China Bar Signature (Burwood)

China Bar Signature

Again, during my Uni break I tackled the Asian buffet in East Burwood renowned by many as the "Asian Smorgy's". This is a terrible nickname as it does this food hall no justice. 

On a Saturday night AJ and I met up with some old friends and lined up to enter. The line snaked round into the carpark (usually a sign that the food is great). 

Inside, we were greeted by a range of seafood, desserts, curries, sushi/sashimi, dim sum, stir fries, roast duck, roast pork. 

Being a buffet-style venue there were obviously some issues with all the food being 'hot'. The trick was to get the food as they put it out, and aside from a few inconsistencies in that area the food was tasty and in unlimited supply! While this was far from fine-dining it definitely allowed you to try things that you may not be game to order when in a Chinese restaurant. 

Some of my favourites were cheese and mushroom crab, fried prawns, crab claws, peking duck and some beautiful dim sum; pork buns, siu mai, duck puffs.


The desserts were rather pedestrian (a wide selection but mass-produced and you could taste it) but then again Chinese cuisine is not renowned for dessert. It may have been an idea for the venue to offer deep fried ice cream or a 'fresh' alternative. Despite the let down in this area, there was a good offering of fresh fruit (perfect after a big meal) and interesting iced treats (in flavours like lychee, coconut, etc.) were delicious.

All in all - a great place to catch up and try a quality selection of Asian cuisine. The wine list was also quite reasonably priced and diverse having one of my favourite winemakers featured (Katnook Estate).