Empress of China - Review - Chinatown

The Empress of China (120-122 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000) is a nice little restaurant in the heart of Chinatown.  Its definitely not an upmarket restaurant so I recommend as a lunch venue or for having a bite to eat before or after going out to the pub or movies.

As you can see it probably has one of the more attractively set out interiors for your typical Chinatown restaurant.  Its open and relatively bright and not garish in any way.

Every now and then most of us crave steamed dumplings.  These were not special but nor were they bad.  

The prawns with bok choy and garlic is hardly an original or out of this world taste combination.  This is kind of standard fare from a taste sensation point of view.  Still, its good not too overpower prawns so you can actually taste them.  Nice but not memorable.

The cold poached chicken in chilli oil with sesame is a good combination and a favourite for me.

To sum up 'The Empress Of China' certainly has a grandiose title.  While it doesn't meet this spec its definitely a nice enough Chinatown restaurant. Better customer service would have been nice but in Chinatown this can never be an expectation.


Empress of China
Rating - 4
Would I go again - Yes
Would I recommend to a friend - No

Telephone: (03) 9639 7723
Address: 120-122 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Reviewed By: Howie Be