East Taste Cafe

by Jonathan Phoon (subscribe)

We first discovered East Taste Cafe when we were going to Hog's Breath Cafe for dinner and decided to give it a try. This restaurant is located at the end of Gouger Street so we had not walked past it before. We were pleased to find that the food served at the restaurant was excellent with the service being relatively efficient as we did not have to wait too long for our food to be served. It reminded us of our favourite Chinese restaurant Ding Hao, albeit a smaller version. Our feelings were on the mark because some of the cooking and waiting staff used to work at Ding Hao.



My father loved the Lemongrass Black Pepper Pork Clay Pot due to the delectable taste of the lemongrass and pepper sauce. The pork was also tender with chunks of potato acting as a good contrast to the richer taste of the pork.



For those that prefer something vegetarian, they have a version of the Lemongrass Black Pepper Pork Clay Pot made with bean curd instead of pork. The tofu had a firm texture that took on the rich flavour of the sauce with the chunks of potato adding an extra element of texture. We could tell the dish was cooked in the clay pot as it remained piping hot for quite a while.



Their Crispy Beef Peking Style was done as well as I had hoped, with a crisp exterior and a slightly chewy texture. The Peking sauce the beef is tossed in heightened its flavour with a hint of spiciness from what I thought is chilli. It also had fried pieces of wonton skin to give the dish a bit more crunch.



Soft Shell Crab is one of my favourites so we ordered one crab to have a taste. The Soft Shell Crab was presented in a unique way, with the pieces of crab arranged to resemble its namesake. It was fried to golden brown with the salt & pepper mix the crab was tossed in bringing out its flavour. It came served on a bed of shredded lettuce to add a refreshing element to the dish. However, my favourite is still the one served by Ding Hao.



East Taste's BBC (Broad Bean, Bean Curd and Chinese Chutney) was done in the 'dry' style with only a little bit of sauce. The broad beans had the right amount of bite to them with the sauce enhancing their flavour. Their BBC also had a generous amount of bean curd; some of the BBC dishes at other restaurants sometimes can be a little light with the quantity of bean curd.



The pork chop in the Pork Chop in Cantonese Style was cooked to perfection with the slightly sweet sauce complementing its flavour nicely. As with the Soft Shell Crab, the pork was served on a bed of shredded lettuce to give the dish a bit of a refreshing taste.

East Taste is popular with the locals and filled up quite quickly during the peak dinner hour. Despite it getting a bit crowded, ambience was cosy with sufficient space between the tables. There is also a good amount of parking space on the streets close to the restaurant.

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When: Lunch: Fri: 12noon-3pm, Dinner: Tues-Thurs, Sun: 5pm-1am, Fri: 5pm-2am

Phone: 08 82310268

Website: www.easttasterestaurant.com.au

Where: 119 Gouger Street, Adelaide, SA 5000

Cost: About $16 per main dish

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