A picture doesn't always tell the full story

Nine Sky

Where: Shop F183, Gateway Theatre of Shopping, Entrance Parkade A, P2

Open: Daily noon to 10pm

Call: 060 984 5363

The Poet found it. A new Chinese Restaurant in Gateway. I squizzed the menu and saw a picture of a lovely crispy roast duck. Yes we would gather with the clan. 

Then there was the problem of finding it. The Glass Guy and I were late. We had parked in the wrong parking lot and ended up practically walking the entire length of the centre. When told it was down by the old Cinema Nouveau we still scratched around looking. There’s scaffolding everywhere. Was it outside the centre? Eventually we found it by accident through the car park and above the hotel. So if you want to avoid a little runaround it’s parkade A, level P2 and you’ll be at the door.

It’s a lovely, smart, modern restaurant beautifully decorated. There’s none of the obligatory green table clothes with pink lanterns scheme that made up Chinese eateries of yesteryear. Nor the three or four plastic tables in the corner that make a place look like a takeaway. There’s a private dining room and secluded tables sunk into the floor and screened with fabrics. And it’s full.

The Poet and family and the bridge gang of the Advocate and Trevor had already placed some orders which were arriving as we got there. Not licensed yet, we could bring our own wine.

The menu is enormous - and to be honest a little daunting. First a selection of hot dishes that include options like cumin lamb, deep-fried whole fish and pineapple prawns. Then a selection of noodle soups - Vietnamese, Taiwanese and Japanese. Starters include a selection of spring rolls, wontons, tempura and dim sum, along with kimchi pickle, while dessert comes next.

Then there’s more soups, miso, tom yum, hot and sour and sweet corn, followed by Thai curries - red and green. There’s a selection of roasts, which is where I saw the crispy duck, followed by a selection of Chinese rice and noodle dishes.

Then came some Japanese skewers cooked over coals that looked more like starters, and then the Chinese barbecue menu, which we kept on wanting something off but weren't seated at a table with Chinese barbecue facilities.

And then finally an exhaustive sushi menu, that to be honest I didn’t even look at, but the Advocate explored.

We start with nice big tempura prawns in a light crispy batter. We also enjoyed the pork potstickers served with prawn crackers and a dipping sauce. Then I decided I wanted to try these Japanese skewers. The options were endless, beef, prawns, scallops. My eye settled on the beef tongue which sounded interesting. We also ordered two portions of salt and pepper chicken wings. Well the chicken wings were enjoyable, but sadly the tongue was inedibly tough. It went back to the kitchen.

For mains we were all salivating for the roast duck. It looked so gorgeous in the picture with lots of crispy skin. I was tempted by the roast pork but we decided to get a full duck instead. The Poet wanted to try the bibimbap, unaware that this was a vegetarian version, while we completed the picture with the braised wagyu with rice and veg. The Advocate went the sushi route.

Sadly the duck didn’t live up to the picture. It had cooled considerably by the time it reached the table, and the skin was no longer crisp. It also had been hacked up rather than carved, which meant you were constantly pulling bits of back bone or breastbone out of your mouth. It tasted good but lacked that crunch of crispy duck. 

The bibimbap too without any protein was not exciting, the gochujang sauce being both hot and sweet but not balanced. Vivek took one look at this pile of “broccoli and rice” and passed. We enjoyed the braised wagyu.

While the Advocate enjoyed his spicy tuna roses and salmon roses, I don’t think he quite expected what was supposed to be a tuna hand roll. It looked more like a tuna tartare on a bed of sushi rice and came topped with - horror on horrors - an egg yolk. As someone who doesn’t eat eggs we asked the waiter to remove it, which fortunately happened with the yolk remaining intact. But the resultant dish was insufferably bland, with no real flavour to the tuna. He gave up. The Glass Guy and I tried to liven it up, but all I could taste was avo - there was a layer between tuna and rice. Not even soya sauce did the trick although a smear of spicy pink mayo on the side of the plate helped a little.

We skipped dessert in favour of a stop at the Lindt Chocolate shop afterwards.

Food: 2

Service: 2 ½

Ambience: 3 ½

The Bill: R2008 for seven