Lau’s Family Kitchen
Lau’s Family Kitchen is run like a yum cha restaurant - two sittings per night at 6pm and 8pm. The noise levels are much like a yum cha restaurant too but the service is infinitely more attentive. In fact, if you have been to Flower Drum you will not be surprised by the wait staff to table ratio and they really seem to care about how you are finding the meal.
We started our night off with a few of their entrees. The steamed vegetable wontons with seasonal vegetables were passable but the wonton skin should have been thinner and less chewy. The fried eggplant filled with taro paste more than made up for the sub-par wontons however. You won’t find lamb springrolls on many chinese menus and I, for one, can understand why. It reminded us more of a Middle Eastern pastry like sambousek.
Our mains were served like a banquet, dishes coming out one after another. The steamed snapper was my pick of the night. Divinely tender and light, no bones to deal with - ahhhh! This was accompanied by the stir-fried seasonal vegetables consisting of snowpeas, cloud ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, bok choy…fresh and crisp. Many chinese restaurants tend to overcook the vegetables and use too much oil but Lau’s version was perfect.
I was getting pretty full by this stage but there was still the panfried Patagonian Toothfish and Sweet Vinegared Pork Loin. The slow-growing Patagonian Toothfish (aka Chilean Seabass) is prone to being overfished so the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) closely manages commercial fishing to ensure its sustainability. Aside from wanting to support the protection of endangered species, this fish is tasty enough that we wouldn’t want it to disappear altogether.
We expected the pork loin to be more like a braised dish but it was more like a stir-fry served with a gravy. Too salty for my tastebuds but A. thought it was pretty good.
A huge thumbs up from us for this place. Unbeatable service, lovingly cooked food that is fresh and light, no signs of cornflour thickened sauces here - make your booking now 
January 12th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Mmmmm, Lau’s Family Kitchen! I posted about LFK about six months ago. We also had that taro stuffed eggplant and a similar steamed fish. Looking at your post has made me decide to go back there ASAP!
January 13th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
It’s great isn’t it and a regular favourite - so much so that we had an early NY eve meal there with the neighbours. I love the fresh simple food.
January 20th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Just back from North and South America I went to Lau’s last night and had a really excellent meal. The cooking is not worse than Flower Drum but the menu is much more limited and the venue is very noisy. I found the attention of the waiting staff excessive and felt I was being harassed with them constantly wanting to do things for me that I had said I would look after myself - to much of a good thing.
January 25th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
It would be great to live just around the corner from this place but I would be eating there WAY too often I think! Can’t wait to return.
Elliot: I know what you mean by the excessive attention. I feel that way when shopkeepers in Singapore follow two steps behind me around a store refolding everything I pick up! Strangely enough, I didn’t get too annoyed with the staff at Lau’s…
February 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Although their focus is definitely on meat and fish, Lau’s do a kickarse line in vegie-based dishes. Fact is, the chef’s are simply skillful at creating good, fresh food with interesting and sometimes unusual flavours. From what I understand, Gilbert Lau (of Flowerdrum fame) is often found behind the cookers in the kitchen, and with his background it’s not unsurprising that the service is as attentive as it is.