Restaurant review of Mrs Wang in the Canberra Centre's Tiger Lane precinct

Who doesn't remember vibrant sweet and sour pork, the stickiness of honey prawns, the tart sweetness of boneless lemon chicken?

In a time of meat and three veg, a trip to your local Chinese restaurant, even a simple Friday night takeaway, would transport you to some foreign land.

Tonight we're being transported to Shanghai, circa 1930. Mrs Wang is an elegant corner of the Tiger Lane precinct, an oasis from the hyper-busy neon collection of eateries serving fried chicken and fairy floss.

The decor reflects an art deco style. There's a choice of small and large tables (and yes, some have a proper lazy Susan), banquette and booth seating, with mirrored walls and gold and brown accents all adding a touch of class.

It's kind of old time, but with a contemporary twist.

And so too is the menu. There's a choice of two set menus, at $80 and $98pp, the larger list gives you about eight courses.

But it's been a long time since I ordered a la carte, and we want to revisit some old favourites and see how the kitchen has elevated the familiar.

The prawn toast ($4) is not like any old prawn toast. The perfect bite size, it's thick and full of prawn, covered in toasted sesame seeds. It's reminiscent of French toast, but not in an eggy way, it's just creamy and full of intense flavour.

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We're lucky enough to be dining when dumpling master Kian Hong Hoe is in-house. The Sichuan crispy chicken and water chestnut dumplings ($13 for three) are served in a chilli bean vinaigrette, which is thick with a real depth of flavour. We do ask if there was any chance they could bottle it. The dumplings are perfectly crisp and caramelly brown with generous fillings.

The Shanghai soup dumplings ($14) are equally delicious. Salty soup and pork all contained within the dumpling wrapper - how do they do it? Wait for them to cool down a bit so your mouth's not filled with piping hot broth.

A couple of complementary small plates next. Bonito Drovandi is in charge of the floor tonight and he recommends the strange flavour eggplant ($18). What a perfect name for a dish. What a perfect dish. Normally I'm not a big fan of eggplant, it's a little slimy if not cooked right. Here, it's full of soy, sesame ginger and garlic flavours, there's sweetness from brown sugar, a good chilli kick.

Which is soothed somewhat by the Hunan beef tartare ($22). Tartare is an odd thing to see on an Asian menu, but the addition of preserved lemon and chilli makes sense. Scoop it up with pieces of the big rice cracker and you're good to go.

We head back in time with Mrs Wang's sweet and sour pork ($34), there's fresh pineapple and capsicum slices, sticky sauce that's not glowing bright like some old-school versions full of artificial colourings. The pork tenderloin pieces are lightly coated with a batter that stays crisp. It's very moreish.

The brick half-chicken ($30) comes with three different condiments, giving you three completely different experiences in the same dish. The chicken is portioned into a breast, and a maryland as such. It's melt-in-the-mouth tender, the skin has been crisped up without drying out the meat. The pick of the condiments is the ginger scallion (again we wish you could buy bottles of it), it's tart but sweet. Delicious.

There are so many dishes on the menu that are giving us flashbacks. Sizzling beef tenderloin, broccolini in oyster sauce, duck pancakes, crispy battered orange prawns. I want to pile them on a lazy Susan and keep spinning it till everything is gone.

The drinks list is excellent too. A good range of spirits, cocktails, and mocktails, plenty of wine by the glass (including several Canberra District options), and the by-the-bottle list is among the best in Canberra, I might suggest. At $14 a glass, the 2021 Coup de Genie French rosé is a great option.

On one wall of Mrs Wang is a photograph of Mrs Wang herself, Yonghua Yan Wang. She's the mother of restaurant owner Lin Wang and must be proud of what's being achieved here. It's a beautiful black and white portrait of a young woman, taken in Shanghai decades ago. A reminder of the past, with a new home in the present.

It's the way you feel dining at Mrs Wang. That traditions of the past can be modernised and elevated without losing any of the sentimental memories.

Address: FG 16B 148 Bunda St, Canberra

Website: mrswang.restaurant

Hours: Seven days, 11.30am till 3pm, 5-10pm (9pm Sundays)

Chef: Gerald Ong

Noise: No problem at all

Dietary: All noted on the menu, plenty of options

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