China Diner Double Bay

This place turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We arrived at around 6.30pm on a Friday night, without a booking, but we were still able to easily get a table. Staff were super nice and helpful and found us a nice large table at the back, with high chairs. And the service did not disappoint either. There was a bevy of neatly clad young ladies on duty. They were polite, attentive and efficient. Orders were smartly taken and the drinks and the meals came out quickly and in the correct order. It was a pleasure to enjoy such fast service. Clearly these guys are well trained and professional, and place hums like a well oiled machine.Four of us dined and we ordered a couple of bottles of “Stone and Wood” lager, a light beer and a glass of Prosecco. Great way to start things off and get us into the mood! For the main event we choose a selection of dishes to share, including veg dumplings ($16 for four), calamari ($18), a massaman beef curry ($21), a side of broccoli with snow peas ($13), two serves of stir fry mushrooms with eggplant at $22 a pop and a couple of serves of rice at $4 a serve. All the food was fresh, tasty and delicious. The massaman beef curry was melt-in-your mouth tender, soaked in a rich gravy sauce and served with crunchy roasted peanuts. The calamari was succulent and chewy with a crispy batter. It was all lovingly prepared with care and attention to detail and nicely presented to the table on stylish, dark coloured crockery. Portion sizes were a tad on the small size, but everyone enjoyed their meals and there wasn’t a morsel left on anybody’s plate by the time we had finished.Our bill came to $160 for all that lot, or $40 a head. A bit on the pricey side for the smallish portions, but no complaints about the quality. It’s better just to pay by cash or EFTPOS, as they add the hated cc fee of 1.3%, even debit cards attract an extra charge.The ambience is casual, relaxed and laid back, with a cool and richly decorated, modern interior, that’s been cleverly laid out, to take full advantage of the small area. There’s a choice of booth-type seating, or a long communal style table in the middle or the large round table at the back with the high bar stools, where we sat. There’s outdoor seating too. It’s well spaced out and despite all the wood and glass, acoustics inside were good, and we were easily able to converse.You’ll find the China Diner amongst a cluster of restaurants in the trendy Double Bay dining precinct next to the popular Woolies Supermarket and the Dan Murphy liquor store. Upstairs is the Woollahra Library. There’s usually easy street parking in Double Bay in the evenings. Restrictions end at 6pm, and we found a spot on the corner of Bay and William Streets, a 10-12 minute level walk to the restaurant. If you don’t fancy a walk, there’s always the Woolies car park, but that has a one hour limit, unless you nip into the supermarket or the liquor store after your meal and spend at least $30, in which case, you could stay for two hours.There are no toilets inside the restaurant, so you can choose the ones at the next door Sheaf Hotel or the public ones behind the N.A.B. There are also toilets in the car park, down the corridor near the About Life store. Whichever you choose, they’re all reasonably clean and well stocked.Overall, we had a pleasant evening here. The food was delicious, the service was excellent and the ambience was just perfect for enjoying a night out with friends. The area is abuzz with activity. The redevelopment of this site a couple of years ago has brought Double Bay back to life, and has made it once again a “go to” place for dining and relaxation.

Chicken and rice lunch special was absolutely delicious! It just took a little while to make so not a super quick lunch.

The fried chicken is a must try, but the duck pancake was a tad on the dry side. Service was brilliant though, and the venue is vibrant and cozy.

Smaller and more intimate than its Bondi cousin, this place definitely deliveries on the flavours of food and the quality of service. Great for a nice night out, worth while checking it out!

Nice service, cool decorations, and eccentric themes. The food was delicious but the only thing that needs to be changed is the side dressing as it is unmatched by the food flavour. Overall good, just the price is a little bit overpriced, especially for the siu may. Last but not least, a green tea bruleé doesn't need to be combined with the passion fruit and other berries it tastes really bad, better just stick with the classic style with the burned sugar on top of the green tea bruleé.

Great food. Some standard fare, but mostly new takes on classic dishes.

Thanks to helping an old dog out in the backstreets of Double Bay, I was able to get the Owners Lovable pooch into safe care in Rose Bay Vets. Another Lady...Sophie was keeping Charly calm. No one was answering the number on his collar...but by taking Charly to a Vet they found his Micro chip. His address and Owners name.So he and Owners were reunited the next morning.My partner and I had a lovely amount of dumplings as a thankyou.If you ever find a stray animal like a dog..ring the number on any collar..or take it to the nearest vet close to where you found the animal. If it's micro-chipped, the owner can be notified.If you keep the animal without a declaration of finding to a police station...then you can be prosecuted under a law called Stealing by finding ". Please reunite the animal to its home address and Owners.Go to a Vet clinic...they can scan a Micro chip if found.Do it in the interest of the animal...I've even been given visitation rights!!"

This place has been hit or miss for me. If you've not eaten here it's worth a try. I prefer the Bondi location.

Crispy pork belly is the best I've ever had. Everything else on set menu was bloody lovely too, but stand out was the pork belly. Remortgage your house for drinks though, and service was ok. Not bad. Not good. A- ..Would go again.