City BBQ Chinese Restaurant

Came here for dinner as me and my wife wanted to try the Chinese food after 10 years. Great improvements. We ordered a plate of Xin Zhou Cao Mi aka Fried Bee Hoon, a bowl of Zi Ti Zhou aka Mixed Pork Porridge and two serving of Peking Duck in Pancake. Food was as authentic as it can get plus the servings are big. I personally felt that the Peking Duck could have been done slightly better by slicing the duck near more thinly as compared to having a piece of meat in the pancake. If still tasted good with the sweet sauce and everything though. The porridge was generously peppered with pork and pig liver. The pork and liver was pretty tender and good. On the way out, I saw a plate of half roast duck serving that was oozing with the duck oil and I was like «remember to try this the next time I am here»! I will come back again for a meal.

A good BBQ place, but nothing too amazing. The usual cantonese BBQ place with the usual selection of BBQ dishes.
The food… pretty good, but… did not think it was all too amazing. I had a combination BBQ platter with duck and chicken, a side vegetable, and rice. Overall, a filling meal, but not the most impressive canto BBQ I’ve had.
The venue… decent size, not too many tables, but they do shared tables which makes seating faster, but can be awkward if you’re not used to it.
Overall… a decent place to eat with decent portion sizes, but nothing to call home about.

I came here a just-​arrived hungry tourist and now two days later I can say don’t bother. There are so many better and cost effective places to eat. The roast duck was okay but the roast pork was a far cry from Big Wong’s in NYC Chinatown (still the best worldwide). The prices are par for the course in Australia which I found painful – a bowl of non-​plain congee costing $ 8?! Noodle soup costs $ 10?!
The portions weren’t as large as I hoped for either. It was loud and the sizzling plate dishes other people ordered made me cough because of the fumes that make the people who order it giddy with delight.

Let’s just be honest with you.
I just finished half of roasted duck and it completed my day.
It’s $ 19 for half duck and $ 28 for the whole duck life that I would call. This is acceptably and highly valuable!
The shop showcases simple and historical with the preserves of Chinese’s old restaurant. Hanging the roasted meat through the front mirror is definitely very tempting for all walkers.
I didn’t dine in today but definitely will in the next few days here.
Mum just called and knew I have eaten half duck by myself and lectured on how high cholesterols they are.
To Mum (which I didn’t dare to say on the phone): Satisfaction comes before cholesterols: P

City BBQ oozes with the promise of cheap, fast, authentic Chinese food. They get the atmosphere right, definitely, and that heightens the dining experience, but when it comes down to it the food is actually pretty average. I’m a sucker for roast duck and soup noodles, which I thoroughly enjoyed on my first visit so came back for more. The second time around had me wondering whether my fond memory was more due to the fact that it had been a celebratory lunch after a successful job interview than the soup itself, which was bland, or the duck, which joined the boring party. That second visit also saw us ordering some seafood and veggies, where were really just okay.
I know I’ll go back for the BBQ pork spare ribs, which never seem to be available when I’m there, but I have a gut feeling they are excellent and worth waiting for.

The best roasted duck in Melbourne, or one of, easily.
This place is modeled around a type of eatery popular in Hong Kong, where the food is relatively cheap, fast, and can be had late at night. The restaurant sticks out in Chinatown with it’s assortment of hanging meats proudly on display at the front window. I know it may be slightly off putting, but trust me, the meat is delicious!
I asked the proprietor about the duck, and apparently the chef was sent on two trips to restaurants in China to study the technique used for duck roasting. They have also imported two specialty made large ovens from China purely for this purpose.
Atmosphere can be abit noisy at times but it’s comfortable, and certainly feels like I’m Hong Kong.
It’s also BYO.

C and I have been here a few times and when a visiting American friend said that he just wanted to have some good basic Chinese meal we knew where to take him. It is not expensive and the service is ordinary but efficient.
The roast goose and ducks in the window is a good indication that this place is serious about its food. It feels like it part of the continuing culture of Chinese eat out, the big round tables, the menu, the Chinese tea.
And the food is good. Our American friend was very pleased with the lemon chicken; it was what he had been yearning for. C and I tried to tempt our American friend into trying more of the menu; we had roast duck and some other dishes. Our American friend tried some but stuck mostly to the lemon chicken.

I do love me some Chinese barbecue. Especially duck. That crispy crackling fat, a little bit of salt and pepper mix, it’s what the gods would eat. Unless they’re duck gods, in which case I’m probably going to hell when I die. But yeah. The duck here is pretty damn good. Cheap, too.
Even if duck’s not to your fancy, they offer a whole range of Cantonese dishes. That said, there probably isn’t a lot on offer for vegetarians.