our choice of thick, savoury, wagyu beef dan dan noodles − one of the best I’ve tried − and the numb and thrum of deep fried hot ‘n’ tangy chicken, tamed by an oolong spritz with exactly the right balance of sweet, tannin and refreshment. And I’ll be back for the Peking duck and Moreton Bay bug spring rolls.
The ghosts of Chinese restaurants past loom over this particular site; it was previously home to an outpost of Merivale’s Queen Chow, and before that Manly Phoenix, a popular local spot for yum cha. But the curse, perhaps, is broken. If the early positive signs around Stanley persist, it may prove that doing things a little differently is the smartest way to play.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
