february-2010
february-2010
february-2010
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EAT BEAT<br />
MELBOURNE CHINATOWN<br />
with a touch of curry cream,” says our<br />
waiter, who adds that a glass of Coldstream<br />
Hills Reserve Chardonnay is the perfect<br />
drop to accompany the crab. For all its<br />
celebrity fans and awards, including being<br />
62 FEBRUARY <strong>2010</strong><br />
Bamboo House’s smoked<br />
duck sirloin presented with<br />
a fl ourish<br />
recognised as one of the world’s<br />
top 50 restaurants by Restaurant<br />
magazine for four consecutive<br />
years, the Flower Drum comes<br />
up trumps — there’s little<br />
pretension here, they’re too busy<br />
dishing up high quality food.<br />
Although the a la carte menu<br />
is pricey, there’s a fi ve-course<br />
lunch banquet (including baked<br />
mud crab) from AU$88.<br />
Our fi nal stop is the legendary<br />
Bamboo House, where Alex<br />
Tseng was the fi rst to include<br />
regional Chinese dishes on the<br />
menu. The secret to his 28year<br />
success? “Keeping our<br />
regular customers happy, dishes<br />
reasonably priced and, of course,<br />
the food,” says Tseng. He joins<br />
our table like a long lost friend<br />
and says we’ll be eating tea<br />
smoked duck sirloin (AU$36 for<br />
half a duck), Chong’s favourite.<br />
I muster up space for some<br />
pieces inside a steam bun. “The<br />
duck is marinated and steamed with ginger,<br />
star anise and ‘secret’ ingredients, left to cool<br />
and then smoked using tea leaves, pine needles<br />
and rice,” explains Tseng. He has also prepared<br />
some steamed zucchini fl owers. There’s an a la<br />
carte menu as well as four banquet options<br />
(AU$48–$70 and all include Peking duck).<br />
With full tummies we bid farewell.<br />
Although Chong’s shirt is still crisp and white,<br />
I’m glad I wore black.<br />
Elizabeth Chong is a chef with more than 34<br />
years’ experience, TV personality and author.<br />
She conducts culinary and heritage tours of<br />
Melbourne’s Chinatown and her <strong>2010</strong> tours<br />
commence in March. Tel: +61 (3) 9819 3666<br />
or (0) 419 889 570.<br />
Jetstar flies to Melbourne from across<br />
Australia, and from Bangkok, Bali and<br />
Christchurch. Book online at Jetstar.com<br />
FIND IT<br />
Hutong Dumpling Bar<br />
14–16 Market Ln,<br />
tel: +61 (3) 9650 8128<br />
Shark Fin House<br />
131 Little Bourke St,<br />
tel: +61 (3) 9663 1555<br />
Shoya<br />
25 Market Ln,<br />
tel: +61 (3) 9650 0848<br />
Flower Drum<br />
17 Market Ln,<br />
tel: +61 (3) 9662 3655<br />
Bamboo House<br />
47 Little Bourke St,<br />
tel: +61 (3) 9662 1565
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