Review of Grandma's Kitchen Restaurant Chain

Something strange came over me in Chengdu. I (Andrew) can't quite explain it. I discovered that I didn't want to eat Chinese food in China. Maybe I was missing my usual food from home. But that doesn't make any sense becasue I eat Chinese food in Sydney. To satisfy my craving for Western food we sought out some Western Restaurants and discovered Grandma's Kitchen Chain of Restaurants. There are more than five in the restaurant chain and we dined at four of them! One astute businessman owns them all.

The restaurants include:

The Red Brick Pizzeria and Restaurant. 77 Kehua North Road, Chengdu. Ph: 028-8521-4065.

Grandma's Kitchen. 73 Kehua North Road, Chengdu. Ph: (028) 8524-2835.

Grandma's Deli. 75 Kehua North Road, Chengdu. Ph: (028) 8524-2835.

Del Mar Mediterranean Restaurant. 10 Tongzilin Donglu, Chengdu. Ph: (028) 8515-9325.

Sunflower Cafe. 22 Renmin South Road, 4th Section, Chengdu. Ph: (028) 8555-3856.

We ate at all of the above except Grandma's Deli. In fact, Red Brick Restaurant, Grandma's Kitchen and Grandma's Deli are right next to each other. While eating in Grandma's Kitchen we ordered food from the Red Brick menu!

The menus have standard Italian style food inclusing an assortment of soups, pizzas and pastas. The meals are reasonably priced. Some "fusion" dishes are available from Del Mar Restaurant, such as fettucine with beef and vegetables and pepper sauce.

Recommendations:

• Bruschetta (10 RMB) from Red Brick Restaurant.

• Grilled Sol Fillet with peanuts and asparagus (68 RMB) from Del Mar Restaurant.

• Weekend Brunch (28 RMB) at Sunflower Cafe.

The Weekend Brunch is great. It's on any Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 2pm at all of the above venues, except Red Brick Restaurant. We spent hours at the Sunflower Cafe on Sunday morning. The value is exceptional. The brunch comprises a choice of five options from a selection of: eggs (scrambled, poached & boiled); omlettes (mexican); meat (bacon, ham & sausages); breads (including cornbread and toast); vegetables; potatoes (hash brown & french fries); fruits and pancakes. The five items you chose are brought out together on a large plate. You can pick any combination of items eg. 2 omlettes, 2 styles of potatoes and pancakes. (The mexican omlette is particularly tasty). Also, there is a bottomless cup of tea, coffee or orange juice. (The coffee is full-flavoured). And, they provide you with reading material (Newsweek, South China Morning Post & The Herald Tribune). A most enjoyable and relaxing way to spend a lazy morning.