San Choi - Kew

Lunched at San Choi yesterday and it was a pleasant experience. This is a bright and comfortable restaurant, with very good, but not pushy, attention from cheerful staff. There is interesting food on the menu, including a number of crispy egg noodle dishes and tasty udon with pork and noodles. Something different. Servings are generous and prices are reasonable. San Choi is licensed and the beer is nice and cold. I would think reservations should be made at weekends. Families are welcome.

Discovered this gem years ago and is the one place of delighted conversation for years and into the future. Have the regular dishes and also those to challenge and delight. From for ends first dates to family get togethers to catch up with fiends - the food always delivers. When thinking of this place I cannot do so without a broad grin and the wonderful memories.

Banquet was just ok, we had the second banquet which was nothing special, must admit that I was slightly worried after reading bad zomato reviews, this was after ordering....Fried ice-cream is my favourite and was a disappointment...

We have dined here several times, the food is always good and there is a large menu to choose from, serves are generous and promptly delivered to the table, albeit dishes are a little on the expensive side. The thing I don't like is the impersonal and clinical service, maybe if we were Asian it might be different, but I almost feel like we shouldn't have inconvenienced them by coming. We will return, maybe we will be greeted with a smile next time?

We live just down the street from this Hong Kong seafood restaurant, so it's our local and thank heavens it's so good. We have been going every month or so since they moved from Hawthorn to their current location. As regulars, we have eaten many of the choices on the menu as well as custom-prepared seafood for celebrations.The service can be just ok, but if you get one of the experienced waitstaff, the service is exceptional. Our favourite is a hostess (manager/co-owner?) who provides superlative service, friendliness and care. Whenever we see her, we know the night will be good.Our most recent dinner was on Christmas eve. As the forecasts had predicted hot weather, we decided not to cook, but go out instead. We made reservations for 8 pm and when we arrived, the outdoor temperature was 30C (or 86F for Americans). As soon as we walked in, we could feel the cool air-conditioning. We saw our favourite hostess and she greeted us warmly. We were prepared to sit at a small, set, table for 2 but the hostess waved us to a much larger table that had been cleared but not re-set. Within seconds the table was set for us, menus presented, and our sparkling wine opened and placed in an iced bucket. As our hostess poured our wine into flutes, she asked us what we would like to eat. My husband and I are the bane of restaurants --- we far prefer many small plates, served consecutively to large main courses or a table full of food going cold. We started with steamed oysters, mine with black bean sauce, and my husband's with ginger/spring onion. They arrived in about 5 minutes and were presented in the silver service style. These large oysters were delicious and cooked perfectly. I challenge any oyster lover to find more delicious oysters than these!For my next course, I had hot and sour soup while my husband had prawn toasts. My soup was very good, with excellent taste and wonderful texture from a mix of mushrooms. My husband's prawn toast pleased him greatly -- these two large toasts were not the commercial variety with a smear of prawn paste on the toast, but a thick layer of excellent prawn paste. He loved them but could barely finish.Our hostess noticed that my husband was getting full, so she told us that she would have the chef prepare the pork ribs with the sauce on the side. That way, she told us, we could re-heat the pork and sauce separately and it would be more enjoyable. My husband had two of the ribs, but couldn't finish the heaped plate. These were neatly packed up and taken home. I enjoyed my final plate of Peking duck. Although San Choi does not often serve the whole duck, sliced with panache at the table, the two parcels I received were delicious, with the crispy duck skin, fresh scallion, sweet hoisin sauce and freshly steamed pancake. Replete yet cooled-down we left the restaurant after a flawless dinner that was thoughtfully presented and served.Congratulations to the staff of San Choi for the fine night we had!