Serviceable food in large portions at low cost. Great value if you're a student on a budget and in need of a feed; set menu goes for $65 for two people with is a 7 item taster menu + a carb of choice (fried noodles vs. rice), but you could easily feed 3 with it.
Unfortunately cost-efficiency is about all this place has going for it. Flavours can be somewhat Westernized, although I will say the tofu and claypot meals are actually pretty good, all things considered. This is fair enough, considering it's in Dunedin, but international visitors hoping for a taste of home may be disappointed.
6/10 wouldn't come again.
P.S. I don't usually comment on this in a restaurant, but because the place is clearly struggling (there's only so many conceivable reasons I can think for a restaurant to request guests to turn the lights off in the bathroom on leaving, and the most charitable assumption is a mix between saving on energy bills and attempting to be green, as well as for the restaurant to be entirely self-service for water and cutlery), I'll also add this: The decor could desperately use an upgrade; it looks like the place hasn't been updated in about 30-40 years, and it definitely feels its age...I'd never advocate for breaking the bank renovating, but investing a little change to the lighting would go a big, BIG way. Right now it feels like the place is dimmed down so I can't see the carpet stains and because you couldn't get fresh light bulbs; you want things to seem cozy and intimate, not like you're trying to hide things in the shadows. I'd happily have paid more if the place felt like a more comfortable spot to relax in, and I imagine I'm not alone in the same.


William Yeung