Asian cuisine is one of my absolute favourites especially when roast duck is involved. There are your standard Chinese restaurants that are okay but let’s face it, convenience is the real reason you return. Then there are the ones that you want to return to over and over again. We recently visited Orient Kitchen in Weston Creek and I’m already looking forward to my next visit.
The family-run restaurant specialises in Chinese BBQ meats and have been serving quality Asian dishes since November 2015. Some of their specialty dishes are the Orient King Prawns, Chinese BBQ platter (roast duck, soy chicken, crackling pork, BBQ pork & sausage), homemade dumplings, Sizzling Lamb with Honey Pepper and Green Beans, and Wasabi Steak.
The team at Orient Kitchen were born and raised in Hong Kong and they love to eat and create good food and to see their customers smile when they leave the restaurant. Ken Chau, a member of the Orient Kitchen family said Chinese BBQ is one of their favourite things to eat and make. He also told me that he’s confident that they dish up the best Chinese BBQ meats in Canberra.
So, what did we eat? We started off with the Orient Kitchen Prawns, wok-friend king prawns with creamy mango sauce. The prawns were crispy but not battered and the sauce was really interesting. It was creamy but the mango flavour was very subtle. One of my friends doesn’t eat prawns and Mr Eat Canberra doesn’t like mango (crazy right?). I on the other hand, eat EVERYTHING! So it was down to my other friend and I to finish this dish – how unfortunate for us…. I loved the crispy, succulent prawns and the combination of the creamy, slightly sweet sauce.
The delicious pan-friend chicken and garlic chive homemade dumplings arrived next. Let’s just say that I LOVE dumplings. Seriously, I could eat dumplings every day. I was so excited to see a good selection of handmade dumplings on the menu and you can choose to have them steamed or fried. The dumplings were plump and filled generously with the chicken mixture. They were crispy on the bottom and very juicy and flavoursome.
Next up were the bbq pork baos. I love the contrast of soft baos with delicious fillings. You can find this dish on the specials board and I’m 95% sure that these are the cheapest baos I’ve had in Canberra at $8.80 for two. The combination of bbq pork, sauce, cucumber and shallots were a winner and the bao itself was soft and not too thick.
For our mains we had the sizzling lamb with honey pepper and green beans, roast duck, crackling pork, fried bean curd with hot rock spicy salt and special orient fried rice.
There were lots of happy faces when the lamb arrived to the table. It was sizzling and it smelt amazing! Everyone loved this dish. The roast meats were served with two sauces and were tasty and flavoursome. All of the bbq meats are made daily in the restaurant so freshness is guaranteed! There were big pieces of prawn and lots of other meats in the fried rice. I can’t stand it when you get a few pieces of tiny meat or vegetables in fried rice so I was really happy when this one arrived and it’s definitely one of the best fried rice that I’ve had from a Chinese restaurant.
One of our friends isn’t a fan of tofu but he actually really enjoyed the fried bean curd and went back for seconds. It was lightly coated and crispy on the outside with a nice kick of heat from the chillies. We were so full after our feast so we took our leftovers home with us and I took it for lunch the next day.
The prices at Orient Kitchen are affordable, the flavours are spot on and the restaurant is warm and inviting, Winter isn’t far away (sigh) and I can’t wait to order a big bowl of their laksa to see how it compares to others in Canberra! There are heaps of dishes on the menu I’m looking forward to trying so I’ll be returning very soon.
Orient Kitchen is perfect is you’re looking for a restaurant that’s not pretentious, has friendly staff and is well above your average Chinese food. It’s a suitable spot for couples, groups of families, friends or work colleagues to have dinner or lunch. They can also cater for large groups.
Orient Kitchen is open 7 days with takeaway and delivery options available. Delivery is available in the Weston area and is only $2. The team at Orient Kitchen also offer live seafood (mud crab & lobster) if you preorder.
DETAILS
Address 9/19 Brierly St, Weston Creek
Phone: (02) 6288 3330
Open 7 days 11:30-2:30, 5:00- 9:30
FUN FACT
Most of the dinnerware that the food is served on is made by Ken Chau, member of the Orient Kitchen family and local ceramics artist. You can find him on Instagram @kenchau_canberra
Amelia Bidgood
Amelia is the Founder and Editor of Eat Canberra and the Founder and Managing Director of Eat Canberra Food Tours. She's a qualified journalist, presenter, freelance writer and also runs a boutique communications agency working with small business owners on all things social media, content creation and marketing. She's taught cheesemaking classes, judged hospitality and tourism awards, completed the WSET Level 1 Award In Wines, loves to cook and has travelled to 23 countries. She's also passionate about mental health and has recently started studying to become a Counsellor.