Sun Ming Coffee Lounge

This place has been a franchises in the Asian belts of Hurstville and Parramatta forever. I used to frequent the one in Hurstville quite a bit, as it was "the place" to hang out. Let me say before I review that Asian coffee lounges is not one of my favourite style of restaurants, but for those who haven't had the experience before, it's definitely worth checking one out to see how Asians interpret "gwo luo" food.

Food

We decided to order one Coffee Lounge favourite, Portuguese baked chicken rice ($10.40) with scallops and tomatoes and one special BBQ duck noodles ($8.90). Before we dug in, the complementary soup arrived. I actually didn't expect that especially for lunch. The soup was a warming carrot and chicken soup, and was a great way to start the meal. Before long, the noodles arrived. The noodles were quite silky and had great texture, however the sauce was just ok, and there wasn't much of the duck (which was a bit tasteless) at all.

The Portuguese rice was much better. For those unfamiliar. This is basically rice, covered in a creamy and coconutty cheese sauce, then baked. The aroma is beautiful. I found the sauce a bit sweet and not fragrant enough, but otherwise perfectly acceptable. I washed all these down with a hot lemon tea, which was...ummm, a hot lemon tea and not very special at all.

The food is quite acceptable at this place, but I still don't like Asian coffee lounges, as I've never had a good deal at one. Other offerings you are likely to find at a typical lounge include "doll" noodles, pasta, chicken wings, spam and toast, that basically sums up why I don't like coffee lounges.

Rating - 5.5

Atmosphere

It's actually quite spacious as far as Asian eateries go. The tables are still bare laminex, with menus stuck up around the wall. In the corner there's a BBQ section hung all with the daily roast selection. All part of the experience really.

Rating - 1

Service

Typical Asian eatery. The ladies were nicer to me since I spoke Chinese. They took our orders quickly, rattled off the list of availabilities, bought us bowls and spoons for sharing, all delivered efficiently and impersonally. You pay at the counter.

Rating - 2.5

C-factor

It's more expensive than takeaway but it's not outrageous as the servings are pretty big.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 10

Info

4/125 Church Street
Parramatta
NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9689 2178