Gong De Lin

264 Swanston Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000

I met up with Brendan below the sign for Gong De Lin on bustling Swanston Street, before taking the lift up three floors and stepping into the smart and tranquil environment of the restaurant. Most of the tables are in booths and we were seated at one of these. There weren't too many other diners on the Tuesday which complimented the peaceful vibe. The menu is large and features a range of vegetarian dishes, we both picked ended up picking from the noodle and rice dish section which worked well for lunch.

Brendan doesn't normally pick out veggie meals when we head out for lunch, but was happy to give it a whirl on this occasion. He went for the vegetable dumpling noodle soup which looked the part and he enjoyed.

I had the vegetarian shredded pork in Szechuan style on rice. I've enjoyed a few mock meat dishes in the past and was ken to find out how this version measured up. The mock pork was closer to shredded ham in my opinion, but pretty close to the mark. The sauce was spicy without being overpowering and the ingredients worked well together.

The service was friendly and efficient. Each of the dishes came in at $12.80, although there are dishes on the menu that go for quite a bit more. If you do decide to take the elevator up to check out the vegetarian choices on offer, there should be something to take your fancy.

Grandma's Dumpling

311A Exhibition Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Grandma's Dumpling seems to be a new addition to the group of eateries at the top end of Exhibition St. The interior featured bare brick walls and dark wooden tables and chairs. I visited with a vegetarian friend and we stuck to the dumpling and wonton section of the menu, which also features plenty of other options.

The steamed veggies dumplings arrived first, they didn't look particularly exciting but were tasty and not too doughy.

The pan fried vegetable dumplings came out a bit later, and the crispy skin was more visually appealing and added a crunch to the texture.

The two plates came to $18, the service was fine. Grandma's Dumpling doesn't stand out from the crowd, but seems like a fair option if you are in the area.

Empress of China

120 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne
Victoria 3000

We'd been planning to visit Shanghai Village Dumplings, but it was closed so we headed next door to the more grandly named Empress of China.

Inside the restaurant resembles many of its China Town neighbours, with a basic fit out with a few east Asian touches.

We stuck to the dumpling section of the menu, sharing a few dishes. First up were the wantons with hot chilli sauce both looked and tasted the part.

The 8 steamed prawn dumplings were pleasingly plumb and packed with pink prawn meat!

The 15 pan fried vegetarian dumplings were nicely crisp on the outside and full of spinachy goodness, but the skin was a little on the thick side.

The meal came in around $25 and was served pretty quickly given the weekend crowd. We'd certainly consider another try if we were looking for a filling dumpling fix again.

Thanh Vinh

152 Hopkins Street
Footscray
Vic 3011

We'd eaten at two predecessors of Thanh Vinh, Thai Tho and Phong Dinh but not the latest incarnation.

The small outdoor dining area remains, with a modern fit out inside....

 ...featuring white walls and wooden tables and chairs.

There were a generous range of condiments on each table which were labelled to avoid confusion.

I went for the Laksa, which lacked in the shrimp paste department, resulting in a  fairly bland dish.

The Seafood Char Kway Teow was great, with plenty of smokey flavours from the wok permeating the thick rice noodles along with the fruits of the sea.

Both dishes were in the $10 - $15 dollar range, and I'd happily go back for a plate of the stir fried noodles, but would leave the Laksa for Roti Road down the street.

Shanghai Street Dumplings, Wontons and Noodle - La Trobe Street

64 La Trobe Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

Phil and I enjoyed our visit to the original Shanghai Street Dumplings outlet on Little Bourke soon after it opened around three years ago. It still seems to be popular with queues out the door whenever I'm passing. I had been aware of the sister restaurant not far from the office, up on the edge of the CBD on La Trobe Street but hadn't visited. After a slightly confusing phone call to check if they were open in the run up to Christmas I ended up booking a table.

This was probably a good thing as it was busy when we arrived at 12:30 on a Tuesday lunch time. The fit out is clean, bright and fairly minimal.

At the back you can peer down to check out the eponymous dumplings been made in the semi-open kitchen. Once we were seated we had quite a wait to put in our order, although to be fair we were probably not focused entirely on the menu with plenty of chat.

It didn't take too long for our food to arrive Michael had the Kung Po chicken, which was he thought was good. however it wasn't really his favourite combination of flavours.

Jake rated the beef, bean and chilli a seven...

 I went for the fried vegetable dumplings.They ticked all the boxes with thin skins, crisp browned bases from the pan and tasty spinach heavy filling. The plate of 15 came in under $10.

We shared a plate of the home made traditional steamed Shanghai pork xiao long bao. They were pretty popular all around the table, although I did end up polishing off 3 of them! They did have thicker less delicate skins, but that helps keep the flavoursome liquid inside along with the pork. The futile battle to try and eat them with any style is was worth it for the taste and texture combo.

The service was a little hit and miss, but we could have been a bit more forceful first up. It is certainly handy to know there is another good good dumpling option nearby when I'm in the office...

Shophouse Kitchen - Asian Eating House - QV

Shop 29 QV Square
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne
VIC 3000

I hadn't noticed Shophouse Kitchen in the central square of QV despite it having been open for about 18 months, offering the opportunity to "discover the taste of Asia’s Eating House favourites". It was pretty busy on the December Monday lunchtime I visited with colleagues from work.

Inside the fit out is clean and modern, with plenty of east Asian references, including mahjong tiles along the sides of some tables as well as steamers, papers and bottles on the walls.

The menu is extensive, with specials followed by about 10 pages of other options. There a few beers on offer to, as well soft drinks including the "Sunset Beach" a colourful mix of watermelon and lychee juice.

Both the vegetarians went for the hot and spicy “Ma Po” tofu (without minced pork) with rice, which lived up to it's name with quite a kick and went down well.

The double pork option also found two takers, with both roast and bbq'd meat served with veggies rice, which seemed to go down well.

Jake spiced up the pork belly with noodles and greens.

I had the "Chiu Chow" fish balls and fish cake in a rice noodle soup. The Shophouse fish balls weren't quite as 'deliciously crunchy' as claimed, but were flavoursome as expected. The broth itself was mild, with greens and bean shoots topped with some crisp deep fried shallots .

The steamed Shao Mai, filled with ground pork and shrimp looked good.

I shared some of the pan-fried vegetable and mushroom dumplings which came conjoined on the serving plate, but were easily separated.

The skin was thin, crisp on the charred base and soft up top, the content was moist and flavoursome.

The dishes were all reasonably priced coming just over the $10 mark. Despite being busy the service was pretty swift, given the number of diners, our group of eight and slight disorganisation. I'd happily return to checkout some of the other dishes on the menu.

Red Spice QV

37 Artemis Lane
Melbourne
VIC 3000

I'd known of Red Spice Road in QV for a while but hadn't eaten there until a recent visit with some colleagues from work.

Inside and out the look is clean and modern with a few Asian influenced touches. It is glazed on three sides, allowing plenty of light in and views out across the city.

We shared the five dish express lunch menu, which comes in at $36 a head. A couple of us went with the veggie option, which meat we got a slightly different selection.

Our entree was a spicy broad bean fritter which was softer than expected but given loads of kick by the chilli jam.

The other appetiser was betel leaf topped with shredded pork, chilli, lemongrass and coriander, which looked elegant and light.

The first two of the main dishes to arrive were the hot and sour Szechuan noodle salad including Shanghai noodles with cucumber, shredded cabbage, green onion and pickled ginger and the shredded chicken, pennywort, herb, peanut and coconut salad. I tried the noodle salad which was packed with flavours.

The tea leaf salad was another of the veggie dishes, I've since found out that it is a speciality of Burma and flavour of the fermented or pickled leaves is distinctive and unlike almost anything with perhaps a hint of blue cheese about it!

 The pork belly with chilli caramel, herb salad and black vinegar was a big hit with the carnivores...

The stir fried noodles with tofu had a great pad Thai vibe to them.

The corn fritters were firmer and crunchier than the entree.

I tried a little of the southern Thai fish curry with sweet potato which was nice enough, with plenty of mellow turmeric and coconut milk, but lacked a bit chilli punch.

I also had some of the Char kway teow, and the fat rice noodles with prawns, lup cheong, soy, chilli, egg and bean sprouts were good.

The service throughout the meal was well paced, friendly and accommodating of our group of around ten. The dishes were all good with a few standouts, in fact they probably tempted most of us to overindulge leaving us feeling full all afternoon. Next time I'll stick with the 3 dish banquet option!