Where: Cafe Opium
When:Think hungover saturdays, when even after a lie-in toast seems like way too much to handle. it gets to 7pm and you realise you haven’t eaten anything all day apart from paracetamol. You want something fast, and Jamie Oliver has put you off certain fast food joints (as have their patrons), so what better than chinese to fill the rumbling gap?
What to eat: The list of main meals is extensive, and varies from meat to vegetarian, noodles to rice, soups to solid, and even the hilariously named ‘old school’ page filled with chow mein and sweet and sour dishes. For those who want to stray from the chinese-restaurant straight-and-narrow there’s a specials card which includes eel, among other items. The prawn satay was perfect, with plenty of large juicy prawns in a light satay sauce. The chicken with cashews, Hong Kong-style, hit the spot too. And how can you ever go wrong with any ginger and spring onion dish? Or (or a boy), have a ’starter’ in the form of a spring roll or chicken wings, all reasonably priced and well sized too. For those who have fancier food in mind, the duck wrap is delicious. Alternatively, order these to arrive with your meal, and bask in that heavenly moment when all the food has arrived and you can look upon your feast with eyes that are definitely bigger than your stomach.
Why: Much larger than its sister restaurant, café Orient, Opium still retains the as-it-is chinese fast food charm that chains like Noodlebar somehow lack. With a relatively large eating area compared to many restaurants on George street, café Opium has reassuring hustle and bustle within its black and red interior. Whether it’s because, like you and i, they have hangover hunger, they want bargain chinese food or because the sparkling chandelier lured them in with its magpie magnetism, the customers come in droves. Like in many other chinese restaurants and takeaways, there is a pretty fast turnover of diners, and on busy nights there’s a queue waiting for takeaways as punters know they won’t be waiting for long.Staff are in line with the atmosphere of the restaurant: friendly, unpretentious and there to serve you good food at reasonable speed. Ask them for help on the differences between hong Kong and peking style if necessary: they will be only too happy to help and give their own recommendations. So whether it’s a takeaway you’re after or some rapid eat-in munch, Opium is the place to go.ARCHIVE: 6th week MT 2005
Eat: Cafe Opium
