China Restaurant CBD — Restaurant in South-East District

For the past four years, China Restaurant CBD has been our family’s go-to place, a true “bread and butter” spot where we’ve celebrated birthdays, successes, and all our major gatherings. One of the standout features is the private dining rooms with attached balconies, providing the perfect blend of privacy and comfort—especially for those who enjoy a little smoke while dining.

The service has always been exceptionally fast, even when ordering in large quantities. The food arrives with great speed and passion, making every meal a pleasant experience. We fondly remember a wonderful Chinese lady who used to personally check in on us during meals, ensuring any concerns were addressed immediately—a level of customer care that truly set this place apart.

The menu offers unique dishes that are hard to find anywhere else in Botswana. Initially, some of my local friends found the food unfamiliar, but after guiding them towards more suited options, they came to love it. For those who may not prefer traditional oriental Chinese flavors, the restaurant still offers amazing alternatives that fit our local taste. Highly recommended dishes include: • Lamb ribs with chips • Sizzling beef or lamb • Fried rice • Fried lamb with green chili • Eggplant dish (a must-try!)

However, we’ve noticed a slight dip in food quality recently, which is concerning. Additionally, prices have increased, which we hope management will reconsider. If they can maintain their previous high standards, this will continue to be the best family-friendly Chinese restaurant in Gaborone.

Looking forward to seeing this place thrive again!

PS always ask for the chilli soya sauce, Chinese food dosnt taste...

Here’s the final version with the added details:

"I was excited to try this place, but the experience was disappointing. The shrimp lo mein had barely any shrimp and tasted like it was missing key seasonings—no soy sauce or flavor to be found. It felt like a bland, rushed stir-fry.

The ‘soup dumplings’ were the biggest letdown. They were just steamed, doughy dumplings with hardly any meat inside, and definitely no soup. If you're expecting the flavorful, broth-filled dumplings typical of Chinese cuisine, you’ll be disappointed.

The cucumber salad was equally underwhelming—just cucumbers tossed in chili oil with no seasoning, herbs, or complexity. It lacked any depth of flavor and tasted thrown together.

Interestingly, the food I saw being served to diners eating in seemed to have more care and presentation. Maybe the issue is with the takeaway orders. If you’re thinking about trying this place, I’d recommend dining in, as the quality might be better in-house. It seems like, being the only Chinese restaurant in the area, they don’t feel the need to meet higher standards for consistency. Overall, not worth another visit for takeaway."

Also you have to pay...

Staff was nice. This restaurant has so many different rooms for either private venue or karaoke or just rooms to eat discreetly ? I wish I would have been informed. Was too hot inside. I didn't like that anything is extra. In my life I never seen soy sauce being charged 12 pula. Food was a bit bland and the Singapore prawn noodle had like shredded shrimps in there. No whole real shrimps makes you wonder what it was really. I wanted to take the hotpot but the waitress was clueless to tell me if it was available, how much, but said it was another rmenu that was never brought to me. Cocktails were too expensive for the quality. I would only recommend if you crave huge portions of rice and crave Chinese food but go as a group. They seem cheap also to have many different fees for many things other than cork...