In Perth, Chilli Panda in the CBD is where you can indulge in the city’s best Hunan dishes. A modern, peaceful setting awaits you here, and in addition to a great selection of food and stylish dining space, the restaurant also boasts a friendly, competent service team that is passionate about the delicious food they serve. The menu features a wide range of options including traditional cold dishes, chef’s recommendations, authentic main courses and a range of soups and noodle dishes. A true Chinese gem on Newcastle Street, book your table ahead of time to avoid disappointment.
Perth’s CBD is awash with Chinese restaurants, mostly of the Canton variety, which makes Chilli Panda a gem in its own right. If you like your food spicy, you’ll have to check out this restaurant on Newcastle Street that specialises in Hunan cuisine, known for the heavy use of green and red chilli peppers, shallots, garlic and ginger in its dishes.
It’s not just the cuisine but the decor, too, that is a welcome change among the Chinese restaurants in Perth. You won’t find any traces of Oriental kitsch in Chilli Panda’s stylish and modern interior, as the owners have opted for wooden screen dividers and untreated concrete walls which are more typical of a trendy cafe. Start off with a cold dish of Hunan-style spicy dry beef, before you tuck into the best-selling Mao’s braised pork and spicy stir-fried cauliflower. Still hungry? Order one of the chef’s recommendations – such as the much-raved about garlic prawns in hot stone pot – and wash them all down with the restaurant’s signature aloe vera-laced jasmine green tea. Come on down to this Perth CBD hotspot within walking distance from Perth and McIver train stations for a fiery treat you’re unlikely to forget. Before you do that, you’ll want to reserve ahead for the best seats.
Quick and friendly service. Food is magnificent! Even though dishes have lots of chilli, they are not super spicy but very tasty. The black mushroom sir fried pork slices was our favourite!
Some of the best food I've had in a long time, very reasonable prices and BYO. Nice and clean, but atmosphere is a bit lacking. Make sure you try cucumber salad :) I definitely will be back for more
Loved the food. It wa relatively quiet so the service was speedy. Would like to see how they cope on a busy night. Would recommend to others. Especially the stir fry chilli lamb.
The location is handy and the decor is of industrial with high open beam ceilings. The food was delicious, service was great, I would recommend Chilli Panda!
Food at Chilli Panda is consistently good - tasty, fresh, not just "hot", although some is indeed hot. Try the green beans with pork mince - delicious, with beans as hero, enhanced by the pork...not drowned out by it.. Their Clay pot prawns are more expensive than most of their dishes, for a good reason - Chilli Panda use good quality, flavoursome crustaceans, not the usual, soggy-bland aquaculture horrors. A noisy venue when full. If you prefer quiet, enjoy lunch there.
This is a unique Chinese Restaurant (Hunan style cooking) . This is not your usual suburban type Chinese fare Australians are used to, but something totally different. As the restaurant name says it there is an leaning towards Chilli. There is also a sprinkling of "offal "receipes and if you dislike this type of food you can stay clear of it and still have a huge menu to pick from. The servings are big and the service business like and very prompt. The fact that the venue is frequented by all ages of Chinese people is a testement of its popularity/acceptance. Pricing is very good. The four of us shared three meat dishes with a bowl of Steamed rice each and we very very full. Our pricing was $66-00 all up. Will be visiting this venue again and again
Chilli Panda is definitely an appropriate name! If you're not a fan of chilli give this a miss. I however, love chilli! Fantastic tasting food. Great interior. Good service and not long to wait for the food. The only downsides were chicken dishes was meat on the bone, menu didn't explain this so one friend missed out on this dish. And we had to ask three times for the bill. Overall though a really good meal at a fair price.
Food fabulous!! Service terrible!! we waited about 15 mins for someone to take our order and that was after we called them over. Had to ask for the diablical music to be turned down so we could hear the waiters explanation about the food. Someone in the kitchen then turned it back up!! Again we asked for it to be turned down. Food arrived quickly and was beautiful. Not too hot. We then had to ask waitstaff to clear the empty plates.. we were not asked if we wanted to order more or desert. We did choose to order more food - again had to call a waiter.... food arrived very quickly and these dishes were REALLY hot - even the rice with soy had a chilli kick... the first rice with soy didnt!! Dont order the squid - very fishy taste. Again had to ask waiter to clear empty plates. Owners - how about a manager or yourselves be on site to make sure wait staff are attentive. Did not appear to be anyone in charge keeping staff on their game. Yes we will go back but if service terrible again, thats it!!!
This is an wonderfully low-key and casual attitude inner city Asian restaurant that bangs out great food with big flavours and a relaxed vibe. The chilli content is for enthusiasts and if you're at all sensitive, ask them to dial it down a few notches, but those of us who love the zing, pop and crackle of high intensity chilli bombs attached to fresh, full-flavoured meats, vegetables and sauces will be in heaven. Try the beans (steamed, then flash-fried for a few seconds) for a mild but deep taste sensation. The pork belly doesn't just promise to melt in your mouth - it actually does! Service is friendly-casual but helpful without being intrusive. Take 3-4 friends to share a range of exotic dishes that will have you talking about this place for days.
Food is interesting, my first experience with Hunan cuisine, extremely spicy if you are not used to it! We ordered a non spicy dish sweet & sour pork for our son, but they ran out and replaced with sweet & sour pork ribs. Very tasty, one of best sweet sour sauce I came across. However, there is hardly any meat, all bones! Another pork ribs dish with cumin is also very nice, also mostly bones but with a bit more meat. Ordered a special dish of the day, baby beef ribs with black pepper sauce. Very generous servings, similar taste to Cantonese black pepper sauce. Thin slices with bones attached, slightly chewy but tasted good more manageable to eat. Accompanied by a fried rice with soy sauce, nice but rather oily. Overall food tasted good but salt level on the higher side for my palate. Service is quite poor on the day of our visit. Inexperience or just poorly trained. It was very quiet during lunch time, only 3 to 4 tables were occupied. May give it another go but will only order “boneless” dishes!