There will always be a special place in my heart for Charlie Chan. I remember visiting decades ago for their Friday night live jazz events. There was nothing quite like sitting in one of Cambridge’s top Chinese restaurants and dining in front of a live band. It was an unparalleled atmosphere in the city.

The jazz events slowly dwindled and eventually ended in 2018, putting an end to 30 years of live jazz. Despite this, Charlie Chan soldiers on, standing proud in the heart of Regent Street, watching many neighbouring restaurants come and go through these challenging economic times. I haven’t been back to sample their Chinese cuisine since but I have heard many mixed reviews on the Cambridge Foodies community as of late. Clearly, I was well overdue for a revisit, so decided to pop by and capture that magic from my past.

We were seated in the casual dining area downstairs. From memory, the upstairs is much more stylish and the ground floor is a more basic. The tables were round but unfortunately absent of any Lazy Susan’s.

The menu is large, with all the classic dishes you expect from a Chinese restaurant. Fried noodles, dim sum, barbeque, seafood, noodle soups, and a concoction of meat dishes. Prices were roughly the same when compared to other Chinese restaurants in Cambridge, with larger dishes hovering around £12-16.

Prawn dumplings

We started off with prawn dumplings, that were served as a portion of 3. I was surprised at how large they were but it meant they could be generously packed with two prawns in each one. You could tell that they were freshly made, as they came out piping hot, fresh from the fryer.

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Shanghai pork bun

The Shanghai Pork buns were rather anemic and filled with a very thin brothy water that burst all over the place whenever a bite was first taken. It was chewy and hard to eat. I do not recommend them.

Beef brisket curry and rice

The Beef Brisket Curry was absolutely out of this world and probably my favourite dish of the evening. It came served with soft and fluffy white rice that was cooked perfectly.

The beef brisket was incredibly tender and the fat was kept on, adding more flavour. It was absolutely mouthwatering, with a strong salty flavour that may divide options but it was exactly how I liked it. The sauce portion was very generous and soaked up nicely into the rice. Amazing!

Singapore rice noodles

Singapore Noodles are a stir-fried dish that proved to be very popular at our table. The dish had a mild spicy kick but was not so hot that it wasn’t accessible to the average diner. It was absolutely packed full of prawns, chicken & pork, giving it a diverse flavour with something different on your fork with every bite.

Sea spicy pork

The Sea Spicy Pork was a mixed bag that didn’t particularly inspire but was inoffensive. It was a beautifully presented dish, with big chunky mushrooms and crunchy veg that added a satisfying texture to the bite. Unfortunately, the pork tasted very washed out and didn’t really stand out, which was surprising, considering there was an abundance of pork that took up half the dish.

Sizzling prawns in blackbean sauce

Sizzling prawns in black bean sauce tasted great and they didn’t scrimp on the prawns either! The dish came out sizzling with chunks of onion and pepper swimming in a thin savoury black bean sauce. The prawns themselves were big and meaty with a juiciness that made you want to sink your teeth into.

Rice pot Chinese sausage chicken

This unusual dish looked quite unsettling by eye. Frankly, it looked like rice with a load of uncooked chicken on top. The chicken was incredibly hot on arrival, so was clearly cooked well but due to being steamed, it gave off a damp or wet look, like it hadn’t been cooked at all. As far as I could tell, the dish was entirely absent of sausage and there was an overwhelming taste of ginger.

This may be a very popular dish in China but I couldn’t get on board with it. It was very bland.

Conclusion

Even though we all had a good experience at Charlie Chan, we found the food to be a  mixed experience. It is a classic example of a large menu spreading themselves too thinly rather than focusing on a streamlined menu of quality. The restaurant has been going for decades and will likely outlive us all, so they are clearly doing something right, so I feel that it is a menu worth exploring and learning which dishes excel, as your reward will be one of excellence.

Does it keep up with my nostalgia? Not really, though back then I was someone in my late teens and had only started dining out, so my idea of good food was very different to what it is now. I was also dining upstairs on the fancier floor with live music, which is a hard act to follow, so maybe I am being unfair.

The best thing to do is ask The Cambridge Foodies community.

Thanks for reading