Review China Bar - Cheltenham

Located on the ground floor beach side of the highway is another of the China Bar franchises. I had the dim sum - shumai and prawn dumplings and they were not like the other china bar restaurants I have eaten at. So therefore a little disappointing yet certainly tasted good. Service was efficient yet not friendly.

I’ve eaten here several times , always good , always fresh , delicious and always comes out efficiently.. meals are cooked to order Staff have always been good

Had been dining here in many occasions over the last years. The menu was reduced about a year ago. The food is just ok. Service is quick and efficient.

Can't go wrong with the Hainanese chicken rice here. I'm addicted to it!! Always delicious, cooked perfectly and it's nice they give you both the dipping sauces. That should be the norm for this dish, not the exception. Crispy skin version is a winner too. Give the wonton noodle soup a go if that's your thing, generous serving with all the trimmings. The dim sims are some of the best i've had. Service is quick, dining area always clean, i just wish they had napkins on the tables.

Does not have a service water, they only have small bowl for shared food (no extra plates). Still good food, but some menu are not available compared to other branches.

This used to be my favourite place to come with my client 2 times a week who has a disability. They have new staff and it has gone completely down hill! My client cannot eat her simple chicken fried rice without vegetables anymore as it's so dry and the chicken doesn't taste cooked properly. The language barrier is huge and they don't seem to be trained or know what they are doing. I am vegan and cannot digest meat at all as I get very sick and I always only order the small steamed rice which used to be amazing, perfectly cooked (even if it was the only vegan thing I could get) and today they gave me mushy overcooked gross rice and then when I asked for something else, they gave me chicken broth rice by mistake. This is massively dangerous, I am now very sick vomiting in the bathroom. And they didn't even offer me a refund, none of them seem to understand what was going on and the old boss was actually there today and I explained how downhill it has gone since she and her staff have left, she just shook her head and said yeah unfortunately new staff. We won't be coming back, so disappointing 😔 *Edit* They refunded me

We’ve eaten here before and it was fantastic but last night we got take away and it was so disappointing! The dumplings were inedible, the pasta was so thick and hard and the filling was full of fatty bits - absolutely disgusting and straight to the bin. The rice that came with the lemon chicken was either made the day before or hours earlier, tough and rubber like - again straight to the bin. The lemon sauce for our chicken was tasteless and ruined the very well cooked chicken. The only decent part of our $50 waste of money meal was the bbq pork buns which were delicious. So disappointing we won’t risk it again!

Pork fried rice is really delicious and one of our favourites. Honey chicken is also beautiful except very small serving size for the price. I wish they would get on board with ubereats or menu log! If I got a smile while ordering my meal plus a bit better priced, would give 5 stars.

SERVICE:<br/>When I first walked into the restaurant, I was politely greeted by one of the staff. I was then seated and they were quick to provide menus. Appreciate the staff for being patient as my friends and I took a while to decide on the dishes we were wanting to order. Also, we asked them for recommendations and they were happy to do so (THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT). After they took our order, it wasn’t a long of a wait until the food started to come out. We love a quick service. <br/><br/>FOOD:<br/>Seafood Laksa: This noodle dish soup came out at a good temp that I wasn’t too hot to be burning my tongue. The flavour of this dish was so well seasoned and I loved how suitable it was for a cold winters day.<br/><br/>Mee Goreng: A simple stir fried noodle dish with a dash of lemon juice = perfection. It’s a simple dish, yet they were able to put in a great amount of seasoning to balance it out with the lemon juice. This was my favourite dish! <br/><br/>Rice with Spare ribs: The seasoning on the spare ribs was so good that you didn’t really have to dip it in any sauces. However, the sauces did enhance the flavour and combining it together with the rice was perfection. This is definitely a dish I would recommend if you wanted a quick rice dish to eat. I’d say you could easily mix the sauces with the rice to make it a balance of flavours meal. <br/><br/>Satay Chicken Skewers: The chicken skewers was cooked so well! The chicken was juicy and tender and pairing it with that peanut sauce was HEAVEN. They are definitely a great pair and would definitely come back to order these again.<br/><br/>A returning customer? Yes.<br/>

Grabbed a takeaway chicken rice for lunch - the chicken was cooked well, it was tender and juicy. The rice was a little dry but made much better after I poured the sesame oil soya sauce mixture from the chicken on it. The chilli was spicy but could be less sweet and more sour. Service was quick and the place looked clean. A good effort for chicken rice.

Asked for a glass of tap water and was refused. When I asked "dont you have water in the kitchen?" was told "no". I responded "Do you know how stupid that sounds?" Was told "yes" but still did not recieve a glass of water. - Outrageous! What have we come to? I was even a paying sit down<br/>customer! Food passable.

I have eaten here a number of times and never been disappointed. I have tried the crispy chicken, beef brisket noodle soup and the bbq pork with fried rice. All delicious. Can't understand why they aren't rated higher. I will definitely eat there again.

I ordered noodels and beef dish there. It tasted horrible. Noodels where overfeied and tasted like they have not cleaned the pan for a whole day. I will never come to this place again.

It is cheap. So not expecting fresh cooked, but food came out cold. Returned and explained, came back the same plate with old rice all microwaved. Lol. <br/>Never again. Shocking service and the chef. Really worry how they actually prep and cook the food now. <br/>

A wide range of Chinese food with many options for vegetarians. We had steamed vegetable dumplings and vegetable spring rolls which was a tasty snack.

Well what can I say beef noodles ? over boiled? then over fried? no taste at all not sure if<br/>theres a chef or just a cook here. overated gave 1star for fast service. great atmosphere but taken customers for granted been the only asian food store near kmart .

Love the crispy fried combination noodles here which is why I keep going back. Staff are super friendly too however I realised the last time I visited there I ordered 3xserves as take away and they gave me only 2! Honest mistake, would still go back though as they have good flavours - will check my take away bag though!

Really enjoyed my Nadi Lamak. Very generous serve of the chicken curry and was delicious. Love the fried anchovies it came with. Our fried rice was good too and my husband really enjoyed his noodles.

It's not a bad choice if you're at Southland. Laksa is okay not amazing but a hearty meal for a shopping center choice. You can do a lot worst.

The food is very average for the price they are charging, I usually order the wonton noodle soup and it is usually fine, however today the stock tasted like water. The fried noodles were also below average. We eat a lot of Asian food and this one is pretty bad. Rather go and eat food court food. Disappointed and dissatisfied. Also they charge for eftpos (.60 cents) what the!!

Refuse to serve water with a meal to their customers, only soft drinks, the wait staff were very rude about it and angry that I suggested tap water should be provided. The law on water provision in Victoria leaves much to be desired, but this was still a big customer service fail. Aside from that, food was unexceptional, watery bland curry, luke-warm dumplings, fish soup had deep-fried fish floating in it suggesting recycled leftovers... Also the large stack of furniture food and drinks in the dining area implies pretty poor hygiene standards. Needless to say we won't be back.

2nd best char kway teow I have had in Australia, nice dumplings, reasonably priced and quick - my only gripe is that they have a $25 min for EFTPOS and couldn't see past that when my order came to $23.50

Love this place.  Great dumplings and great rice and noodle dishes. Fast and friendly.  Great to eat and go...on the go.  Nothing fancy just good tasty and generous servings.  Scallop dumplings were amazing!

Great quick service! We went to eat at the last minute just before they closed and they were very accomadating. I loved the soup of the Chicken Laksa and when I had heaps of noodles left in my bowl, a gorgeous lady was so kind to give me a small cup of soup to finish the noodles off at home. Would definitely go back to this place

I asked for a glass of tap water and been told,they don't provide tap water u have to buy water at restaurant!!!!first time ever!!!!

Cheep and cheerful Chinese food with lovely fit-out located next to K-Mart Westfield. Our vegetable stir fry with oyster sauce is huge and delicious. The custard buns are little too sweet but not too bad. Service is adequate for what it is as some staffs here are not as friendly. Recommended for anyone if you're after Asian quick fix at Southland.

Went for dumplings and yum cha and was less than impressed. We had a number of plates including scallop, prawn, Shanghai and custard dumplings. The flavor was okay but they tasted like they had been steamed for hours -very sticky and overcooked. The bean curd prawn roll was the pick of the meal -tasty enough but the sauce was very sweet. As we were eating in I asked for a glass of water- response -you have to buy a bottle. Hang on We just spent $40 to eat in!!!! We also witnessed 3 staff members including 2 waitresses in the middle of the restaurant and all within view of patrons eating some deep fried noodle dish with their hands. They were doing this while they were cleaning and sorting cutlery. Good times!! Not sure about the other dishes but stay away from their yum cha. Overpriced and underwhelming!<br/>

China bar is always great or a cheap and quick Asian meal. Their dumplings aren't fantastic but their noodle and rices dishes are definitely worth it. Their chilli oil is crunchy and yummy

First time visit a few weeks ago, was OK - nothing great but OK. Yesterday, went back again. NEVER AGAIN. Was it a new cook, or what? <br/>Beef in Black bean was like beef in black water -absolutely no taste. <br/>Lemon chicken had neither a lemon taste nor chicken taste. Absolutely no taste whatsoever.<br/>Fried rice - tasteless<br/>Two other dishes had a little taste, but very very watered down.  <br/>Disappointing to say the least. NEVER AGAIN. Sack the cook, and TASTE THE FOOD YOU COOK before selling to customers. Bloody terrible.

Located in Southland's quieter side, this China Bar would be one of the few options for Asian food around - unless you're bothered to go up like, all the way to the other side 3 levels away to the other food court for Vietnamese, Japanese, and Indian.<br/><br/>Cheap, somewhat okay quick-fix snacks - I liked the chicken rice and salt & pepper chicken ribs, but the downside for me, was minimum EFTPOS $30...

Pretty much the same as the outlet in the city. Had hainanese chicken rice, the rice was nice enough but could be more fragrant. Soup was okay, quite tasty. The chicken was boneless and tender, too bad it's drenched in soy sauce, making it taste a bit too sweet. Pretty convenient for a quick bite.

Overcooked Koay Teow with 3 prawns, heaps of sliced fish cake. That was it. The Macas of chinese food I guess. Have had better with calamari, prawns for same price else where

Good tom yum and laksa soups. I come to China Bar in Southland every once in a while for a Friday dinner. Their tom yum and laksa soups are tasty and very satisfying.<br/>I would definitely come again.<br/>Their prices are perhaps a teeny tiny bit more than your stock standard Asian restaurant by maybe a couple of dollars. But if I'm in the area and feel like an Asian soup, this doesn't bother me that much.

Pretty expensive for what it is but I spose in southland you expect that, food came out quick. Probably wouldn't done again

(Suprisingly) Excellent + Authentic. We weren't expecting much the first time we stumbled upon this place - normally food court stuff is really average/westernized versions of Asian cuisine + the upstairs food court has no shortage of these. However, we were really blown away with the quality and authenticity of the dishes - probably some of the best Malaysian food you're likely to find in this part of Melbourne. We've been back many times now we loved it so much.<br/>On the Malaysian front the Roti Channai chicken and Char Kway Teow are spot on flavour wise, just like a hawker court in Malaysia (both dishes most places get horribly wrong) - and although there's a bunch of Chinese mains on offer (which we are less interested in) the other bit we love is the huge range of Yum Cha appetizers on offer (Steam Pork Buns, Pan fried Shanghai Dumplings and many more).<br/>On Negative side they are cash only (and seem to have no intentions to get paypass/eftpos terminal) and the nearest ATM is about a 100m walk (right at the other end of the lower level). Given when we go to southland most of our other transactions are cashless it's annoying to have to specially get money out to go there.<br/>Also the service isn't unfriendly, but definitely wouldn't describe it as warm/welcoming, quite abrupt and rushed. I guess this is no better/worse than going to any of the food court places upstairs - and they aren't passing themselves off as a full blown restaurant.