The Cherry Blossom - Essendon

Beauty on Rose is a little piece of glam nestled among the cafes and boutique shops on Rose Street.

We had heard good reports about the Cherry Blossom, so we decided to give it a try. The outside seems rather dowdy but it is bright and clean inside. I was somewhat dubious about an "Asian" restaurant -- cherry blossoms, or "sakura" are associated with Japan. The menu, however, was mainly Chinese with some Malaysian and other influences. I count myself as a bit of an Asia maven, having travelled to almost every country in Asia east of India. I started with Hot and Sour Soup, which was excellent. To follow, we had Mongolian Beef on a sizzle plate. We also had an vegetarian dish, Buddha's Delight, which was a hot pot containing bok choi, broccoli, Chinese mushrooms, baby corn, tofu and other Chinese greens in a tangy sauce. In all, it was a delicious meal. The restaurant is BYO, wine only, plus corkage. The only point I would take issue on was that the sauces tended to be a trifle sweet. Price are reasonable, around $25 per head, which is about normal these days.

Well folks, uncharted territory for me. This is not a great review. It's not all bad but something has changed at this place. All the fried food as really oily and pork in batter had very little pork in it. The fried rice was burnt and stir fry beef had only 5 bits of meat in it. Don't know what else to say but maybe I caught them on a bad day.

This has become our staple go to in Essendon. Its a mix of different Asian styles and we haven't tried anything we didn't like yet. The food is always fresh, and the staff friendly! Don't let its train station location deter you - this is a real hidden gem!

Used to be excellent until new management took over. Poorly prepared meals and soggy stale prawn chips.