Zen Chinese Restaurant, Magill

Article Type: Adelaide Reviews, All Reviews, SA Reviews |

It is with excitement I became aware of Zen Chinese Restaurant at Magill having tanks of live fish and eels from The Advertiser. For me, Chinese is one of the world’s greatest cuisines - and for a restaurant to go through the difficulty of maintaining live produce shows effort beyond most other local suburbans.

After a long day at work, going home via Magill and dropping into Zen was too tempting to resist.

On entering we were greeted and guided to our seats promptly. Once seated comfortable by the large windows facing Magill Road, the (paper) napkins were placed in our laps. This level of service for a small, apricot coloured paper napkin was surprising. Menus (including wine list) were presented and initial drink orders efficiently taken.

The menu - stained by diners past - covered the typical offerings with a few more interesting choices. The entrees were fried in focus and lacking any balance of steamed and other more delicate cooking methods. Mains offered slightly more variety but were still leaning towards the deep fryer. There was even a side dish of tempura vegetables!? I was looking forward to the fresh fish from the tanks but on clarification from the waiter about the preparation style, decided to try it next time (if I return).

After consideration the final order entrees consisted of (as described by me and not the menu):

• san choy bow - lettuce leaf filled with meat (often chicken or pork), water chestnuts, mushroom, shallots and hoi sin sauce
• spicy cuttlefish - deep-fried cuttlefish in a thick batter served with Thai sweet chilli sauce (!?)

Mains selected were:

• salt & pepper prawn in shell
• kai lan - Chinese broccoli - with garlic sauce
• steamed rice

Entree 1 - the san choy bow arrived in good time and piping hot. On the tastebuds the filling was heavily biased with hoi sin sauce - the richness of the meat was there but not the refreshing crunchy water chestnuts or sharpness of the rice wine to balance the fattiness of the meat. Overall it was disappointing but passable.

Entree 2 - the spicy cuttlefish as described on the menu sounded intriguing. It was a surprise that it was coated in a thick batter and deep-fried - let alone served with Thai sweet chilli sauce. The spicy cuttlefish once in the mouth was surprisingly delicate, however it may as well as been squid. The sweet chilli sauce was unbalanced with the cuttlefish. I would have preferred a sharper chilli/vinegar sauce to cut through the oily mouth feel.

On the plus side, service was attentive, efficient and relatively unobtrusive. The white wine ordered (2002 Henschke Julius Riesling) was regularly topped up throughout service. Due to an annoying habit of placing it into the ice bucket after pouring however I requested that we manage the pouring process (the temperature was fine out of the bucket). This in all fairness is personal preference and I’m sure would not bother most.

Main 1 - the salt & pepper prawn (in shell) on delivery looked great but there was no sign of the kai lan side. Since the steamed rice had arrived the eating began. The prawns looked great and the serving size was good. I found the prawns to be lacking in chilli but this may be to the taste of others. The texture of the prawns was deliciously crisp on the outside but the inside lacking the creamy texture and were flaccid (for want of a better term) in the mouth.

Just as the prawns were finished main number 2 - kai lan - arrived. It may be a miscommunication but my expectation was that it was to be served at the same times as the prawns.

Main 2 - on trying the kai lan with garlic sauce the possible excellence of Zen was revealed. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, slightly crunchy and amazingly fresh. Both visually, by smell and taste were the kai lan - flawless in fact.

When a dish at a restaurant (and such a simple one) can be perfectly executed as was the kai lan, it’s disappointing that the others aren’t at least better than average.

Restaurant Review Summary

Zen Chinese Restaurant at Magill offers more than the average suburban Chinese restaurant by offering live fish, eels and traditional delicacies such as sea cucumber. Despite the better than average ambience and service by ‘local’ standards it fails to be worth going out of your way for - except perhaps for the kai lan with garlic sauce.

Restaurant Contact Details

Zen Chinese Restaurant (562 Magill Rd, Magill, SA)
Ph: 8364 2333

Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday, lunch Tuesday to Friday.

Added to Rooview on March 24, 2005