Cafe China

Cafe China

http://www.cafechina.com.au/

Address: Cafe China Seafood Restaurant, Rydges Plaza Complex, Cnr of Spence and Grafton Streets, Cairns 4870, Australia.
Ph +61740412828
Fax +61740412818

E-mail: admin@cafechina.com.au

Also
Café China Noodle Bar at Spence Street: 32 – 40 Spence Street, CairnsPh +61740412828
Fax: +61740412818

Also
Café China at The Reef Hotel Casino, 6A Abbott Street, CairnsTel: +61740417077
Fax: +61740413877


Summary Information

Name: Cafe China
Cuisine Type: Chinese, Seafood, Yum Char.
Licensed: Full bar and extensive wine list.
BYO: No.
Price Range: $72.90 incl GST for 2.
Parking: Nil - street parking only
Disabled Access: Yes
Deals: VIP Club with deals
Dress Code: Casual.
Family Friendly: Yes.
Smoking: Yes.
Overall Rating 7 out of 10
Food: 8 out of 10
Drinks: 7 out of 10
Service: 9 out of 10
Ambience: 5 out of 10
Value for Money: 6 out of 10
Recommended: Yes. The best yum char in town.

Review

Cafe China is centrally located in Cairns, and is a very successful establishment and one of the few quality yum char joints in town. It is allegedly so successful that it operates from a claimed three premises. However, in reality there are really only two premises, the Noodle Bar and Seafood Restaurant actually being the same place with two entrances off Spence Street and Grafton Street.

The Noodle bar is a separate area of the restaurant, but there is a free flow between each area. This review is of the Grafton and Spence Street restaurant and the yum char served there at the weekend. We booked early as we had heard that it was a popular, and this proved to be correct. We were seated at 11:30 by our waitress who was extremely helpful, and were plied with dumplings immediately and the ubiquitous green tea in antipodean stainless steel tea pots. While not exactly what we would normally expect at a yum char venue, these had the advantage of actually working, and thus our table cloth wasn't soaked in green tea by the end of the meal.

Café China operates at street level and fronts directly onto the footpath on both Spence and Grafton Streets. The Spence Street entrance can’t be missed and on the way past you can check out the noodle bar at this side of the restaurant. This is more popular with the punters at lunch time or for small meals in the early evening. The Grafton Street entrance is a little out of the way as it is located near a major hotel, and features the fish tank so popular with this sort of restaurant. On arrival the full area of the main restaurant is visible from the Grafton Street entrance and guest are treated to a commanding view of the bar area and get a good impression of the inside of the venue.

Ambience

The outfit of the restaurant was pretty plain and in keeping with the style that many of these restaurants have. There was nothing of any great note and we were seated at our table by the waiting staff without any waiting at all. We were immediately offered an array of steamed yum char food on being seated and ordered our drinks. There was an extensive wine list and a full range of beer was also available. There wasn’t much of an atmosphere as such, nothing really to recommend the place in any event.

Food

Initially we attempted to ascertain what each dish was, however it proved difficult to understand what some of the items we were being enticed into ordering were. The vast number of different stuffings for dumplings and rolls was too much and we lost track after a while and just order whatever looked nice. And pretty much we were right on the money each time and the food that was served up was of a high standard and compared favourably with the yum char venues we have been too overseas.

The two dishes that really made an impression were firstly the crispy skinned pork and secondly the calamari dish. The crispy skinned pork is a personal favourite of mine and the dish served at Café China was not disappointing. It was well worth the time it took for the pork to be delivered to our table (unfortunately we had to ask for it as after a while we did see the same tired dumplings coming past for the second and third times and we had reached our limit of dumplings at that stage). The skin was very tasty and crispy and the pork had been cooked to perfection, remaining moist while being well cooked for taste.

The real star though was the calamari which was recommended by our waiter. On arrival it didn’t look like much, and the presentation really did leave something to be desired. However, once you popped a piece into your mouth, all was forgiven. It may be a tad salty for some palates, but for us, it was perfect. The entire plate was devoured in record time and had we been introduced to it prior to the dumplings, we would possibly have partaken of another plateful before the end of the meal. However, we couldn’t and finished up feeling replete, our gastronomic rapacity having been sated.

Price

Unfortunately the pleasure of the calamari was rather quickly undermined by the delivery of the bill which we asked for after the meal was complete. We had to make our way to the cash register where we were served by the owner who added up our bill. I nearly fell over when it came to $72.90 for two people. I politely inquired if he had recently purchased a large boat and needed to make the next payment the following day, however the joke was clearly well over his head. I did feel that I had been stung a bit too harshly for the meal that we had indulged in, excellent though it was. If you are looking for value for money, then this is not the place to come. However, if you want good yum char and don’t care what it will cost you, then this is as good a place as you will find in Cairns.

Internet Presence

Unlike most places in Cairns, Café China maintains a decent web presence (see link above) with the best web page that we have come across so far. There is a sample menu, some recipes, and even a review or two included (although these are fairly lean on the verbiage and not terribly informative). I would suggest having a look around before you head into the restaurant and see if it runs to your tastes.

Overall we were impressed by Café China and would recommend it, subject to the caveat on price. The ambience is nothing special either, however the service was very good. There is no parking other than chancing finding a park on the street outside Café China. This can be difficult as it is very close to Rusty’s fruit and vegetable market and at the weekends that place can get really busy. We did not see any disabled access to the restaurant, however the Grafton Street entrance is at street level and did not have any stairs. If you are looking for yum char, you could do worse than Café China, however bring plenty of money. 7 out of 10 overall.