Restaurant Review: THE RED CHAMBER – an Oriental jewel in Johannesburg’s culinary crown

Written by Angus McEwan
Wednesday, 01 June 2011 12:29

order="0" title="The Red Chamber Restaurant - Hyde Park, JHB" align="left" />Where such novels as War And Peace, Atlas Shrugged, Lord Of The Rings even, hold epic status; so, too, does The Dream Of The Red Chamber within Chinese literary history. Given that this is a restaurant review it stands to reason that you’re already asking what this has to do with fine dining in Johannesburg. The answer lies in the title of this Chinese classic and here tells a tale of an Oriental jewel in Johannesburg’s crown – the Red Chamber, situated in Hyde Park.

Cursory investigation of said book uncovers the epic nature of its content, due not least to its huge number of characters and the scope of psychological nuance. Suffice to say the book has been lauded for its ability to express a range of complexity and subtlety all at once. As my journey through the Red Chamber menu unfolded, I was to discover something similar in the richness and scope of flavours as they made themselves apparent to my astonished taste buds. The Red Chamber has been a wonderful reflection of the unfolding story of Johannesburg since its warm, intelligent and charismatic owner, Emma Chen, started it 20-odd years ago. Arriving in South Africa in the early 80s in order to further her studies, Chen has lived through the epic changes of the past 20 years and has learnt much about change and authenticity in this contemporary version of South Africa.

Twenty-one years ago, she reflects, her potential customer base had little or no experience of authentic Mandarin-style cuisine and was conservative in its approach to new ideas. Her challenge then, as it is now in some ways, was to introduce the authentic cuisine of northern China to Africa. Fast forward to 2011, and not only is the Red Chamber going strong, demonstrated by the loyalty of her ever-growing customer base, but Chen and her staff continue to deliver fresh, innovative yet authentic Mandarin cuisine to a modern, open and inquisitive-minded (you might say Afropolitan) diner.

The Red Chamber sits within the bright, shiny, modern retail precinct that is Hyde Park, and I immediately felt transported into a chamber that might easily have existed within the boundaries of a Chinese city in the 1800s. The lighting is soft, with shades of green, maroon and soft spot-lighting well placed around the sides. The use of bamboo within the decor, the calming presence of a fish tank and the floating sounds of bamboo flute and zither all contribute to this ambient blend.

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It had been a long day, and soon after being seated, while I waited to be joined by my dining companions, I found myself relaxing nicely, my imagination conjuring exotic images of the dishes as I scoured the menu and considered such choices as tiger salad (“vicious enough to bite”) and gongbao beef; I later discovered gongbao is traditionally a combination of dried chillies and peanuts – tjo!

In fact, upon opening the menu you’re drawn to read a short welcoming message, offering brief guidance and context for your imminent dining experience. At this point it’s explained that spices are synonymous with Mandarin cuisine, with garlic getting a special mention in its capacity to act as an aphrodisiac, provided both parties participate in its consumption (you’ve got to love that piece of subtle humour). Further, it’s explained, a good Chinese meal must attain the harmony of taste, texture, colour and aroma.

At this point the jasmine tea I ordered arrived and straight away my taste buds were treated to subtle flavour. By now I was getting real comfortable and not a little hungry. As I pondered the whereabouts of my dining buddies, I was approached by my waiter, who suggested in such an artful way that it’s not a suggestion but an order that I order the Peking duck, which takes about 20 minutes to produce and should, therefore, arrive along with my guests, in time to be a starter.

Without hesitation I agreed and sat back to enjoy the moment. I perused the now busy restaurant and appreciated the atmosphere. By the way, I should mention this was a Monday night. With just enough time before our starter reached the table, my friends entered stage right, and soon we were looking down at a mouth-watering plate of sliced Peking duck, a dish of plum sauce, finely sliced cucumber and some small delicate pancakes with which we were to create our duck rolls.

The aroma was distinct, compelling, and in short time our table was an oasis of silence, broken only by the involuntary sounds of sheer delight as we all experienced our first mouthfuls. I suddenly understood the experience of high-quality Chinese cuisine, with all its sights, sounds, colours and textures, and a smile came to my lips.

Naturally, part of the allure of great Chinese food is its use of exotic spices, and the Red Chamber’s menu provides for an enticing variety of ingredients such as chilli, garlic, ginger, sesame, black bean, cashew, ginger and tangerine, black pepper, plum sauce, oyster sauce, satay sauce, sweet-bean paste and more.

We made a general selection of three dishes for the subsequent courses. The task was not easy as we were presented with choices such as stir-fried prawns with litchi; three-flavoured chicken; stir-fried lamb with cumin, garlic and chilli; and “monk’s dish” with glass noodles. In the end we opted for spicy prawns with chilli and garlic, sizzling beef with spring onion, and pork chops Mandarin style; these were accompanied by fried rice and noodles, the latter made from scratch in Chen’s kitchen and distinctly pleasing.order="0" align="left" />

Frankly, I think it’s beyond my abilities to express in fine detail the combined flavours that enveloped the prawns I tasted except to say they were as tender as can be and the net effect revealed itself gradually after each mouthful, like the gentle crescendo of a choir reaching its fullest note and then drifting away. I can say the same about the sizzling beef, which arrived at the table in spectacular fashion and was dispatched similarly! In comparison, the pork chops rather failed us, but no matter, we were in agreement: this was not a good, but rather a great dining experience.

Address & contacts:
Shop 68
Hyde Park Shopping Centre
Jan Smuts Avenue
Hyde Park
Johannesburg  North

Contacts: 011 325 6048
Email: emma@redchamber.co.za