Chinese restaurants in Pacific
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A
Camy Shanghai Dumpling Restaurant
There's nothing fancy here; pour your own plastic cup of overboiled tea from the urn, then try a variety of dumplings with some greens. Put up with the dismal service and you've found one of the last places in town you can fill up for under $10.
reviewed
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B
Ying Chow
This fluoro-lit, utilitarian eatery is a culinary gem; serving cuisine styled from the Guangzhou region, such as crispy salt-and-pepper squid and steamed duck with salty sauce. It gets packed – with queues out the door – but it’s well worth the wait.
reviewed
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C
Flower Drum
The Flower Drum continues to be Melbourne's most celebrated Chinese restaurant. The finest, freshest produce prepared with absolute attention to detail keeps this Chinatown institution booked out for weeks in advance. The sumptuous but ostensibly simple Cantonese food is delivered with the slick service you'd expect in such elegant surrounds.
reviewed
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D
Oriental Tea House
They’ve ditched the trolley ritual, but David Zhou’s intriguing Shanghainese offerings are just as good à la carte as off the cart. (And they still do the kid-pleasing lurid jellies for dessert.) The bright refit of an old pub is a departure from the norm too. The excellent teashop is worth a concerted postprandial browse.
reviewed
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E
Tak Kee Roast Inn
This one-room traditional Chinese affair, locally lauded for its skill in cooking meats, is recognisable by the skewered flesh hanging in the front window. This has the same effect on committed vegetarians that garlic has on vampires. Their won tons are superb, as is their barbecued beef brisket.
reviewed
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F
Ben's Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant
There's a reason people flock to this Asian diner at weekends and it's not just for the food. Up to 300 people come here on Friday and Saturday nights drawn by a shared love of spring rolls and karaoke. Everyone - and we mean everyone - gets up to sing.
reviewed
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G
Canton Cafe
Constant queues out Canton Cafe's door are certainly no reflection of this cheap-and-cheerful restaurant's pace. More a sign of the popularity of this BYO-wine place's excellent Chinese dishes, which you'll have done and dusted within 30 minutes. Next!
reviewed
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Ang's Restaurant
Ang's is locked up like Fort Knox; this part of Gordons is unsavoury after dark. But it's worth the trip for excellent Chinese food at reasonable prices. The tôm yam soup is just right.
reviewed
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H
Ky Chow
Ying Chow's action-packed sister restaurant Ky Chow is great for lunch serving dishes such as duck with sundried Chinese bayberries. The service is fast.
reviewed
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I
Old Kingdom
The queues are here for three things: duck soup, Peking duck, and duck and bean shoots. The owner’s one-man show is a bonus, as is the classic no-style décor. You’ll need to preorder for Peking duck.
reviewed
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J
Red Teapot
An intimate restaurant, always busy with diners enjoying stylishly executed Chinese favourites.
reviewed
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Phoenix Room
When it comes to Asian cooking, chef Solis knows his stuff. Chinese specialities are served with absolute proficiency - the fluffiest foo yongs (omelette) in PNG, guaranteed! The sweet-and-sour pork is another hot favourite. Western dishes, such as pork chops or beef stroganoff, also feature on the menu. There are a good choice of vegetarian options too; rare in PNG.
If the service is longish, you can always gaze at some risqué oriental paintings on the walls or at the huge tabu (sacred) wheel hanging from the ceilings.
reviewed
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K
Seamstress
Start off with a cocktail under a canopy of tiny qipao on the top floor, then make your way downstairs to the dining room for some contemporary Chinese cooking. The food – coconut and roe rice balls, curly-fried snapper or Onkaparinga venison with Szechuan pepper and a Chinese wine reduction – is as delicious as it sounds. The 19th-century warehouse, complete with rickety wooden stairs, is fabulously atmospheric. Their basement bar Sweatshop could be on the cards when you’re done.
reviewed
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L
Emperor’s Garden BBQ & Noodles
This is the real Chinatown deal: bald barbecued ducks dangling in the window, pink neon, plastic chairs and a murderous butcher next door (‘Goat inside!’…and pork ear, jellyfish and ox tongue). Try the soft-shell crab, or the pig’s blood congee if you’re feeling adventurous. You might need a Tsingtao or three to stay sane amid the mildly confronting chaos.
reviewed
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M
Marigold Restaurant
This vast yum cha palace has more mirrors, crimson and gold than seems plausible. Spread over two levels (800 seats!), it’s a constant whirl of trolley dollies in silk dresses and waiters in bowties delivering dim sum, dumplings, steamed pork buns, chicken feet and all the other usual suspects. Shamelessly kitsch in the best possible way. Expect to queue on weekends.
reviewed
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N
Billy Kwong
There’s something wonderfully egalitarian about top restaurants where queuing’s required – perfect for travellers who don’t have the luxury of booking weeks ahead. Chef Kylie Kwong cooks up a sensational seasonal menu of the best organic, sustainable, fair-trade ingredients available. Try the crispy-skin duck with plum sauce.
reviewed
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O
Sungs Kitchen
This bright and bustling pan-Chinese restaurant offers a beyond standard selection of authentic food, including a whole range of duck dishes (tea-smoked is a favourite) and some interesting vegetarian offerings. They do yum cha and have an extensive tea menu including those with pretty floating flowers.
reviewed
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P
Super Bowl
This unpretentious Dixon St food room is always crammed with Chinese diners (and it has nothing to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers or the New England Patriots). Dig the Chinatown vibe and slurp up a bowl of noodles at the street-side tables. Perfect for a postmidnight snack.
reviewed
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Q
Chinese Restaurant
Not really a place to lift your spirits. The building is depressing, the dining room is oppressing (think bare, peeling walls and neon lighting) and the Chinese specialities are just average, judging by the braised chicken. But it's the only independent restaurant in town.
reviewed
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R
Lau’s Family Kitchen
Tucked into a leafy location, Lau’s serves a mainly Cantonese menu. Dishes are beautifully done if not particularly exciting, with a few surprises thrown in for more adventurous diners. Super-attentive staff and the moody dark interior make for a great night out.
reviewed
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S
Lantern Palace
Dimly lit and suitably oriental in its décor, this long-standing institution offers a fairly predictable Chinese-Western menu with a few left-field gems thrown in such as garlic bêche-de-mer in chilli sauce. The banquets here are good value.
reviewed
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T
Country Kitchen
One step up from a hole in the wall, and popular with local Indians for its sweets, Country Kitchen also does Chinese standards and fresh, tasty, boneless (if you request them) curries in dilapidated surrounds. Worth a try.
reviewed
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U
Chong Pong Restaurant
Serves your standard Chinese food such as chow mein, sweet-and-sour pork and noodle soup. Up a long flight of stairs, it's simple but has nice views across the main road to the market and sea beyond.
reviewed
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V
New Hong Kong
This no-fuss Chinese restaurant does Sino-Kiwi grub such as chop suey, chow mein and, of course, chips. Lunch deals ($6) are a good bet, as is the two-hour $10-dish ‘happy hour’ from 5.30pm.
reviewed
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W
Happy Days
This no-nonsense hole-in-the-wall serves up steaming Vietnamese and Chinese dishes in record time. There's the usual range of stir fried rice and noodles, and lots of veggie options.
reviewed
