Tuesday, 24 July 2012

Review - China Red

Friday, 24th Feb 2012


China Red
Shop 6
206 Bourke Street,
Melbourne

Cuisine: Chinese

Taste Rating: 7.5/10   Value Rating: 7.5/10

China Red on Urbanspoon

This is my second touch screen restaurant in the last couple of months. China Red is in an arcade between Bourke Street and Little Bourke St. It is next to Jalan Alor, a Malaysian restaurant which I have been to several times. 

China Red is usually busy at lunch times therefore we made a booking. The place was busy when we arrived just before 12.30pm . The touch screen was mounted on the wall beside our table. It was quite easy to use the menu to look for dishes and order. There is a photo of each dish and it was reasonably easy to navigate through the different steps.

A tip for the unwary. 'Are you sure you want to take this order?' is not just a polite message on the screen! Once you select the Yes tick, the order for that dish is transmitted immediately to the kitchen, as we found to our surprise! We were still looking for the submit button at the end when the dishes started arriving at the table. So, be warned that you are ordering each dish as you select it, and not at the end, as the touch screen system does not wait until you have selected all dishes.

We ordered Shanghai stir-fried noodles, Chicken in Szehuan chilli and Yangzhou marinated Duck. 

The Shanghai noodles were tasty and had a nice texture. The sauce was sweet which may not be to everyone's liking. I would have liked move vegetables in the noodles. Also, there was a small amount of meat, which is fairly typical of this type of noodles.

The Chicken in Szehuan chilli wasn't as tasty.  The gravy was thick and seemed to have a lot of corn flour. The flavour was a mix of sour, sweet and salty.

The Yangzhou marinated duck had a caramel tasting sauce. The meat was lean. It is a cold dish so may not suit all tastes.

Overall, there is a large variety of food on the menu and I would like to try a few more dishes. The touch screens are a novelty the first time but are also convenient for regulars especially if you don't need to ask questions about the dishes.


China Red
With Jalan Alor sign reflected (backwards)

Nice Impromptu Pose!

Making Dumplings

Menu - Touch Screen on the Wall

Ordering

'Are you sure you want to take this order?'
Select the Yes tick and the dish order
is transmitted immediately to the kitchen


Menu - Chicken in Szechuan Chilli

Menu - Yangzhou Marinated Duck

Shanghai stir-fried Noodles

Chicken in Szechuan Chilli

Yangzhou marinated duck.


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