China Bar Signature, CBD Edition

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

I recently visited China Bar Signature in Burwood East and gorged on their dinner buffet.  See waist line bulging review here.  This time, I checked out the CBD version for lunch.

In writing this post, I thought I would take a slightly analytical approach reminiscent of exam questions in my youth:  Compare the differences between Burwood East and CBD China Bar Signature with particular reference to the lunch and dinner buffet menu.  

Ok, let's kick off with a few pics to paint the overall vibe:

A nice array of sushi, prettily done up

All the old faves from yum cha presented here: shark fin dumpling, siu mai, prawn dumpling

Usual fried nibbles eg spring rolls and wantons - popular with the young and old

More fried nibblies

Chocolate fountain [- say no more

Freshly squeezed OJ for kiddo

Green tea for me

Salad bar which hardly anyone touched.  Really, why waste valuable tummy real estate?

Little wee eclairs and ice cream cones

First and foremost the main difference between the lunch and dinner menu is the price.  The weekend dinner session at Burwood East was an ex-y $63 per person compared with the $29 per person cost for a weekday lunch buffet in the CBD.  Dinner is twice the price.  You do however get what you pay for if your stomach can cram it all in.  The dinner menu has the following extras to make it more of a luxe experience:  Peking duck; seafood bar; grilled meats to order; a bigger range of custom cooked noodles; sashimi.  The poorer cousin aka the lunch menu does not have any of this.  Also the range of custom cooked noodles is smaller, or rather there was no range.  They make a char kwai teow for you and that is it.  You can select your ingredients to go in the char kwai teow but I found despite this, the chef throws in whatever he wants anyway.

The difference between CBD and Burwood East?  The CBD version struck me as more stylish.  It is across two levels whereas the Burwood East version is a giant sprawl.  The cutlery and little cups/glasses at the CBD China Bar Signature are more upmarket looking.  I found the Burwood East one more congenial in the sense they kept topping up my tea, making sure we were happy with our meal, helping us select items from the buffet if we looked a bit bewildered, etc.  Also with the suburban Burwood East version, parking is free.
All in all, I would prefer the Burwood East version better for customer service and ease of parking.  Even though dinner is twice the price, it is an awesomely abundant buffet.  I would rather pay that and have a gluttenous experience to remember than a so-so lunch buffet which although is nicer than my average workday lunch, the experience would soon be forgotten.



Until next time...