Lin Jie Kong: One night, in search of dinner towards the end of a long road trip, I found myself at the RSL club in Karuah, a sleepy bayside town just north of Port Stephens, New South Wales. I feared it would be another night of choosing between chicken parmy and fish and chips but was surprised to find a well-reviewed Chinese restaurant in the club.
All the Australian Chinese staples were there: sweet and sour pork, Mongolian lamb, beef and black bean sauce. But what really caught my eye was the specials board: mapo tofu, Sichuan beef, a whole fish. These were dishes that wouldn’t be out of place in a big-city Chinatown restaurant, but all the way out here? I ended up sticking with two favourites – special fried rice and Peking pork.
