Mrs Wang reopened in July with a new operator and new direction. Photo: Tenele Conway.
When Tiger Lane’s Chinese restaurant Mrs Wang temporarily closed in early 2025, I didn’t think they would reopen.
Having been open for less than two years and located within a multi-million dollar restaurant precinct, closing the doors with little explanation was not a good sign.
Having dined there and enjoyed the bold and creative blending of modern takes and classic dishes that Chef Gerard Ong delivered, I strongly felt that if the restaurant was struggling, the food wasn’t the issue.
I pointed my finger at the hidden location, tucked away at the rear of the Tiger Lane development. All of the shining neon and directional signage in the world can’t make this location visible to passing traffic.
Yet four months after closing the doors, Mrs Wang was back in July, and under the new leadership of Jack Zhong, formerly of Wild Duck. Keen to check out what this new iteration of Mrs Wang would bring to Tiger Lane, I waited till she had settled into her new skin and headed back in to check it out.
Mrs Wang has a dramatic art deco fit-out. Photo: Supplied.
Thankfully, the beautiful art deco fit-out is still in place. With its gleaming brass railings, red ambient lighting, cosy booth seats and 1930s styling, it feels a little like a movie set.
When seated facing the doors, the glimpses through the glass into the neon-lit Tiger Lane envelops you in a Blade Runner aesthetic, while the stylised dining room feels like the opening scenes of an Indiana Jones movie. Or maybe that’s just me with a head full of 80s pop culture references that I’d hate to go to waste.
The new menu is very much geared towards banquet dining, with a seven-course degustation at $99 per person, a multi-course dinner for two at $79 per person, a signature banquet for a minimum of four people at $59 per person and some affordable lunch banquets starting at $49 per person.
Perusing the menu, the glaring change from the original iteration of Mrs Wang is that the menu is far safer and leans into more classic Chinese dishes, forgoing former dishes like black pepper scallop with hazelnut or a fragrant cucumber salad with nori, ginger, scallion and burrata for dishes like chicken san choy bao, rock salt squid and kungpao chicken.
Not quite bringing the appetite for a banquet on this occasion, we opted to order à la carte and the Peking duck pancakes seemed like a good place to start. At $23.80 for six pancakes and six accompanying slices of roast duck, cucumber and shredded shallots, the dish is quite good value, and the duck was lovely and tender with crispy skin that wasn’t greasy like duck can be.
The menu leans into banquet dining but can be ordered à la carte. Photo: Zachary Griffith.
We chased down the Peking duck with a serve of the xiao long bao (soup dumplings). The serving of five dumplings was heavy on the meaty filling and a little light on the soupiness but had a wonderful aromatic ginger flavour.
On the main menu I was a bit disappointed that the two most appealing dishes were not available. I’m not sure if Mrs Wang’s pork belly and the Genghis Khan lamb shank will be making a return, but the fact they were crossed out with a big black texta line felt pretty permanent.
Without the lamb or the pork belly, we somehow ended up in the vegetarian section and ordered the spicy salt and chilli tofu with eggplant. Both the eggplant and tofu were lightly battered, nice and crispy and covered in a tasty fried crunch of chilli, onion, shallots and salt. With ample quantity of both eggplant and tofu on the plate, I was able to make a trade with my dining partner so we could both have more of our favourite ingredient.
Upon paying the bill, I remarked on the empty fish tanks behind the counter and was informed that once they are repaired, they will once again be filled with crab and lobster. That sounds like an occasion that will be the final touch to bring Mrs Wang back to life.
Mrs Wang is located within Tiger Lane on the ground floor of the Canberra Centre and is open for lunch and dinner from Wednesday until Sunday. Check their website for holiday opening times.
Original Article published by Tenele Conway on Region Canberra.
