Red Emperor

Ph: 9699 4170; Upper Level, 3 Southgate Ave, SOUTHBANK 3006 www.redemperor.com.au

Chinese, $$ -, ** for Food & Ambience
Open Mon-Sat noon-3pm Sun 11am-4pm 7 days 6pm-late, Closed Some public holidays; Licensed; AE DC MC V
Chef Hon Kau Hui (5-12-08) Owner Charles Ng, Simon Lo, Ngau Lee, Raymond Cheung & Christine Hua (5-12-08)

Mietta's Review
Located at Southbank in the heart of the Melbourne tourist district, this is a very comfortable restaurant. Its soaring windows afford a great view over the Yarra River and across Melbourne's skyscrapers. The food is excellent, predominantly Cantonese dishes with flares of exotica. The service is refined and attentive, the wine list expansive, and the yum cha is the best around. A great place to show off the city to tourists - at a price- at a price.

Other published opinions

Courier Mail Food and Wine Guide 2009 Queensland "Sunday yum cha is a Melbourne institution and while there are more stridently Cantonese places in the suburbs, none have the city and Yarra views of this bustling two-tier restaurant"

Age Good Food Guide 2009 Score: 15/20 "Like its more famous competitor Flower Drum, Red Emperor has suffered from diminishing grandeur in recent years, and you can only wonder what re-investment in the '90s-era interiors could do for the place"

Gourmet Traveller 2009 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "Red Emperor has occupied its prime Southbank digs for more than 15 years now and though the two-level room is showing signs of age, the energy and bustle make it as vigorous and exciting as ever"

Age Good Food Guide 2008 Score: 15.5/20, One Hat "Proof that a restaurant can be a victim of its own success, the casino district's premier Chinese restaurant has been swamped by its unsurpassed reputation for yum cha"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide "Red Emperor's spacious, well-lit dining room overlooks the Yarra River, towards Flinders Street Station, but it's easy to doubt anyone pays the view much mind - all focus is on the food"

Herald Sun Bob Hart, 16-12-06 "CHINESE restaurants in Melbourne are the nation's best and, improbably, seem to get better every year. There are at least, a dozen examples of this phenomenon, but none better than this one at Southgate. Red Emperor has something most Chinese restaurants - even the mighty Flower Drum lack, and that's a view."

The Age Good Food Guide 2006 score 16/20, 2 Hats "After 13 years, Red Emperor continues to provide dedicated, super-professional service and quality Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine, still some of the best in the city."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide Best views "Melbourne is renowned for Cantonese restaurants and you won't do better for yum cha with a view than the consistently excellent Red Emperor at Southgate, looking across the Yarra to the city."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide Best Chinese "Red Emperor doesn't have the same cachet, but food and wine are taken just as seriously if not more so - at this wellpositioned "New Territory" restaurant on the Yerra's southern banks. The dim sum here is particularly good, with selections few others attempt."

The Age A2 The Good Life Jane Faulkner 30/7/05 "To take yum cha here it's best to book. On weekends, you must book either the 11am or 1.3Opm sittings, pay $35 on Saturday or $40 on Sunday for all-you-can-eat, or you can order as you go usually less expensive overall. The dim sum fall into four categories standard, super, deluxe and special and they start rolling out as soon as you're seated, pot of Chinese tea in hand."

The Age Good Food Guide 2005 score 16/20 Two Hats "LATE on a busy night you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a smart, frenetic Hong Kong restaurant. Well, at least until you looked out the tall glass walls to the familiar Melbourne city-scape with the Yarra wending by. ... It's slightly calmer at lunch with some of the town's best yum cha clanking past on trolleys."

Gourmet Traveller 2005 Restaurant Guide * "With only a little imagination you could be dining alongside Hong Kong harbour, looking out across water sparkling with neon lights and a film-set silhouette ofskyscrapers. The menu is mainly Cantonese"

The Foodies' Guide 2004, Allan Campion & Michele Curtis,'One of the best views overlooking the Yarra,but you will have to drag your eyes away to watch out for the trolley holding the har gau and tapioca parcels filled with prawns.A real touch of class.'

The Age, A2, June, John Weldon,'For more swish dining head to Southbank and book a view across the Yarra at the Red Emperor.The chef originally hails from Flower Drum as do the owners.It is possible to dine here veru reasonably...authentic regional Chinese dishes'

The Age Good Food Guide 2004 2 hats, score 16/20, excellent wine list, wide selection of vegetarian dishes

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide Australia 2004, 2 Red Stars, Good vegetarian options,'This is an excellent spot...the food that is at the heart of why Red Emperor is so popular...The food is mainly Cantonese...the best in town...Service is smart and solicitous, the tables are clothed and there's a broad wine list that offers drops priced for everyone'

Vogue Entertaining & Traveller, March April 2003

Herald Sun, citystyle, "National Treasures", Bob Hart, 8/4/03

The Sunday Age, Sunday Life, Eat Streets, John Lethlean, 9/2/03

THe Age, Epicure, Restaurants, John Lethlean, 7/5/02. Score 17/20

The Herald Sun, food&drink, 19/3/02

THe Hearld Sun, dining, 19/6/01 Score 17/20 Stephen Downes

The Age SundayLife, Review, John Hindle,19/11/2000