Chequers Seafood Restaurant

By Franz Scheurer

When you walk into the Mandarin Centre in Chatswood and wind your way up the escalators to Chequers, all your senses tell you you’re in a different world. It looks different, with bold colours and flashing neon signs everywhere; it smells different, with a waft of durian from the fruit shop and a hint of curry from one of the take-away shops; and it sounds different, with music blaring from the overhead loudspeakers and different music oozing from each of the shops at the same time. Looking at the customers you know you could easily be in Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

Once you walk into the restaurant however, all is Australian mid-seventies Chinese chic, complete with faux marble panels, glittering gold everywhere, purple upholstery and seas of red and black. A nice touch is the fact that each table has different fresh flowers on it.

Seated and handed the menu, a sheet of ‘live seafood specials’ and the wine list, there’s a lot to digest. I suggest you decide on a food region that you want to sample and stick to dishes representing that style. The live seafood is very good. You have the choice of different cooking methods and accompaniments, but with seafood this fresh I suggest the simpler the better. We ordered 300g of live prawns, just steamed, accompanied by a soy and chilli dipping sauce. Glorious; sweet, easy to peel and, as they offer a finger bowl, wet towels and cloth serviettes, getting your hands dirty is not an issue. Fresh scallops grilled in their shell with bacon and chilli were wonderful and the giant oysters, steamed with ginger and shallots a delight. The ‘Tofu with Salt and Pepper’ was superb; wonderfully silken tofu with a terrific crisp skin that melts in your mouth. While the ong choy, selected from a myriad of fresh greens, although a bit hard to eat, was just as good. The ‘Five Spice Crispy Skin Chicken’ shows off gelatinous, juicy flesh with a crackly, crisp skin, full of deep flavours from the five spice and just the right amount of salt. Another winner!

They may serve cocktails reminding you of the early seventies and have ‘Royal Coffee’ on the dessert menu, but they certainly prepare the food in a way befitting today’s expectations. There’s nothing old fashioned about it at all. Service is efficient, sometimes ‘English challenged’ but friendly and helpful. Value for money is great and if you love really fresh seafood this is a place worth remembering.

Score; 6.5/10

For more information or bookings:

Chequers Seafood Restaurant

Shop 220-21, Mandarin Centre

65 Albert Ave

Chatswood NSW 2067

Tel.: 9904 8388