Dong Bei Restaurant

Dong Bei Restaurant
Shop ?, 70 Pinelands Road, Sunnybank Hills



The first thing I want to say is that I realize that '?' is not an appropriate way of describing where this restaurant is. I'm betting it's shop 3 but I can't find any online sources that confirm it.

Dong Bei Restaurant is located in the same mini complex as Endless Noodle and Oishii Sushi. They are shop 1 and 2 respectively and Dong Bei is the next one along so... logically speaking, 3 should follow.

The reason why it's so elusive online, aside from the fact that it doesn't have an English name (making it a b*tch to Google) is that it's brand spanking new. My parents were telling me about this proposed new restaurant in the papers and I saw it get fitted out and decorated.



I remember wanting to eat there one time and having a quick peak at the menu. The English menu items at the time sounded really homely... too homely. Like kind of stuff my mum wouldn't even make at home because it's too boring. I'm not sure if that was just because they were finding their feet at the time, or because the English menu is different to the Chinese menu, or because my quick peak wasn't thorough enough (maybe I only read the 'homely food' section) but though I disregarded this restaurant, mum and dad told me 2 months later that they went and thought it was quite good.

It was our family friends that introduced mum and dad to Dong Bei Restaurant. They are from North China themselves so this is their kinda cuisine.


When my parents took me along, they knew that the serving sizes are quite large so we ordered 3 dishes between us with the intent of having some takeaway.

Jasmin tea

Unfortunately, we went during the awkward Christmas/New Years period when the restaurant was about to close for a 2 week holiday so many menu items weren't available. We still managed to find 3 that we liked the sound of.

Rice flat noodle salad with braised shin beef

The first that came was a bit like a 'salad' of rice flat noodle mixed with braised beef shin and cucumber in a spicy, vinegary dressing. It's my ideal kind of dish to have in Summer because it's light, cool and refreshing. We thought their dressing had great flavor though like most Northern Chinese dishes, it was garlic-intense.

Spicy stir-fried kidneys

Next was the spicy stir-fried kidneys. It was a perfect degree of numbing spiciness for me. Excellent flavor. The kidneys were a tad on the tough side though, which is a shame. On the plus side, there was plenty of it.

Braised pork bones

My parents also ordered a pork bone dish. I don't know what else to call it. I actually got a bit of a shock when I saw the plate because if I was to be polite, I'd say 'aesthetically unappealing'. If I was to be frank, I'd admit it looked like a pile of dog food. I gnawed at a bit of bone and decided it wasn't my cup of tea. Not so much because of how crude the presentation was but it just wasn't tasty enough. My parents said they liked it though so who knows...


The serving sizes at Dong Bei Restaurant were on the large side. The waiter we had was quite helpful and friendly. There weren't many other diners there but I think that's because they were going on holiday. I wouldn't mind going back to try some other things as the dishes are really good value.