"Great Food, Hawker Style! :)"

A review of Charlie Chan by Nick written on Saturday 10th of April 2004

I’d heard great things about this little restaurant (both on and off this board). It’s quite overlooked, at least by me, as I’ve gone past frequently without noticing it on my way between... places and… other palaces! To agree with other comments on this board: The food is excellent, no doubt about that. Probably the best I’ve eaten in Cambridge, or anyway bar Asia. Also, a big bonus for me, they serve their Chinese Tea in a pot (none of this rubbish where they will only sell it to you per cup like some other restaurants, no names mentioned!).

One thing that, to me at least, is always a great indication of quality is that the majority of customers were non-English and speaking Mandarin. I’m happy to follow “local� judgement on what’s good to eat, there’s rarely a better indicator of quality.

The venue is clean and set out in little rows. It reminded me of a spruced up hawker-centre (which made me smile, I always loved those places) and as mentioned, the food was excellent to match hawker standards. However, portions are *TINY* which means you will pay a lot more than you are expecting when you have to order several dishes to feed yourself properly (yes, for sure it’s expensive!)

Service was neither good nor bad but I was mildly annoyed that they have a bar but no beer on tap (but again, not a great criticism) and any canned beer ordered will be Asian style (i.e. a Coke can rather than a full size one).

Yikes… seems likes I made lots of criticisms! It’s not supposed to be a bad review, this is probably the best Chinese in Cambridge, just giving a more balanced view than some of the other reviews found here… Next time I need to go out for a special meal it will be here!

RATINGS (/10)

Taste: 10

Authenticity: 9

Venue: 7

Service: 7

Price: 5

OVERALL: 9

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