The newly-revamped dining enclave at Sunset Way is lined with restaurants offering international cuisines like Italian, New Zealand, American and such, but if your palate calls for something closer to home, Café D'Orient is the best bet. Even weeks before its official opening in September 2007, Café D'Orient is already packed with foodies seeking Asian fare that are induced with Chinese cooking with an essence of Hong Kong and Western influence.

• The Vibe
  At first glance, Café D'Orient looks as if it was plucked off from a page of a high-end, modern interior design magazine – sleek white high-backed seats, polished-to-a-shine floors, satin draperies and ultramodern mood lights that are put together in a colour-coordinated, avant-garde concept. A closer look, however, takes you to Oriental-infused touches such as red lantern lamps and birdcage lights, a representation of Hong Kong songbird owners gathering to chat over their pets' antics. The result? A sleek East-meets-West ambience that both the young and old will love.

• The Food
  Café D'Orient's expansive menu is designed to suit both conventional and modern palates. Those whose tastes run towards the former can opt for the café's classic staples like clay pot congees, noodles selections and rice varieties while those craving Hong Kong– and Western– inspired innovations can go for oven-baked rice (with choice of black pepper, Satay, Portuguese, Hong Kong curry and tomato concasse sauces), instant noodles (the more substantial version with vegetables and meat), thick toasts and Hong Kong stir-fries.

  Whichever dish you choose, though, the café's signature dishes, Stir-fry Trio Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce ($10.90) and Crispy Homemade Soya Milk ($8.90) are prefect starters to your meal – if you like surprises. The initial tastes of the mushrooms and beancurd are mild, but wait a few moments and you will find that they are deliciously enhanced with savoury oyster sauce and a special, secret sweet sauce, respectively. Another noteworthy appetizer is Fried Hong Kong Fu-Rong Egg ($7.90), slightly salty egg omelette with a liberal addition of prawns, ham, char siew and onion.

  At Café D'Orient, even staples like rice and noodles take on surprising twists. The Oven-baked Rice with Fresh Scallop and Shrimp ($10.90), for instance, will tantalize even traditional rice eaters with its melted cheese, baked to a perfect stringy texture and liberal additions of small scallop and shrimps. While the oven-baked rice may be a bit bland; the Steamed Bamboo Rice ($5.90) – fragrant steamed rice with succulent chicken chunks, might be a tastier alternative. If not for its highly-flavoured fragrance and fun presentation of rice stuffed in bamboo, you are likely to mistake this dish for a delicious plate of chicken rice sans the light soy sauce and chicken soup.

  For noodle lovers of the instant and/or traditional varieties, Café D'Orient's selection of instant noodles, especially the Chicken Cutlet with Egg and Portuguese Sauce ($6.90), is a must-try. For one, the café's instant noodles are substantial enough to fill you up with add-ons like egg, meats and vegetables, and a choice of sauces. In this case, the generous add-ons of crispy chicken strips, a thick sunny-side-up egg and fresh greens are deliciously enhanced by the curried flavour of sweet Portuguese sauce. This is a breath of fresh air from most cafes' version of instant noodles – overpriced plates of unfilled fried instant noodles.

• The Service
  Café D'Orient's adopts an innovative style of ordering- you have to write down your orders on an order chit that is placed on your table, after which you can pass it to a waiter. Despite this “self-service”, though, the level of service at Café D'Orient remains first-class as knowledgeable waiters are on hand to offer good recommendations.

The SD Food Advisor's take on Café D'Orient
Café D' Orient offers a number of dining options – lunch, brunch, teatime or dinner with traditional and modern Asian fare from an expansive menu. The only thing you do not have a choice in, though, is reservations – a must in this constantly crowded restaurant.