Chinese

Colourful Yunnan

680 Swanston St, Carlton 9943 1055

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles (before)

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles (after)

Fried Kway Teow with Beef

Barbecue Lemon Fish

Thoughts:

Cross-Bridge Rice Noodles – a traditional Yunnan dish that has a charming story behind it. The story involves a scholar who was studying for his imperial exams amidst the tranquility of a small island. Each day his wife would bring him lunch by crossing a bridge onto the island however by the time she got there his food was cold. She decided to experiment with different methods to keep her dishes warm and soon discovered that by having a layer of oil on top of the soup, the broth would remain hot enough to cook the other ingredients by the she arrived onto the island. And since she had to cross a bridge to get to the the island, her dish became known as “cross-bridge rice noodles”.

What you get with this dish is:

a bowl of pre-cooked rice noodles
a big bowl of very hot chicken broth
a plate of assorted slices of chicken, raw fish, ham
a quail egg
a plate of vegetables

The order in which the ingredients go into the soup is: egg, fish, ham, chicken, vegetables and then noodles. The next step is to wait for a minute or two for the ingredients to cook through.

I really enjoyed this dish. The broth was mild yet very flavoursome, and the noodles were fantastically soft and slippery. (Plus it was fun putting all the ingredients together) = Good

Fried Kway Teow – flat rice noodles with either beef or chicken or seafood, egg, spring onion, capsicum and bean sprouts = Not bad

Barbecue Lemon Fish – sweet, citrusy, and mildly (hardly) spicy. This perfectly fried crispy fish was delicious = Good

Overall:

Located close to Melbourne University, this place is often packed full of hungry students during lunchtime. The atmosphere was noisy and the service was good considering how busy they were.

Blue Chillies

182 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 9417 0071

Lohbak

Curry laksa

Thoughts:

Lohbak – spiced chicken mince and carrot wrapped in fried bean curd skin (that was very salty), served with a mild sweet chilli sauce = Not bad

Curry laksa – egg and rice noodles with bean curd, fishcake, fresh crunchy green beans and pieces of chicken. I could not get enough of this! Best curry laksa that I’ve had in Melbourne so far! = Excellent

Overall:

Great atmosphere, friendly service, amazing laksa. So I came here with a few girlfriends and after we had each ordered a bowl of laksa, we all agreed that it was better here than at Laksa King (sorry Laksa King). So if you are a fan of laksa (like I am), come and give this place a go (and let me know what you think).

Wah Kee

338 Clayton Rd, Clayton 9544 5156

Rendang Daging

Curry Laksa

Salt and Pepper Squid

Stir fried Chinese water spinach

Eggplant with Bean sauce

Char Hor Fun

Cha Kueh Teow

Thoughts:

Rendang Daging – steak pieces cooked in spices and desiccated coconut = Not bad

Curry Laksa – a bland mix of noodles, fish cake, chicken, roast pork and fried bean curd in a coconut milk curry soup = Not bad

Salt and Pepper Squid – well seasoned pieces of delightfully crispy squid = Not bad

Stir fried Chinese water spinach – simple and not overly oily = Not bad

Eggplant with Bean sauce – the eggplant skin was a bit too chewy, but apart from that it was quite a tasty dish = Not bad

Char Hor Fun – stir fried rice noodles with pork, chicken, squid, prawns and vegetables, topped with egg gravy = Not bad

Cha Kueh Teow – stir fried rice noodles with shrimp, roast pork, egg, bean shoots and chilli = Not bad

Overall:

The food here is typical of a Chinese-Malaysian restaurant with no particular dishes standing out. The staff are friendly and the service is quick. Note that they are closed on Tuesdays.

Palms Restaurant

213-215 Blackburn Rd, Mount Waverley 9803 9668

Cheese roti

Paneer Masala Thosai

Chappathi and Thosai

Garlic Naan, Paneer Naan, Aloo Paratha

Beef masala curry

Thoughts:

Cheese roti – simple and scrumptious = Good

Paneer Masala Thosai – savoury pancake with a paneer, potato masala and vegetable filling = Good

Chappathi and Thosai – two chappathi, one plain thosai, one delicious vegetable curry, sambar, chutney and vadai (an interesting savoury doughnut made from ground lentils) = Good

Garlic Naan = Not bad

Paneer Naan = Good

Aloo Paratha – wholemeal bread stuffed with spicy potatoes and peas = Not bad

Beef masala curry – tender pieces of beef cooked with capsicum, onion, tomato, ginger and spices, topped with coriander = Not bad

Overall:

Four different types of cuisine are offered at this restaurant: Malaysian, Chinese, South Indian and North Indian. Once you have perused through the extensive menu, you head up to either the Chinese/Malaysian ordering station at one end of the room, or to the North Indian/South Indian ordering station at the other end of the room to place your order (Make sure to remember your table number, as the food is served to your table when it is ready). This place is set out like a food court in terms of appearance but don’t let that fool you. The service is good but more importantly the food is delightful and is great value for money.

Ping’s Dumpling Kitchen

330 Clayton Road, Clayton 9558 8831

Sticky rice and pork dumplings

Steamed shanghai pork mini buns (xiao long bao)

Boiled vegetable dumplings

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings

Boiled peking pork dumplings

Dan-Dan noodles with spicy pork sauce

Spring onion pancake

Fried chives cake

Shanghai fried noodles

Thoughts:

Sticky rice and pork dumplings – bland! = Not bad

Steamed shanghai pork mini buns – these would have been better if the dumpling skin had been thinner and if they contained more pork juice/soup = Not bad

Boiled vegetable dumplings – we could not figure out what vegetables were packed into these dumplings, so all I can say was that the insides of these were green and that it tasted healthy = Not bad

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings – my favourite dumplings from this place! An enticingly juicy chicken and prawn filling wrapped in crisp dumpling skin = Excellent

Boiled peking pork dumplings – tasty pork filling encased in soft dumpling skin = Good

Dan-Dan noodles with spicy pork sauce – spicy and delicious! = Good

Spring onion pancake – a rather small and thin pancake that was oily and salty = Not bad

Fried chives cake – thick fried pastry that was packed full of chives = Not bad

Shanghai fried noodles – oily thick noodles that had a touch of sweetness to it = Good

Overall:

Whenever I get a craving for dumplings, this is my go-to place. The service is ultra speedy, and the food is always consistent and is great value for money. Note that this is a cash only place.

When I was in Hong Kong and Macau…

Here are some of the things I sampled in Hong Kong and Macau:

Bak kwa (sweet-salty sheets of dried barbecue meat, similar to jerky)

Portugese egg tarts

Siu mai dumplings and cha siu bao (barbecue pork buns)

Har gow dumplings

Cheung fun (steam rice noodle rolls) filled with pork

Steamed eggs with soy sauce

Tofu soup

Rice noodles with fish cakes in soup

Black glutinous rice and taro paste

Durian cheesecake

Gai daan ja (eggette)

Shanghai Street Dumplings, Wontons and Noodle

64 La Trobe St, Melbourne 0405 427 910

Boiled pork dumplings

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings

Shanghai fried noodles

Pork dumplings in chilli oil

Thoughts:

Boiled pork dumplings – juicy pork filling with thick dumpling skin (compared to the fried ones which was a bit strange) = Not bad

Fried chicken and prawn dumplings – enjoyable crisp dumplings with plenty of visible prawns pieces = Good

Shanghai fried noodles – thick chewy shanghai noodles with a strong aroma of chinese mushroom = Not bad

Pork dumplings in chilli oil – moderately spicy chilli oil soup that brings out the flavour of the dumplings = Not bad

Overall:

If you are in the mood for dumplings and do not want to line up for ages at Shanghai Street Dumpling on Little Bourke St, then this is the place for you. This sister restaurant of Shanghai Street Dumpling produces food that is fast and cheap, while the service here is slightly below average. I also have to mention that when we tried to order another chicken and prawn dumplings dish, we were told that they had run out! What kind of dumpling place runs out of dumplings? (and this happened around 6:30pm!) On a more positive note, this restaurant does take reservations but just remember that it is cash only.

Simon’s Peking Duck Restaurant

197b Middleborough Rd, Box Hill South 9898 5944

Duck skin with pancakes, spring onion, cucumber and special plum sauce

Stir fried duck meat with hand made noodles

Duck bone soup with bean curd

Thoughts:

Pancakes – delicate paper thin pancakes, nice crispy duck skin, not so fresh cucumber and spring onion, sweet plum sauce = Not bad

Noodles – hand made noodles stir fried with chinese mushroom, bamboo and duck meat. The only problem was that there was hardly any duck meat! = Not bad

Soup – sweet clear broth with a very strong aroma of star anise = Not bad

Overall:

I was a bit disappointed actually. From the way everyone had raved on about this place, I expected the duck to be utterly amazing. It wasn’t. The food was rather average, as was the atmosphere (chaotic at times) and the service (they definitely need more wait staff). On a side note, there are two dinner sessions to choose from: 6pm and 8pm. Make sure to book as this place is always busy.