Formosa Modern Asian Cuisine — Restaurant in Canterbury

We went to this restaurant for the first time because we had heard good reviews about this place and so we thought it would be nice to celebrate shared birthdays. We had clearly told our waitress that we were still waiting for a few more people to arrive and she failed to provide menus for each person when they did arrive. We had to ask more than once for menus and she could clearly see that we were having a hard time looking as there were only 3 menus between 6 people. We were lucky enough to get to the nicer part upstairs but the waiting time was so long. The waitress had said it would only be 15 minuets, it’s was over 30 minutes before we finally got seated. If she had been clear with us from the beginning we would have just stayed at our original tables. We were all starving by then and we were a little annoyed quite frankly. To make matters worse all of our food arrived at different times and some food didn’t even arrive at all even after we had asked the waitress several times where the food is. We got very frustrated with her as she clearly didn’t know what she was doing so we asked some other waitresses and some of them were also misinformed by saying the fried rice had arrived when it hadn’t or showed us the list of what we ordered and some of the food we ordered like the chicken wasn’t even on their. The service was appalling at best. I am extremely disappointed and to make matters worse because they took so long with our foods we could not all eat together. Also because of their incompetence in service they failed to mention that the desert kitchen was closed which wasn’t even mentioned originally by the first incompetent waitress who was supposed to be looking after our table. As it was a special occasion of celebrating birthdays I am highly disappointed by the staff and their lack of knowledge and incompetence in good service. I have had better service at McDonalds’s than this restaurant. The great food does not make up for the terrible service received. Finally to make matters worse when we go to pay they added two custard buns and some other food items that we didn’t order nor got to order. That was extremely infuriating 😤 and we didn’t even get a proper apology.

If the Chef has a “Master Chef Award” or something along those lines he seriously needs to reevaluate his staff because they are not of Master Chef standard. Good food and decor is not enough to cut it when the servers are incompetent and forgetful and not to...

14 September 2020 - I was passing through Ashburton and decided to buy some takeaway 🥡 dinner. I ordered a dinner set which comes with 2 starters and 2 mains (Crispy Red Braised Pork Belly, BBQ Pork, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Korean Spicy Chicken Wing). These were nicely packed and presented (you can see from my photo if they approve it 😄). Anyway, the food was tasty and delicious 😋. You won't be disappointed.

Disclaimer: Please note that this 2nd review is entirely based on my experience at the time of the visit (14th September 2020). You might have a different experience than me and also, the food may or may not suit your taste.

Beginning of July 2018 - I was having a late lunch at this eatery on a Monday afternoon. The first time I dine in at this place, it is an Asian fusion restaurant inside a fully refurbished warehouse type building, which is situated on West Street. Quite a clever use/ utilisation of an old warehouse building.

They offer Asian dishes that predominate by Chinese influence but also include some fusion of Korean and Japanese. Most of these dishes are intended for sharing and not purely for individuals (except for the lunch bento).

I ordered two dishes; stir-fried tomatoes in Asian style soft scrambled eggs and a honey glazed chicken and rice bento set where the rice 🍚 is on the bottom of the honey glazed chicken while garnished with lettuce leaves and a piece of lemon. It also comes a small [square] piece of scrambled egg. The only let down of this dish was the size of this scrambled egg. The taste of honey glazed chicken was good; crispy and all the pieces are properly glazed with honey and coated lightly with flour.

The stir-fried tomatoes with soft scrambled eggs tasted good as well; subtle sweetness of the diced tomatoes with firmness of scrambled eggs. It goes [very] well with rice and could well be a comfort food for most people.

They serve lunch and dinner which most foods are available throughout the day except for their 5 lunch bento sets!

This is a licensed eatery and you can order the drinks 🍻🍸🍷🍾🍹🍺. There is no outdoor dining area.

Street parking 🅿 only.

They accept cash, EFTPOS and credit card payments.

Would I go back? Yes 😏 Would I recommend? Yes 😊

Food: ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. I enjoyed both dishes. Ambience: ⭐⭐⭐ out of 5. Nice and modern interior deco. Great atmosphere. Price: ⭐⭐⭐⭐out of 5. The dishes and drinks are reasonably priced. It won’t...

This a great place and very nice decor and staff. One should try the Asian food rather than steak. That’s the mistake I made. They have nice cuisine but not steak. 29$ for a price of steak with some Veges and black bean sauce just doesn’t cut it. The fried squid was also nothing special; maybe try their buffalo wings. The best thing was the signature dessert which was worth it for 14$. The moctail passion fruit was ok but not worth 7$. Overall 60$ for one person is expensive considering this is not a top class restaurant. That said I would come again and try their Asian dishes which I’m sure are a treat. Also their menu changes monthly so always worth while to head back. I’ll upload more photos next time when I go. Enjoy

8/11/19, visited again and this time had mushroom, chicken soup (8$) and chicken kung pao (25$), and mango paanna cotta (14$).

Mushroom soup was not worth it, and would not recommend, and for that price, with a one piece of cut mushroom and a piece of broccoli and a chicken wing half cut is jut not worth it. Chicken kung pao was very nice and definitely recommended. Try less spicy like 1 or 2. even 3 was quite hot.. Mango panna cotta, was nice, and i feel this place does do very nice desserts and this is there specialty. So definitely try those rather than sorbets, or ice-creams or lemon pie. Over I feel this is an asian place and keep to their asian dishes. Although a little expensive for the price. But that is then...