Low Key Chow House

I’ve been hearing great things about LKCH for a little while so I convinced my husband to step in last night for a bite to eat, I was starving… after a long day at work I could’ve eaten a horse!
Being a Friday night the venue looked full inside and there were 4 or 5 bar tables outside that were all occupied too so I thought we’d have no chance getting a seat, but I was pleasantly surprised that even though there were no tables we were seated at the bench at the front of the restaraunt overlooking Oxford St. Great spot for people watching. I was happy. The menu came out along with warm tap water… and sugared peanuts which were a nice mix of sweet and salty flavours. We ordered a drink… me a cocktail the husband an Italian red. Basically you can put all the fancy ingredients on the menu to make the cocktails look and sound interesting and amazing, but when it comes out and it’s basically a martini espresso with no hint of salted caramel and little or no rum… then just call it an espresso martini. The husbands red was extremely earthy and not the best choice to mix for what was to come.
They had «Asian beers» too… Bintang…ummm…why?
We ordered the citrus sashimi, looked fresh and inviting served on a wooden platter with 4 chinese soup spoons, garnished with fresh mint. Slight citrus taste and a strong fresh fish hit… lovely…but it needed to be seasoned with a little salt. The Mantou buns were by far the standout of the night. Crispy pork belly drizzled in the amazing sweet but not sickly sweet sauce wrapped in a soft silky smooth bun… my favourite of the night. I was pleased the husband liked them too.
Mains…now this is where my expectations and hopes for great flavours were shattered. Husband orders char siu pork. I order the baby octopus with kway teow noodles and chicken. Beautiful round big plates were brought to the table my husband looked down and there were 8 – 10 slices of pork on a bed of Gailan in front of him, covered in a brown watery sauce. He took 1 bite and told me the pork tasted funny. I didn’t think it was too bad, just not the typical char siu he was used to. He said the sauce tasted like honey and soy sauce was mixed together and chucked over the pork. He refused to eat it. My noodes… the ocotpus was chewy and all I could taste was chilli. My nose and eyes were running and I was too embarrassed to say. umm excuse me this is so hot I can’t taste anything else… so we kept eating and my husband finished the noodles and I ate the pork.
We were full and disappointed and just wanted to leave. I bit my tongue in saying that we were disapointed because my new years resolution was to give food back when I was not 100% satsified. Then the bill $ 110 for 2 of us. Not bad for a «trendy» place but the food did not warrant the price. Nice venue,
nice –loud atmosphere, it’s a place where people can say they’ve been because its new, funky and trendy. Pretentious Asian food. Never mess with the authentic and original!

Last weekend we finally managed to have dinner at Low Key Chow House (LKCH) after we cancelled two of our previous bookings. We really liked the mah-​jong tiles that LKCH put for their ‘open’ sign and the giant tiles that they put on top of their bar. Just like the logo, LKCH has the yellow and black colour scheme that flows really well all throughout their restaurant.
To start, we ordered a really refreshing and sour Chow’s Margarita as well as LKCH Lychee Tipple which Hubby really liked. I think if I let him, he will definitely order another one.
BO «PATTY»
This dish was recommended by Owen Chua, one of the owners of LKCH. Owen explained that this dish was based on his mother in law’s recipe and this time of the year is the perfect time to get the betel leaf. The lemongrass beef patty was tender and fresh. Rather than dipping the whole dish into the nuoc cham sauce, I recommend to r to drop some sauce on top of the dish and fold the betel leaf.
DUMPLING OF THE DAY
The dumpling of the day was chicken and mushroom dumplings which was cooked very well. The dumpling skin had enough thickness and retained the filling very well.
MANTOU BUNS
Mantou Buns was another best-​selling dish at LKCH and I think the key to that was due to the yummy candied caramel pork belly. The pork belly skin was really crispy and the meat was tender. This dish was served together with crushed peanuts inside the fluffy steam buns.
KARI AYAM (Chicken Curry)
Although the flavour of the curry didn’t resonate well through the chicken, Hubby enjoyed the fiery curry broth from LKCH. We weren’t sure why the chicken tasted quite bland even though the rest of the broth was quite aromatic and flavourful. This dish was served together with five slices of roti bread but you can ask for a bowl for steam rice if needed.
SOGALBI SKJU-​NAMUL
First thing, the presentation was really beautiful and when the dish arrived, the staff explained more about the dish. Together with the short ribs, there was also sesame bean sprouts, delicious house-​made kimchi and ssamjang hot sauce. We had a mix feeling about the pear and apple marinated beef short ribs because some cuts were really tender but some other were really chewy to the point that it was quite tough to gnaw.
We enjoyed our time at the LKCH and we are keen to try other dishes that they have in the menu. They have Chinese New Year and Valentine special menu at the moment, so it’s a good time to try out the restaurant if you haven’t done so!

This is one of my favourite places for dinner.
I always enjoy the atmosphere and the staff are always friendly.
The food is top class and won’t disappoint you.
Try the spring rolls, beef ribs, and gai lan with garlic chips and the fried rice.
The fried ice cream parcels are a must have when you come.

This is the fourth time I have eaten here and each time was a different experience, none of them were bad.
The first time I ate here, we ordered completely wrong and the food wasn’t bad but we felt like it was super expensive. We were Low Key amateurs back then. Now I would call us beginner to intermediate Chow housers haha When you order here just remember to order to share, that’s how it is set up and I think if you order heaps of the small dishes, it works much better.
All there food tastes fresh and it presents well. This time round we sat outside which was a nice change as we got to be part of Leederville, the people walking past and the service was still great even though we were not inside.
We ordered the Pok Pok Wings, they tastes like «korean style» wings. They are sweet with a little spice and while glazed they are still crunchy. You get 5 and they were a good starter. We also got the Samgyeopsal, which I have ordered every time as it tastes so god damn good. Its pork belly which has been charred and taste like charcoal. The pork belly is cut into little pieces and comes with some pickle, sauce and lettuce leaves. You construct a little lettuce leaf of joy and the flavours really work together.
Lastly we had the Ga Xao Xa Ot which is Spicy Lemongrass chilli chicken dish. To tell you the truth I probably won’t order this again. The dish wasn’t very well balanced, it didn’t have enough salt and for a dish that is meant to have Lemongrass in it, there was no «sour» flavour, instead I found it to be sweet. It still had great flavours but wasn’t amazing for me.
The atmosphere is «cool» as they have gone for a bit of a industrial feel with a very simple approach to furniture. To tell you the truth, it works really well and there aren’t any places like this in Leederville. The music was at a good level and the staff have always been amazing. We have got the same waiter 3 times now and we always have a good laugh with her.

Hands down my favourite Asian restaurant in Perth! I’ve introduced many family members and friends to this place and its wins them over every time.
The pork buns are out of this world and their dumplings are fantastic! We always order a random bunch of small meals and share it.
The staff are very nice, though at times there can be a language barrier but never the less they are always friendly and very willing to help.
It’s a hidden gem of northbridge and always super busy, not a cheap Asian feast but certainly worth it.

Two words– mantou buns
Go ahead and order two serves because one is never enough. Love eating here, anything off the street food list will be a winner, great service, good vibes, great sharing food, good for groups.

We went here on a Saturday night for dinner, the venue was fully booked, the staff made accommodations for us on the bench by the window as there were 3 of us.
Each share plate we ordered was flavoursome, my favourite dish was the pork belly in the bun. The won tons were also nice, we ended up ordering another serve. The bottle of wine from NZ which complimented the food really well.
For 5 share plates and a bottle of wine, the price we paid per head was approx $ 36 between 3. This is good value for Perth and for what we got.
Would definitely return here and would recommend to others.

Not for the hearing impaired or personal space of 1 metre lovers!
Anyone else who doesn’t mind going elbow to elbow and raising your voice a little it’s AMAZING!
From the first chicken satay stick I was in love. Flavour just booms in your mouth. It was hard to choose what we wanted because I just wouldn’t be able to fit that much food in and had to resign to the fact that this time we would have the dumplings, pork patties, satay sticks and mantou with crispy pork belly. Then prawns on the charcoal with yellow curry. Sago pudding and fried ice cream smothered in salted caramel.
The problem was everything was so amazing I couldn’t wait for the Doranator to get island leave so we could redo the patties and prawns! So next time maybe we will try something else. Sadly on the second trip the sago pudding was all out so they forced our hand in trying the sticky date omg pudding and chilli chocolate mousse (which was a bit rich for me).
The freshness of the food makes you feel quite smugly healthy! With a sense that surely food this fresh couldn’t be fattening! Oh my how easily deluded I can be when justifying a night out! Flavours burst out of the bowls and leave you wide eyed with joy.
The staff are great, a little bowl of peanuts and anchovies delivered as you sit down. They are attentive and never too far away.
The prices are very reasonable.
It will be a regular haunt for me!

I made a booking for 8 people for a Friday night dinner at this restaurant. During the day a lot of people bailed and from 8 we were down to 4. Even though the restaurant was completely booked out, the restaurant was able to accommodate us on a smaller table.
The staff were attentive and helpful. My friend and I got the prawn shooters (prawn in some sort of peanut soup in a shot glass), ginger noodles ($ 12), ayam Kari with roti and the quail. The food is of such good value that it came out to be $ 31.50 per person and we were so full.
The menu is Asian fusion and the restaurant has chefs from Malaysia, Korea and India.
The ayam Kari was simply delicious and flavorsome with a kick to it. The quail was tough but nice. The noodles were bland but some soy sauce would make it taste amazing. The prawn shooters were nice.
My friend also had a cocktail with wasabi in it. I’m not a fan of wasabi but the cocktail is scrumptious.

This was one of my favourites in a long time, and have since recommended it to friends, who also really enjoyed it. Great for a solo traveller, couples, or small groups. The vibe is buzzy and welcoming. The food was delicious — I had the cured seafood starter (succulent and zippy) and the pork char siu (deep flavour and tender, with a nice lift from the greens). Oh, and give their cocktail creations a fair go! Looking forward to my next trip to Perth!

This was my second time at Low Key Chow House and it was fantastic. It has a great vibe. The staff are attentive and friendly and the food is mind blowing.
The food is designed to be shared and they are a good size. We had a table of 4 and ordered 4 entrée, 3 mains, 1 side, 1 rice to share and 3 desserts and this was perfect. It’s not a cheap night, but it certainly is value for money and a wonderful night out.
The modern takes on Asian favourites are delicious and original. We loved the fresh spring rolls, dumplings, spatchcock, beef ribs and greens with garlic chips. Don’t forget the fried icecream parcels! Yum yum yum!

Love love love and so thankful to Unilocal for showing me places I never knew existed! I was looking for somewhere yummy and easy and close to home and saw all the great reviews so met a couple of girlfriends down there on Tuesday night to check it out.
Great set up and location, but you could miss it if you’re not paying attention because there is no big sign with the restaurant name on the front! We chose to sit outside on Oxford St to people watch as it was a nice night.
We basically ordered everything off their two entrée menus and didn’t bother with the mains as the tapas style food was perfect. The food is amazing. Authentic Vietnamese and full of flavour. We tried about 6 or 7 dishes between the 4 of us and it was plenty of food — and for $ 25 a head! Craziness!
The best meal was the Mantou Buns full of crispy pork. Also the San cho bow with chicken and also the pork belly version was so fresh. I don’t usually like satay but their skewers came recommended by our waiter and they are chargrilled on coals and didn’t disappoint, I felt like I was on holidays in Asia!
The only reason they didn’t get 5 stars was because for a long time we didn’t have a designated waiter and they kept forgetting we were outside (the only table outside) so we had to wait long periods for drinks and ordering. But once we pointed that out they fixed it immediately and couldn’t be more helpful. A lovely new addition to Leedy and I highly recommend.

I’m super happy that I finally was able to try Low Key Chow House tonight. The service was fantastic, the waitresses were quick to take orders and the chefs quick to make delicious dishes jam packed with flavour. Tables around us were cleared and reset quickly.
I had the pork belly lettuce cups which was absolutely amazing! The serving was huge and could’ve been enough to feed even me and my monster appetite! Of course I didn’t stop here though, I had to try the wings on the menu too, they were crispy and the right amount of sticky. I would’ve liked them hotter (more chilli) than they were but I know that being in Perth it would not be suitable for many patrons.
I shared the 3^rd base with a friend. The kaya crepes were good but I would’ve loved more kaya. The deep fried ice cream packets were really quite amazing, much more impressive than I thought it could’ve been. The sago I couldn’t eat because of food allergies, so can’t comment on that.
I had a lychee cocktail which was quite delicious too.
Terrific restaurant with my favourite of all meats, THE best meat of all time, in my opinion, pork! The service was excellent, staff were friendly and helpful, unlike many other chinese restaurants around!

I chose Low Key Chow House for my birthday celebrations last year as at the time it was the best new restaurant I had been to and wanted to share it with my friends.
There were 4 of us for dinner that night and again the service was outstanding.
We made our way through the majority of the Entrée Street Plates sharing the Dumplings, Mantou Buns, Lattice Spring Rolls and Sung Choi Bow, orders were also placed for the To Yum shooter and Ga Xao Xa Ot (spicy lemongrass chilli chicken). When it came to mains I decided to stick to the small food menu ordering another serve of the Lattice Spring Rolls and the Neo Xa Ot (fresh pork rice paper rolls).
Low Key Chow House certainly know how to get the best out of flavours, I can’t say there are too many places in Perth that do it quite so well.
The winners for me on this night were the Lattice Spring Rolls and the Mantou Buns both were exceptional and I would happily head back to Low Key Chow House for these two dishes alone.
I am well overdue for a visit and have it on my list of restaurants to try/​re-​attend in 2015.
It has also been confirmed that given their success at the Oxford Street location plans are now afoot for a little sister restaurant on Beaufort Street, Mt. Lawley.

Went here for the 2^nd time since it opened. Really enjoyed the food and what we ordered.
Entrée consisted of dumplings and these beautiful beef snacks on lettuce leaves. Tick to the dumplings– delightful little treats.
Mains were the slow cooked beef ribs and lemongrass and chili chicken. Both mains were full of flavour. The ribs fell off the bone and the chicken (if but a little fatty) was full of flavour and spice.
The service here is exceptional, one of the dishes we ordered wasn’t quite right and after explaining to the waiter he promptly returned it to the kitchen with a new dish. They are so friendly, so professional. The kind of service we need more around perth! Well done Low Key Chow.

Finally got a chance to head to Low Key Chow after months of following and yearning for the food they post on Instagram.
My friend had been a couple of times before but it didn’t stop her for wanting to join me for lunch yesterday afternoon.
We started with a couple of deeeelightful cocktails… The Cocograss Tipple.
It was heavenly… Pineapple juice, lime, a hint of coconut, lemon grass and garnished with fine slivers of chilli to make your tongue tingle.
I savored every drop.
Our waiter was a lovely French gentleman who talked us through the lunch special.
We ended up with a chicken satay stick, a fried dumpling and a crispy pork bao Bub to start with.
Let me say, the pork bao bun with so delicious… The soft bun was so fresh and the combination of they crispy tasty pork with the light fluffy soft bao bun was just extraordinary.
For the main we had the beef ribs which came out with a side of rice and your choice between some bok choy greens or kimchi.
It was all presented so beautifully… I couldn’t resist taking some cheesy pics of it, being the daggy foodie that I’am.
To finish it all off we got a choice of wine, beer or soft drink, so we chose a very nice Pinot Grigio, which was light and went well with our meal.
All this was only $ 38 per person. one of the best lunch specials I’ve had in this town for a while.
There was just so much on the menu that caught my eye, yet not enough belly space!
I’ll be back to start checking off that menu list!

What a nice addition to the Leederville strip. It’s great to see a venue deliver high-​quality food in an unpretentious way at a decent price.
I went down with a group of Unilocalers on a Wednesday night, but the vibe inside the restaurant was screaming ‘Friday fun times’, the patrons were having such a good time at dinner.
Pros:
— The Asian fusion dishes are pretty darn tasty.
— I love the interior.
— The restaurant possesses a great fun atmosphere.
— A good wine list (that forced me to drink on what was supposed to be an AFN — Alcohol Free Night).
Cons:
— Two main meals came out 40 minutes after all the others, meaning everyone had finished their mains when we were just starting them, not ideal.
— There was a massive line at the till to pay for your bill.
— It’s really loud in the restaurant, and was impossible to hear the people on the other side of the large round tables.
However, I feel the two first cons are probably just teething problems.

Solid 4-​stars from me after I finally got my butt down to Low Key today for lunch. Sadly, I had to miss my own UYE there a little while back, but by all accounts, a fine time was had by those who did get there. *phew*
Today, three of us ordered the bamboo smoked salmon and rice, the beef ribs (with Kimchee) and the fried tofu and okra. The reason I was so impressed was the sheer effort in to creating the flavours of each of the dishes. I would struggle to do that myself at home [and I’m not too shabby in the kitchen, even if I say so myself. Figjam, baby!]. It’s that alone that impresses me at a food joint: their ability to produce exceptional flavours that I would find hard to replicate. The sauce with the ribs? Glory be, but it was sensational.
But they also score big points for attentive and pleasant service. Another thing I really thought quite unique was their provision of ‘Asian Fusion’. It’s not, as often found, one Asian culture that has been Anglicised /​Aussified with whatever is trendy in the food world at the moment (eg: a Thai curry with pumpkin). There wasn’t a grain of quinoa or a square of beetroot to be seen anywhere! No, this is a true blend of Asian cultures, each true to themselves, in the variety of dishes available on the menu. For me, they were exceptional. I can’t think of a place that is doing this, as proficiently, in Perth at present.
Fully licensed, there is no BYO. We didn’t have a tipple on this occasion, so I can’t comment on the wine list quality. But I’ll be able to tell you the next time I go. It will be soon.

Winner!!! Absolutely love this place!
My friend booked for the four of us on a Friday night. It was half full at 7pm but 30 minutes later the place was pumping!
The food was amazing! The stand outs for me were definitely the mantou buns and lattice spring rolls. My friend’s prawn was so big I swore she was eating a yabbie!!! And not only were the prawns supersized the wine glasses were more like carafes! We ate so much there was no room for the fried ice cream! Next time for sure. :)
The staff were very attentive and knowledgeable about the food as we asked quite a few questions, one friend is Vegan and another Vegetarian. They were very helpful with our choices and checked on us to see how everything was going.
Loved everything that this place had to offer from the cool lighting, to the art work, the exposed brickwork, gorgeous table ware, great service and delicious wine and food.

What a fantastic new spot! And one that I wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for Unilocal (and Just A).
I can’t believe this beautiful (big) open space used to be Hans. Kudos to LKCH on the décor and fit out. It looks incredible. Somehow it’s still cosy despite the slightly industrial styling and openness. You can see the kitchen too but even though we were sitting reasonably close to it we were never bothered by the sound.
We were a table of 8 and we ordered drinks at different times and not one drink was forgotten or mixed up with them all arriving without delay. That was a good start. Any questions with the menu? The staff were more than happy to help out with serving sizes, descriptions of dishes and recommendations on their favourites.
I decided on a slider (brioche with pork jerky, pork floss and wasabi mayo), the pork patties (served with lettuce cups, black bean sauce, fresh herbs and some seriously spicy pickles) and the steamed pork buns (caramelised pork belly!!). The dishes arrived and were eaten in this order. As the buns arrives I thought to myself «I’ll need to order something else» but half way through my second delicious pillow of sweet porky goodness I wasn’t sure I’d even manage the third (don’t worry, I didn’t leave a bite behind).
Everything was presented beautifully on some pretty amazing crockery. As mentioned we were a table of 8 with some people opting for entrees only, some sharing mains, some having a main to themselves and I think the staff did pretty well to ensure that everyone was eating something at some point. The last main meal to come out was perhaps a little delayed but overall a job well done for a restaurant that has been open a matter of weeks (?) that was pretty close to, if not at capacity on a Thursday night.
Will definitely be back (soon!) if for nothing else another slider and trying dessert.