The Rice Den has been resurrected after its Chatswood closure in March this year. You’ll find a slick and improved version now in St Leonards to gratify North Shore foodies.

You might remember a few of their staples – friendly and attentive service, an easy vibe, and authentic Cantonese flavours. All still here, and then some. There’s now an open plan kitchen dishing out farm-to-table dishes that pay homage to head chefs Nelson Cheng and Roy Chan’s homeland.  

Mixed wild mushroom pancakes, light fried southern calamari with Chinese spicy salt and rice wine cured ocean trout with pickled fennel, ginger and soy sauce are an apt way to kick off your meal.

The soft shell crab with mung bean noodle hotpot or slow braised Chu Hou beef cheek with kohlrabi, baby carrot and corn are must-trys, as are the handmade cheong fun (rice) noodles made on a machine sourced from China.

If sweets  are beckoning, the Hong Kong style French toast with maple mascarpone has been popular, but we’re rather partial to the Ovaltine pannacotta with whisky glaze roasted chestnut.

It’s less downtown than before, think industrialised Old Canton with polished concrete, aged timbers and Chinoiserie wall paper giving a warm contemporary rawness. An obvious choice for dates, client meetings and local Chinese dining, you’ll appreciate the details injected by interior design collaborators Rita Cheung, Roy Chan and Morris Selvatico, from family photos hanging on the walls to traditional tea crockery.

Did we mention the drinks are outstanding? Drink Tsingtao beer served from a rice bowl, their signature cocktail – a Julian Serner created classic, or The Rice Den’s home lager brews fashioned at The Rocks Brewery.

We hear special events and food tours are in the making, and more importantly, those well-loved mango pancakes will be back in summer.

The Rice Den
30-32 Chandos Street, St Leonards 2065
02 9411 2001
www.thericeden.com.au