This evening myself, along with Robert and Kat again visited the wonderful Ling Wah Chinese restaurant in Hampton Park.

We decided tonight to dine on the "Banquet A" menu which again represented excellent value at $28 per head for a feast including: soup, entrees, three set main courses, fried rice and a choice of dessert plus tea and coffee. The good news is that we took a real camera with us as well so we can post some decent quality pictures of the food.

As I have mentioned in a previous entry the quality of service at Ling Wah is exceptionally good:- friendly, prompt and proffessional, with waiters appearing to have a genuine interest in their jobs, and the success of the restaurant in general. This is something which is often not apparent in many of todays establishments.


The food at Ling Wah though is ultimately the reason one returns: simple, well executed, delicious dishes which represent great value for money.

Here is a summary of the courses we enjoyed in tonights banquet:

Chicken and sweet corn soup: traditional Chinese starter. A good version, with chunks of fresh chicken in a thick, flavoursome broth.


Entrees: Chicken wings and homemade spring rolls with a sweet sauce: Both were very good:- the wings cooked perfeclty with a nice flavour throughout, as were the spring rolls which were accompanied perfectly by a light smothering of sauce. I particularly enjoyed these.


Mixed seafood and vegetables in birds nest: A wonderful dish which looked amazing and tasted great: You get a pretty basket made of julienne potato housing a combination of: fish, crab meat, prawns and scallops along with fresh seasonal vegetables in a clear sauce. A succesful dish.


Blackbean beef: An excellent version of a classic dish. The beef is so soft and tender and just melts in the mouth - the way good beef should be. Pictured is one divided portion.


Honey Chicken (we substitued lemon chicken for this, an extra $1 per head): This is probably Robert's favourite dish and he says it is the best honey chicken he has ever eaten. I am personally not such a fan of really sweet dishes, but this was excellent and I would have to agree with Robert - it is amazing for honey chicken. Perfectly crunchy, tender pieces of chicken finished with a good drizzling of warm honey, cashews and sesame seeds. A simple but really good dish.


The fried rice was also excellent again, as you can see in this photo.


Desserts: The offerings available here are all the classics, done very well. We go for fried ice-cream and banana fritters. The fried ice-cream is served beutifully with a little sugar cube on top served alight. Unfortunately this cannot be seen in the photos. Both were done fairly well, but nothing particularly exciting.



To finish we each order coffee or hot chocolate which is fairly good, and also recieve the usual offerings of small glasses of port and dinner mints. A lovely (complimentary) way to end an evening of good food.


Ling Wah is located on the corner of Hallam and Fordholm Roads, Hampton Park. The friendly staff have also advised us that restaurant will be re-decorated from 1st November, with a huge range of Christmas decorations going up, coming in directly from China. We are told that we can expect a range of decorations never before seen in this country - just another good reason to return soon!

Ling Wah receives an exceptional score of: 15/20. For a more detailed analysis please refer to my previous Ling Wah post.
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20/03/08 - I should mention that we have returned to Ling Wah at least 5 or 6 times since this review, including a special Chinese new Year banquet which was excellent. The food and service remain of a very high quality, though some dishes are clearly better than others.

Labels: Ling Wah, REVIEWS: Casual Dining