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    Shining Asia

    3.0 (1 review)

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    2 months ago

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    Phoenix Soars - Oysters with vermicelli noodles & spicy sauce

    Phoenix Soars

    1.7(3 reviews)
    2.1 km

    One day, P.Daddy came home from Doncaster raving about this Chinese BBQ place in Doncaster East and…read moreinsisting that we should go try it. Apparently Phoenix Soars is owned by a couple of young guys who are passionate about Chinese BBQ and it was so amazing that he almost got more Chinese BBQ to take away. So last weekend, we decided to check out this place to see what the fuss is about. It was about 1:30pm and the place was still fairly busy. They quickly seated us though and we heard them telling customers a few BBQ meats are sold out. I quickly decided I wanted the soya chicken with noodle soup and hubby wanted their stir fry chicken noodles. My goodness, for about $11 the portion is huge. The bowl of noodle soup is bigger than my face and that was one generous serve of chicken there. I love the flavours of this dish. The chicken has a slight smokey flavour to it and the meat was quite succulent. But perhaps I am so used to having free range chicken in Hong Kong, the texture of this chicken is just lacking. The noodles were over cooked, I would have much preferred it al dente. Hubby's stir fried noodles were quite mediocre to be honest. Instead of using thin yellow noodles for this dish they used thick noodles. The sauce just didn't cling onto these noodles properly. The flavours were ok, just nothing outstanding to write home about. Sometimes people misinterpreted good value as yummy. In this case, I think P.Diddy has got it wrong. Whilst it's certainly value for money, feeding us to the brim for under $15 each, it certainly wasn't worth driving all the way to Doncaster East for this.

    Phoenix Soars is a relatively new restaurant and as it is always packed with locals, I assumed that…read moreit must be very good. One Sunday evening, I could not get a table for just one. I noticed, that the owners could have arranged for the tables differently, to allow for more diners. The next weekend, I ordered a takeaway crispy-skin pork on rice. I noticed, that the staff seemed overwhelmed with how busy the small restaurant was. It was quite nice but not the best of its kind. Then, last night, I tried for the third time to eat in before seeing a movie. Big mistake. The place was only half full with two very large tables pre-set. I had to wait a while before someone paid attention to me. I then asked for a table for just one, to dine quickly before a movie. The lead waiter studied some page and then after a while, asked other waiters to help him move the two large tables over. He went out the back to get another small table to put in between and two chairs and the plates. The table had been set up but he disappeared and the other waiters were unclear as to whether that table was to seat me. After some waiting, they went out the back to ask and I was finally seated. It seemed to me, that many of the waiters were milling around without anything to do and meanwhile I was left waiting. A classy case of management not delegating jobs to staff so that they know what they have to do. I sat down but not before noticing grains of cooked rice in the crease of the chair. Yuk! The table wobbled and so the tea I was poured kept spilling out. I asked for the menu and asked if they had Char Kway Tao. But before I could clarify, the waiter had turned to leave. Then, once I had decided what I wanted, I had to wait quite a while before my order was taken. Again, inattentive service. Waiters were milling around with nothing to do. While I was waiting for my meal, I was thinking about what could be done better. I realised, that the restaurant had actually become a 'family restaurant' with large Chinese families with children dining. This made the place noisy. Yet the menu, pricing and decor was aiming to be more 'up-market'. So, in essence, for a simple Asian meal, where the 'dinner menu' was more expensive than the 'lunch menu' for exactly the same dish, where the prices were higher than other great value places in the area, I felt I ended up paying too much. After a long wait, my Char Kway Tao arrived. I was shocked. It was yellow. It had some curry powder all over it and it was not in any way similar to the traditional dish. I started to eat it and I was thoroughly unhappy with it. The squid pieces were tough and with a funny taste. The king prawns were not nice. The noodles clagy. The dry curry powder was horrible and gritty. Not a nice dish at all. I left half of it on the plate when I stood up to pay. That required a wait as well. I was charged the $18 for the Char Kway Tao, which in other places is around $11. They also charged for the tea. So all up, an uneaten meal was around $20. I left with a horrible taste in my mouth and so I had to go to KFC to get another dinner. What a waste of money! I cannot remember the last time I had such a disappointing meal out. I rarely leave a plate of food, having paid for it but I could not eat this. I rarely go to fast food after eating at a restaurant. In short, Phoenix Soars is a classic case of Hospitality amateur hour. And I know what I am talking about.

    Photos
    Phoenix Soars - Special of the day (clams with peppers)

    Special of the day (clams with peppers)

    Phoenix Soars - Peepa duck (crispy skin, flavorful meat, very moist)

    Peepa duck (crispy skin, flavorful meat, very moist)

    Phoenix Soars - Whole steamed trout with ginger & scallions

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    Whole steamed trout with ginger & scallions

    Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant - Steamed the whole fish

    Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant

    4.4(5 reviews)
    7.4 km

    Getting here is quite the drive for me; it's a good 1/2 hour if traffic is ok ... so I was…read moredefinitely hoping it would be worth my while. And it was. You walk into a small waiting area to be seated, and then they take you to your table and. you enter this humongous dining space. It's so huge. I think it would comfortably seat around 200+ people. With that said, however, a circular table for four can get a little hard pushed for space with all of the dishes etc. They have a good extensive menu, attentive service and while a teeny bit overpriced, it's worth it overall. One thing I didn't LOVE was the fact there was barely a trace of alcohol in my Strawberry Daiquiri. The flavour was great, but if I got stopped by the police on the way home, I'd have been totally under the radar. The only other negative is that it was hard to watch the poor live fish in such small tanks. They can hardly move around and it looked kind of cruel. All of the positives are the ample parking, good service, great food and they finish the night by giving you a delicious little dark orange chocolate if you feel like something sweet. Would I recommend it here? I give it a resounding Yes!

    My family has been going to Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant for years! Food is always delicious and…read morethe staff (particularly Kenny) are friendly and always helpful. Thanks guys... see you soon!

    Photos
    Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant
    Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant - King Prawns with scrambled eggs

    King Prawns with scrambled eggs

    Gold Leaf Eastern Restaurant - Morning glories

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    Morning glories

    Shining Asia - chinese - Updated May 2026

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