PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAIf you are sick of what Grandpa orders from the local Chinese takeaway you’re in for a treat. Not only does Kensington Peking do the classic sweet and sour pork, Mongolian lamb and honey prawns to perfection, it also embraces a more authentic menu. For those who are adventurous eaters, sea cucumber and jellyfish dishes are readily available along with the less extreme yet still pleasingly unique cabbage with white sauce. The whole Peking duck is the speciality of the house and a bargain at around $40 for two people but Shantong and Szechuan dishes are also popular favourites.
Typical of a local Chinese restaurant, the tables are crammed into the small shopfront space and it’s not until you hunt for the bathroom that you discover that an upstairs dining room exists. This is only used on the weekends and has slightly more room to offer. Linen table clothes are a smart touch and the walls are adorned with Chinese characters, the specials menu and the market prices of the seafood, which are patiently waiting in a nearby fish tank for their number to come up. Genuinely, people come here for the food not the decor. This restaurant is permanently brimming with diners armed with chopsticks and many claim it to be the best Chinese outside of China Town. Grandpa would find it hard to disagree when sinking his teeth into the shallot pancakes and steamed dumplings. The smile remains after the bill is delivered too.
Annabel Wise, March 2008