China Bar Signature, Burwood East by Bureaucrat

Despite having a fairly 'meh' time at the city branch of China Bar Signature, a few weeks later, the Lawyer and I fronted up to the China Bar Signature in Burwood for a buffet lunch.

We came here, not because we were keen on dining at CBS, because we were doing Beaker a favour by helping her use up her CBS vouchers that were due to expire very soon.  Although the Lawyer and I didn't have to pay a cent for the food here, Beaker had originally paid a discounted price for the vouchers.

Turning up on a weekend, the place was (surprisingly) popular.  There were lots of large groups - families with young kids and groups of friends celebrating their birthdays.  I suppose a buffet lunch at CBS is a good idea if you want a place that would cater to most people for a not-too-expensive price (I still think the food is expensive for what it is).

The Burwood CBS is similar to that of the one in the city.  However, I would say that the one in the city is better laid out (there's queue congestion and confusion as people tend to just flock to what they want to eat rather than methodically making their way through each section). 

Also, while the place is big, they do put the tables rather close to the food (so if you're sitting at those tables, you'll get everyone walking near/into you as they grab their food) and I shook my head in disbelief as one poor guy was seated right next to the sliding door entrance.

The food is similar to that of the city branch but I'd say it's actually a bit worse.  A focus on fried stuff, use of MSG and the quality of the ingredients is rather average.  For example in the photo above, them golden fried things at the top are described as "deep fried scallops".  Yes, they are deep fried.  But, no, they are not scallops.  If you cut one in half, you'll see that it's actually made up of layers - much like how imitation crab sticks are made.

While the roast meats looked promising, they were fatty and overly salty.  The roast duck, while meaty, was quite tough and chewy - most likely these were battery farmed ducks.

The individual dim sums were okay but nothing exceptional. 

I wasn't too impressed with the food that was available, so I only stuck to eating a few things - mainly the fried rice and vegetarian dishes (the braised eggplant w mushrooms was probably the most decent thing there).

 

Desserts were equally uninspiring.  While there's lots to choose from, everything just didn't seem particularly fresh - either a bit stale or dried up (like it's been sitting the fridge for a long time).  Rather oddly, there's lots of Christmas candy canes that look like they've been broken in half.

Verdict

Food - 5.5
Ambiance - 6.5
Service - 6.5
Price - 5

 

Overall

Yep... this will be the absolute last time that I'm going to a CBS.  Even going there with the 'free' vouchers didn't make this meal pleasant.

Having said that, if you want to go to a CBS, I say go to the one in the city.

Address

China Bar Signature

380 Burwood Highway 

Burwood East

Telephone: 9887 8011