Mystery shopper: Wang Wang BBQ

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This was published 9 years ago

Mystery shopper: Wang Wang BBQ

By Jacqui Taffel

Wang Wang BBQ

Shop 4, 1 Lakeside Road, Eastwood

BBQ's in the blood: Jia (Kristy) Luo at Wang Wang BBQ, Eastwood,

BBQ's in the blood: Jia (Kristy) Luo at Wang Wang BBQ, Eastwood,

9874 0018

Daily, 10am-7.30pm

According to a credible local source, a BBQ war is raging in Eastwood. The Chinese barbecue shops on the western side of the railway station are offering discounts to undercut each other in an effort to woo customers.

The same credible source nominates Wang Wang as the one to back. It only opened in this Ryde suburb relatively recently, a year and a half ago, but has wrested itself a top place in a competitive market.

For the Chinese, a double name is lucky; Wang Wang translates as "busy busy". One of its secret weapons is Jia Luo, the young, cheery face of the small hole-in-the-wall shop, who operates the till and serves customers. Also known as Kristy, she is lively and funny and loud; in days of old, she might have been called "a character".

Her father Yong Luo, who can be seen working hard out the back, has been a barbecue chef for 35 years, and her grandfather owns a barbecue shop in China, in Guangdong. It's in their blood.

Wang Wang sells everything imaginable in the barbecue business, including three types of duck: special roast duck, soya duck and flattened roast duck.

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"Less oil," Jia explains.

There is also soy sauce chicken and two types of pork, crackle skin and the classic barbecue version. The bright orange cuttlefish is chewy but tender, and lap cheong (Chinese sausage) is spicy and zingy. Then there's pig ear, tongue, stomach, tendons, giblets, chicken feet and duck wings. One of my companions buys a big tub of chicken feet and a small tripe for $4.50.

Wang Wang also sells cooked rice and green vegetables, so picking up dinner is as easy as pointing to your selection of meats and handing over your cash.

"Very good girl," says one lady shopper, nodding at Jia approvingly.

"Very beautiful too!" says Jia.

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