Jasmine Chinese Restaurant

This is westernised chinese food at its semi-​satisfactory best.
You know the places — the stylised green-​tiled awning, red bamboo-​esque walls adorned with lanterns and imperial palace slash forbidden city inspired paraphernalia and artwork. As you step through the iconic circular doorway, you would be transported back to the set of Monkey! He knew every magic trick under the sun, to tease the gods and everyone and have some fun!
As you sit down, they’ll bring out the plastic plate for your entrée, you know the ones, bought at the reject shop for a cool $ 2, with the red chinese mosaic motif. You’ll give each other a smile and a nod as a fork and spoon are set beside you, acknowledging your non-​chinesey-​ness. Then you’ll peruse the menu.
All your old favourites are there:
— The mixed entrée (spring rolls, fish cakes, satay chicken skewers, prawn cutlets)
— Sweet and sour pork
— Mongolian lamb
— Kung pao chicken
— Fried rice (standard or special)
— And the so-​bad-​its-​good fried icecream
When it comes out you’ll grin like a kid as you see the mongolian piled high with onions and that standard fried rice, peppered with the odd bacon bit and slightly yellow tinged rice from the frying oil.
All in all this place does what it’s selling pretty well. Westernised chinese dishes, that are the same as what you had in the 80s-​90s as a kid before the proliferation of Thai food. My friends had a couple of words for it back then. Chinese (pronounced chin-​aye-​zee) and Tommy (after the smartest asian kid at our school). Both are apt here :)