Red Silks

This place is in the heart of chinatown and provides dishes that range from western to asian meals. Fairly cheap which is good for university students to eat at lunch time

Great ambience. Sit outside and watch Bourke st go by.
The thai crispy mushroom entrée was unusual but very tastey. Thai flavours with a szechuan-​like tone.
Sizzling dishes are amazing. Sweet and tender with rich flavours.
4 stars for the food, extra star for atmosphere, 5 STARS!

I got crispy noodles and veggies. It was pretty good. (Also, I like their drink selection.)

Delish food from a HUGE menu. Attentive staff. Reasonably (and rather inexpensive) price. Oddly located bc i would Never go up those steps and think an awesome rooftop restaurant there. I will bring my workmates there soon!

This restaurant has funk, quirkiness and style all packed into their restaurant.
I have absolutely love this restaurant. Their food was great. Their waiting staff is friendly and the ambiance is fantastic.
The reason why this restaurant didn’t get a 5 star is the fact that apart from a sheet of paper near the back of the menu everything is rather on the expensive side.
If you’re looking for a nice restaurant to eat at in the CBD then definitely check out Red Silks. You’ll enjoy it. Just make sure to read the sheet of paper that has food ranging from $ 9.50 to $ 10.50!

Although it doesn’t look promising from the street, the place has a great ambiance and a fabulous balcony.
Service: Great!
Food: Cheap and delicious!
— The entrees over rice are $ 8-​$ 11 and definitely a good portion.
— Sweet and sour pork w/​a fried egg over rice was really good. The batter was close to perfect.
— ****You should get the Sambal chili prawns. The shrimp were incredible and the sauce was really really good! $ 19 (tip: if you are fine w/​shrimp instead of prawns, you can get the sambal chili shrimp over rice for $ 10. i’ve had both and the prawns are significantly better than the shrimp and it’s served in a skillet, which i think makes it taste better.)
— The salt and pepper crispy mushrooms are fine. The batter to mushroom ratio was way off in my opinion (too much batter, too little ‘shroom)

Dinner @ Red Silks on Saturday night brought back good memories from when I was at Uni. I used to eat there quite often with mates. The Red Silks XO Sauce Seafood Fried Rice was our preferred dish — delicious although a bit spicy! I’ve become less of a fan of chilli over the years so I went a bit more mild on Saturday. I did find the size reasonably smaller from what I remember which was a bit disappointed but, in all fairness, we were pretty hungry so that might have played a part in it.
The place is conveniently located on Bourke Street. It is upstairs with only a medium sized squarey red sign trying to get your attention so, unless you’ve heard of it from a friend or you’ve done some thorough browsing on Urban Spoon, you won’t really know it’s there. The interior lighting is quite dim and could use a little more brightness but those after a more romantic ambience will be pleased.
There’s plenty of seating outside on the balcony with nice views of Bourke Street and you will love being out there on a warm night.
The food was nice and arrived at our table quite quickly. The only disappointment is that they have a minimum spend of $ 25 if you wish to pay by credit card.

My friend was starting a new job in Canberra and decided to come to Red Silks as a bit of a farewell dinner. Located right near to the major tram stop on Bourke Street in the CBD, Red Silks is that rare thing of a good restaurant inside a shopping centre. Its menu is very extensive and is inspired by Chinese and Malaysian cuisines.
One of the best aspects of this restaurant is its balcony. Try and get a seat outside if you can and there will be fresh air and nice views down Bourke Street. The food is fresh and full of flavour. And unlike a number of Asian restaurants the service is really good here and comes with a smile too.
Our group really enjoyed the atmosphere and good times were had. I’ll be back.

It’s a good sign when water bottles once held Bombay Sapphire Gin. Red Silk has a real elegance and class about it, which is quickly brought down to earth by the commotion found on some tables and the almost gawdy Christmas decorations (it’s October!). The staff are approachable, talk little and very efficient.
The meals are good serving sizes, the kind you could have two between three, and are a good mix of meat and vegetarian options. My only suggestion is that if you get something like Bok Choi and Mushrooms, it will be Bok Choi and mushrooms and little else. The simplicity is nice, but for this dish I asked for some fresh chilli to go with it — which is at no extra charge.
Rice potions are per person and cost very little.
The restaurant itself is kind of hidden away. To get to it you take a flight of stairs that look nothing like a restaurant could possibly be at the end of. What a wonderful surprise.