218 Chinese Style Restaurant (食麵八方) - Eight Mile Plains

After having dinner out last night, as we were driving through Eight Mile Plains, as we passed the shopping village at Padstow Road, I saw a noodle sign in bright red, which caught my eye. In deciding where to go to lunch today, I decided not to wait any further for it to slide down my list of places to try, and just go whilst it was still fresh in my memory.

The menu covers quite a significant part of their window, and I loved the large variety of foods offered for such a tiny little shop.

We were seated very promptly. I found service to be exceptionally good, especially for a Chinese Restaurant, where I usually expect minimal service. The waitresses were really friendly, polite and paid a lot of attention to detail, which was a definite refreshing change from the usual you would get at Sunnybank.

Water was also provided to us very quickly.

The regular condiments were available on the side. I made my signature dipping sauce for dumplings with what was available (2 parts vinegar, 1 part soy and a dash of chili oil).

First to arrive was the Crispy Skin Chicken with Rice, which is pretty much the default for my traditional (also can be construed as boring) father. He found the chicken to be crispy, and the portions were very generous. The sides of veges were very ample, and the added chives on top made that extra little bit of difference to the dish.

The rice dish was served with complimentary seaweed and egg soup. 

My other two companions ordered the Wanton Noodles and just Wanton Soup respectively (despite my protests about two people eating similar things when I am trying to blog...)

Lucky for me, and unlucky for them, I stole one of the dumplings.  I found the soup to be light and comforting. The dumpling itself had a reasonably thin skin, but I found the fillings to be really delicious. It had a pretty ideal meat to vege ratio, and it was really well seasoned.

I ordered the beef noodle soup. The beef was very tender, but not very oily. The broth was done really well, being light and it had quite a homey taste to it. The noodles were the thin type that I liked, and they were cooked relatively well. We had a small hiccup where there was a bunch that was lumped together, but that was easily placed aside, and I still really enjoyed the meal.

In addition to our mains, we also ordered some pan fried dumplings to share. Like the noodles, they tasted very homey. The skin was quite thin, but could be thinner, and the bottom was slightly crispy, but could stand to be a bit crispier. The insides had a nice juice to the meats, but I found the meat to vege ratio to be more skewed to the meat. It definitely isnt the best dumpling I have had, but it was one of the better ones.

We had the pan fried pork buns to finish off the meal. Despite the fact that they were appetizers, they came last because apparently they are freshly made upon ordering. I was quite pleased that the waitress took the time to explain this when we did order, so we could decide whether or not to go through with it. It turned out to be well worth the wait actually, because the bun was nice and fluffy, whilst the insides were piping hot. I really liked the base which was super crispy. It was definitely the highlight of the meal.


Price Range: $10 - $15 per person

Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 7/10