LOCATIONAt the South Parklands end of Pulteney Street.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAHong Kong chef Jack Cheung’s menu is a playground of flavours. Cheung’s proud daughter (and Anytime’s manager) Vivian explains that he has knowledge in all chapters of Chinese cookery and loves to experiment. Cheung’s grandfather opened the first Chinese restaurant in Japan, and so having been in kitchens since the age of 12, Cheung brings 40 years of experience to this modern eatery. It is fresh in design with lime green, mocha and arctic white colours. Slate grey carpet darkens the tone – perhaps there for practicality rather than prettiness, but snowflake-shaped light shades brighten things up. Lazy Susans and a gold feng shui cat waving from the bar are the only immediate signs of it being a Chinese restaurant; Vivian wanted the room to be cool, not kitsch.
The only dragon making an appearance is not on the wall but rather listed under the soups. Dragon fry spinach soup stands out with its chicken, greens and egg white suspended in a “delicious superior” broth. Duck can be devoured Mongolian, Peking or Cantonese style with taro. Chicken is prepared with a mustard sauce and crispy skin, or spring chicken should delight with ginger and shallots in one of Cheung’s popular hotpots. Seafood is showcased in puff pastry with golden (pumpkin) sauce, king prawns in butter curry and sweet and sour chrysanthemum fish fillets. Ribs are a speciality, especially those in the chef’s coffee sauce. The piggy’s neck comes cooked with chilli and Cheung’s “sssh-secret” recipe of deep-fried milk. Vegetable dishes differ with stir-fried lotus root and baked bean curd in a creamy Portuguese sauce. Fried rice has the novel inclusion of black olives. Invest a 20-minute wait for dessert and you will be rewarded with a “sweet, sweet, sweet” flaming pudding!
Roz Taylor, March 2009