Old House Chinese Restaurant

We reviewed this restaurant very favourably when it first opened but did not return when the menu posted outside subsequently seemed more 'mainstream'. We ate there tonight and the choices on the inside menu were much more interesting. The food was fantastic - generous servings, fresh, hot and very tasty. Unfortunately the waiting staff could not translate the 'specials board' (at all) and had a limited knowledge of the wine (or where to find it or corkage) but I would still rate this restaurant very highly on the quality of the food and presentation alone. Next time we will get someone from the kitchen to translate. And the corkage is very reasonable.

If you can get past the traditional Hong Kong service (this is not a compliment), the food is really quite good. The menu is authentic Mainland Chinese but with enough safety dishes for the less adventurous (e.g. Sweet and sour pork; beef in black bean sauce). Mainland Chinese food tends to be a little oily but here it was okay. I had the spicy lamb ribs, fried cauliflower and rice. All generous serves at a fair price. All the patrons were Chinese which is another good sign. I would definitely return.

Rating has change due to recent experience on services which is mentioned at the bottom of the review. Love this new management restaurant... This restaurant is so hidden that I pass here everyday and never thought would come and dine in. Thanks to my bff if she wouldn't have intro me to this place, I miss a gem. Decorations are pretty general like how Chinese restaurants are. This restaurant has pretty high ceiling and they only install one air con - it was a hot day when we dine in and I was sweating. However, the food served there compensate the heat. It was quite authentic Asian food served here. Must try the signature grill fish dish with pickle cabbage and chilli. It was really delicious and appetising. Pre order this dish as it takes some time to cook and dish up. We also order one special dish fried pork ribs with fried fresh milk. Yes you didn't read it wrong it's fried fresh milk. It is delicious - dip in a bit of condensed milk and it's heaven. I don't understand why they serve with the pork rib, I would prefer it as a dessert but it is so good that I cannot complain. It is almost like fried ice cream. The rest of the dishes we order was good too but the two mentioned above are spectacular. Drinks selection can be quite limited but goes along with the meal. I've been back since my couple of visits and what a shocking service today. First of all, they mucked up the booking. I book for 4adults and 2kids and they insist that I book 3 Adults and 1kid. Fine, we had a table in the end and sat down. Half way through after ordering and all. The waitress suddenly came and told us they need to take back the high chair. This is what the waitress told me "sorry, I have promise the other customer first. " I replied by saying you promise me too so it is not my fault or responsibility if you only have ONE freaking high chair and promise someone else. Why didn't she apologised to the other table but to us only? She insisted on taking the high chair. Extremely rude and horrible service. A kid has sat on it and they decided it's fine to take the high chair away from where the kid is sitting and let the kid sit on the mum's lap. Seriously, what a disaster!!!

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After roaming O'Connell Street looking for a park on a Saturday night to dine somewhere in North Adelaide, we happily ended up in Melbourne Street (obviously giving up on the non existing park). Roaming, yet again, we stumbled across Old House Chinese. The draw card for us, was that, at about 9pm, the place was full! Good sign, lets go in. I just love a new adventure like this, where you discover a new restaurant by accident! True foodie excitement! The menu is very authentic (with some of the usual suspects of course), so refreshing to see menus like this. Everything we ordered was simply delicious, too many dishes to mention. The only downside was the service. Although we were seated quite quickly, we perused the menu and were ready to order. We waited and waited for someone to take our order. After a good 20 minutes, we decided to hail the attention of a waitress (which wasn't easy). We also found that a large group who arrived after us, received their meals before our entrees even arrived, big no no. We also found that tables were not cleared quickly and some tables not cleared at all. By the time we left, the table behind us was not cleared from the time we arrived. Although, these may be small notations, they all matter in running a streamlined successful establishment. We will return to Old House and hope to see that some maturation has occurred. Thank you Old House.