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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Dahon Tea Lounge - King of the Pork Baguettes

Shop 5, 111 Cecil Street South Melbourne
Melbourne, 3205
Ph: 9696 5704
Facebook: Dahon Tea Lounge


A tea lounge. Now that's a novel idea for Melbourne. While there are more lounges that cater to coffee lovers than you can count in Melbourne, not many appeal to tea lovers like myself. Well, thanks to friend and fellow food blogger Cherrie and her brothers, I now have a tea lounge to go to. I was lucky enough to score an invite (ok I harassed Cherrie for months about it) to a small launch party at Dahon.

You can't go to a tea lounge and not drink tea right. There was beautiful blossoming tea and numerous tea blends to try. There's more tea than you can poke a stick at so I'm sure you'll find something to your liking. Once you've picked a tea, you can relax in the comfy couches or at a table which will also enable you to eat some food. The lounge is nicely decorated with bright, light colours which I find cheery and relaxing.



Food wise, again there are numerous choices, but it's the Filipino food that I like best as it's not that easy to find good Filipino food in Melbourne. Having been to Cherrie's house and tried her Filipino cooking, I wasn't in any fear of eating bad food. For me, my favourite savoury item was by far the Filipino BBQ Pork Baguette with pickled vegetable. The pork was definitely the hero and oh so delicious. Putting it into a baguette with the pickled veg made for a perfect combination where you can't stop eating it.


Next up, we have the Chicken Adobo, which is even recommended by the Black Eyed Peas. Check out the video below at the 23 second mark. I dare you to watch the clip and not be chanting "Filipino, Filipino, Filipino, Filipino" by the end of it.



The Chicken Adobo was served with tomato rice and went down a treat. The Mini Spring Rolls were excellent and even the Filipino Noodles were good. I generally do not like vermicelli that much but these were quite good, with the acidity helping make them better. Throughout the night we ate a tonne more food, from different baguettes, to other types of spring rolls and BBQ Pork Skewers. All were delicious.


With dessert, there is a rotating range of items at the lounge. Of course you can sample some, cakes, slices and cupcakes, but for my money, if the Leche Flan is available, you have to get that. It is simply divine. A luscious smooth caramel custard that will just make you want more and more.


If you love tea, or good food, get yourself down to Dahon Tea Lounge and try it out. Heed my advice and grab a nice refreshing tea, seat yourself at a table and order lots of Pork Baguettes, BBQ Pork Skewers and 3 Leche Flan and eat till you can't eat anymore.

Thanks Cherrie and the whole Dahon crew for hosting me and feeding me such good food and drinks.

Dahon Tea Lounge on Urbanspoon

12 comments:

  1. Love this! I've read all your posts on this and they're all seriously amazing! Definitely top of list for place to go after exams. Even better, I'll ask along a few Filo friends along to make it more special. Thanks for this, Thanh! =)

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  2. I need to get a list of places to eat before I leave to KL and I am SO putting this on my list. :)

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  3. Oooh, I'd love to drop by, for the number of filipino people I personally know in Melbourne...we certainly don't have enough restaurants for the cuisine! Good to see some representation though, looks so good :)

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  4. Oh yum, this place has been receiving such good reviews! And interesting point about the tea, never realised before how much tea's been sidestepped in the Melbourne coffee obsession ;)

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  5. Glad you like BBQ pork baguette. And remember, you know where to go for leche flan(s)

    P.s. why do I always get photo bombed?! Lol

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  6. love flowering jasmine tea! so pretty and fragrant. looks like a wonderful feast

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  7. OMG the pork baguette looks soooo good!!! Can't wait to try this place soon!!!! :D

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  8. I ate lunch here the other day and had the pork baguette and can certainly agree to its deliciousness! I used to work around the corner from there, but now am so far away :( but next time I am out that way I will be stopping by!

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  9. Fantastic roundup of dishes!

    I visited Dahon on opening weekend... stopped by to support Cherrie and enjoyed a lovely tea + cookie after a frantic market trip. I've been meaning to head back and try the pancit. I LOVE the stuff but haven't seen many Filipino restaurants around. So happy it's on Dahon's menu now :)

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  10. yes to the pork and the chorizo is my favourite!

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  11. Winston, go give it a try and I'm pretty sure you'll be impressed.

    Ashley, I too am so surprised why there isn't more Filipino restaurants in Melbourne as the food is amazing. Hopefully that will change slowly.

    Cherrie, this was a good photo bomb though :-)

    Ashley and Yasmeen, glad you both liked Dahon.

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  12. Sadly, the place has already closed down.

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