Phoenix Kitchen Express at QV – Melbourne – why is their food served on a hot plate?

Phoenix Kitchen Express is located in the ground level at QV’s Dining Hall. The restaurant looks enticing with its interesting hot plates on the menu screen and roast meat by the windows. You can imagine my disappointment when the dish I ordered was neither attractive nor tasty. There are so many options out there that do so much better.

Highlights	Why serve the meals on a hot plate if the hot plate has no work to do? Why is the meat so plain and uninteresting? Questions I asked, but didn’t bother to find the answer.
Cost	$21.80 for Roast Duck and Black Pepper Pork Ribs on Rice
Location	QV Melbourne, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
Website	https://revu.website/139843

On a routine lunch break, I was looking for something exciting and interesting. What caught my eye was this restaurant in QV, which was new, the Phoenix Kitchen Express with its roast duck on display and its very interesting looking menu. The menu screen was showing the meals served on a hot plate. I thought, this could be an unreal experience with sizzling hot meat and crispy rice.

Phoenix Kitchen Express at QV Dining Hall

I asked the server what they recommended and they suggested this dish, the Roast Duck and Black Pepper Pork Ribs with Rice for $21.80. I ordered it and waited with the buzzer in hand. It didn’t take long for my meal to be ready.

When I picked it up, I looked at the colour of the pork first and thought it doesn’t look appetising. Then I looked at the roast duck and realised it was only bones, barely any meat. I turned to the omelet which was very thin and didn’t add much to the meal. Finally the sauce was in a small container and none of the meat would fit in its because they were all chunkily cut. Worse of all, the hot plate wasn’t even hot – it did nothing. What was the hot plate even for?

Phoenix Kitchen Express's Roast Duck and Black Pepper Pork Ribs on Rice for $21.80 — Phoenix Kitchen Express’s Roast Duck and Black Pepper Pork Ribs on Rice for $21.80

I sat in the dining hall with this meal. I tried to see what was good about it, but I had nothing nice to say. I tend to finish all my dishes, but trying to finish this one it was a tall order. I left most of the food on the plate at the end.

Sitting where I was, I glanced over at other dishes and other restaurants and thought I should have ordered elsewhere from another restaurant. I felt like a fool paying more than $20 for a clearly inferior and misleading meal. It was an experience I’d rather forget, but very happy to share.

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