It was just over 3 years ago since my last visit to Payneham Chinese Restaurant where I was impressed by their Yum Cha. Tonight, with family visiting from overseas, we decided to pay this place another visit, but this time for dinner. There’s no need to rehash what has already been said about the restaurant, so I’ll get straight into the food.

For starters, we had the Shark Fin Soup. The serving was double the amount that I would normally expect and each bowl had plenty of shark fin. The flavours were spot on but I did think the soup was a bit watery. When I make it at home, I like to add corn flour to thicken it up a bit.

The Peking Duck Pancakes were just as good as Ming’s Palace. The duck meat was tender and succulent, and it’s skin was nice and crispy. The duck was rolled up with cucumber and shallots in a light and fluffy pancake, and then dipped into hoisin sauce. Words cannot describe how good this was.

The Oysters with Ginger and Shallots is a classic dish that was executed perfectly. The combination of ginger and shallots in the soy based sauce added plenty of depth to the oysters. Simply amazing!

The King Prawns in Vermicelli Noodles is a variation of a Blue Swimmer Crab recipe that I cook at home. The eggs from the female prawns gives this dish it’s distinct reddish colour. The prawns were tender and succulent, and it’s juices were well infused into the vermicelli noodles. I did think the noodles were a little bit soft.

The Drunken Chicken doesn’t look very exciting but it was actually very well made. The chicken was tender and succulent with the distinct flavour of the Shaoxing wine.

The Steamed Murray Callop is another classic Chinese dish. The soy based sauce worked very well with the soft delicate flesh of the fish. One fish was cooked perfectly while the other was bit inconsistent with some sections slightly raw.

The Stir Fried Asian Greens is another classic dish that was cooked very well. The vegetables were nice and firm, and the sauce that came with it was full of flavour.

The Fried Rice was fairly stock standard. The rice was firm with nice individual grains and there was a generous amount of egg, chicken and lettuce mixed throughout. Not a highlight of the night but more of a filler.

For dessert, we had the Red Bean Pancakes. Inside the crispy shell was a subtly sweet bean paste. The appearance of this dish doesn’t do it justice.

The staff were friendly and the service was fast and efficient. The atmosphere was relaxed, although it was only a Monday night.

Not quite the perfect experience I had several years ago, but it was still up there.

WHERE: 307 Payneham Rd, Royston Park