Emperor’s Kitchen Chinese Restaurant

I’d heard a lot about Emperor’s Kitchen and went there for an early Friday night dinner to find the place filling up with hungry punters, including a long line of take-​away customers picking up their dinner too.
Even though we had a reservation, we were ushered to pick any four-​top table which we did. And we had a wee while to wait before the owner appeared and asked in a deep barking voice if we wanted menus. Which we did. And they were of biblical size covering everything and anything in the Chinese cooking lexicon. Very daunting. Chinese writing and all.
A sizzling platter whipped past us to another table and that was the only cue we needed before we were smitten and ordered: sizzling beef with pepper, sizzling Mongolian lamb and finally, plain old sizzling beef with black bean sauce. Fried rice and steamed rice followed, including one plate of thin rice noodles and vegetables.
Nothing blew me away and I kind of wished that the meat was less soft and saucy and more sizzled, even though the tastes were pretty darn good. Service was lightening fast, the tea amazing (I must be buying the wrong stuff at home) and the owner was great value when he was joking with us, or barking orders at his staff in a loud booming voice.
The best thing about Emperor’s Kitchen is that it is a South of the River local and perfect for me. The place it gaudy and totally unflashy with bubbling tanks of snow crabs and undersized barramundi, all of which you hope are ornaments and not for the wok!
Prices are extremely reasonable, off-​street parking everywhere… and you can BYO… which I did.

I had lunch here today with a friend and it was nearly full the whole time we were there — proving its popularity — but we were seated within a few minutes. Waiters frequently stopped by with freshly cooked food on trolleys and we picked out what we wanted. The crab parcels (Crab Rangoon?) weren’t bad, the crispy squid tentacles were very tasty. Spinach dumplings, chicken buns and pork buns were all good and the sesame balls were delicious. A pot of green tea lasted us for the meal and was a good accompaniment. Under $ 40 for two and we both left with full stomachs.
If you’re looking for a no-​frills, tasty and cheap feed then this is undoubtedly good value for money and well worth a visit.

Worth more than one visit… Love the food though can get quite noisy. Well priced with a very friendly owner who is always on the floor chatting to guests. Obvious strong relationship with regulars

I live in the area and there’s a wide variety of Chinese food on offer but my mates and I insist on going back here. The emperor (as we address the owner) is friendly and hospitable to all who enter his realm and is fast acting to get you seated and fed. We regularly show up unannounced looking for a table of 7 and he never fails accommodate.
The food is at the level where you never have to worry about ordering something ‘weird’ or not liking what’s come out. There’s a wide provincial variety covering sweet to spicy and yes you can order Kung Po chicken (it’s really good).
Byo booze but don’t expect to pay corkage because the emperor wants you to enjoy yourself. If you’re sharing food you won’t pay more than $ 20 for a full tum.

Sunday Dim Sum here is an institution… If u want quiet intimate dining, this isn’t the place for you!!! This place is full of character, and the Dim Sum is great!!! Love the chicken feet here!!!

Despite the relative trek out to this place (given that I’m a Northie), this place was actually pretty good. If I was living South, I’d be happy to go here instead of a drive into Northbridge for some good Chinese food.
Myself and my dinner companions had a pretty wide variety of dishes (and most are pretty much similar to other restaurants) but the stand out dishes for me were the chicken and sweet corn soup (this was REALLY good) and the lobster noodles (what’s not to like about lobster?!).
The service was pretty quick even though it was pretty busy. The place isn’t all that big so it’d probably be best to make reservations. As far as cost goes, it’s pretty comparable with the restaurants you’d find in the CBD — except you’re not in the CBD — which isn’t a bad thing.
There’s plenty of free parking available and when you finish dinner at 10pm (yeah — we stayed a while) you’re not having to dodge drunk people on the way back to your car. Overall, this place was actually a pretty good place to go to for dinner and if you’re living South of the river and want a pretty local place to go to for dinner, I would definitely recommend this place.