The dry noodles and wonton soup with roast meat is an iconic dish at Tak Kee. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Tak Kee Roast Inn is an icon of Dickson’s Woolley Street precinct thanks to the bold, old-school signage and roast ducks hanging in their window. Often credited as Canberra’s oldest Chinese BBQ Restaurant, Tak Kee is much loved for their low-key ambience, quick service and delicious menu.
Affectionately (and perhaps optimistically) known as Canberra’s Chinatown, Woolley Street has been changing rapidly over the past few years as old favourites shut down (RIP Ruby’s and Rasa Sayang) and are replaced by generic burger joints. But stalwart Tak Kee remains a fixture of the street.
The interior of Tak Kee isn’t fancy. Tables are crowded into a fairly plain space smaller than my living room. When they’re busy, you might be hard-pressed to get a table right away. When you take a seat, a pot of tea and small cups will appear alongside the laminated menus.
The iconic signage of Tak Kee Roast Inn on Woolley Street. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The BBQ roast meats served with rice are always a good choice, but Tak Kee also specialises in wontons, served in a clear, flavourful broth, with or without noodles. I’ve often (maybe too often) enjoyed the laksa at Tak Kee (it even made the top of my list of Canberra’s best laksa), but on my most recent visit with a friend, we decided to branch out.
We ordered Char Kway Teow – listed as one of the chef’s specialties – and dry noodles with BBQ roast pork, as well as wanton soup. And we couldn’t resist the Peking Duck Roll entree.
While other restaurants make a song and dance about presenting each element separately for you to assemble your own rolls, Tak Kee is all about getting a couple of rolls to your table and into your dumpling hole ASAP. Two rolls, unceremoniously served on a side plate, arrive at the table within minutes and are gobbled down just as fast. The meat is juicy, the snap of the cucumber is fresh, the rolls are soft and lightly floured, and the hoisin sauce coats my tongue. I’m one happy camper.
Dishes like Char Kway Teow are generous at Tak Kee. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Char kway teow is a dish of flat rice noodles stir-fried with salty Chinese sausage, chicken, prawns, egg, bean sprouts and just-cooked wedges of onion. The slippery, chewy noodles are fragrant with wok hei – the smoky char imparted by high-heat frying – and each bite is a magnificent, umami-rich delight.
Slices of BBQ pork arrive pink-tinged on a bed of yellow egg noodles, with steamed Chinese broccoli. Accompanying the dish is a small soup bowl with four plump wontons bobbing in the broth. I relish the opportunity for a good, satisfying schluuurp, and these wantons deliver my chance by the spoonful, not to mention the addition of slurpable noodles (and bonus points for permission to slurp in a public place). It’s a simple dish, but every part is delicious and perfectly executed without fuss or fanfare.
The oh-so-slurpable wontons at Tak Kee Roast Inn. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The serving sizes at Tak Kee are affordable and unfailingly generous, so I’d recommend bringing a container from home for leftovers. They also do a roaring takeaway trade – I can heartily recommend their chicken congee next time you’re sick – and it’s a favourite haunt for off-duty chefs looking to get their BBQ meat fix.
No matter what changes in Dickson, the lights of Tak Kee Roast Inn shining off on the glistening roast ducks are a reminder that restaurants don’t have to be fancy and they don’t have to be fashionable – they just have to be good.
Tak Kee Roast Inn is located at 10 Woolley Street, Dickson. They are open from 11 am to 10 pm seven days a week. Visit their website.
