Oriental Tea House

Shop F015
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Ph: (03) 9949 2072 (retail)
Ph: (03) 9949 2071 (restaurant)


Oriental Tea House is a mixture between a tea shop and a yum cha place. It tries to do a bit of both, and on the whole works quite well, as yum cha literally means to drink tea. The particularly restaurant/shop I visited was the newly opened one in Chadstone. The space isn't particularly large but is inviting and colourful.


The shop component is decorated quite nicely, with lots of teas on display and for trying. I'm not sure how the prices are for the tea as I didn't really pay close attention, but the variety is large and varied.


The restaurant component is separated into two areas each flanking the main tea displays in the centre of the room. The ordering system is reminiscent of a normal restaurant and some yum cha places in Hong Kong. You literally tell the waiters your order and they bring them out when it's ready. I have to say that I'm not a real fan of this style of yum cha. The fun of yum cha is the unexpected arrival of various interesting dim sums being wheeled out at a steady pace. The constant waiting for your favourite dim sums is also part of the tradition of yum cha. Finally, you can gauge how full you are and continue to order or stop.

Anyway, we made our best guess at how much we think we wanted to eat. With a large table of 8, it was actually quite hard to decide what to order. We settled on a variety of classic dishes like har gow, siu mai, roast pork, scallop dumplings and shark fin dumpling. There were a few unique dumplings such as potato dumpling and some combination type dumpling.

I have to say that the majority of the dumplings were really good. Probably the most disappointing dish was the roast pork, which was rather flavourless and had chewy skin.


Ok, so with the good, there's quite a bit of bad, which would make me not go back. As I mentioned, I'm just not a fan of ordering all the dumplings at once. This type of system can work in places like Hong Kong because the service is ultra fast. The dumplings are basically ready and they just bring it to you. However, in our case, they must have actually steamed the dumplings on order because it took an eternity to arrive. A semi-ordering style can work with more exotic dishes that not many people order.

Another problem is the price. In fact, this is a massive problem. The dumplings were extremely expensive, with prices starting from $6.80 for what is usually deemed as a "small" order in a typical yum cha place. And in those places, a "small" is usually ranges from $2.80-$3.80. These dumplings were good, but by no means two times as good as other ones. Hence, this price issue combined with the ordering system and the amount of time it takes for the food to arrive will mean that I will have to rule this out as a yum cha option in future. And just a final note, which crazy yum cha place charges each person $3.50-$4.50 for tea. Tea, in my opinion, should be complimentary at yum cha.

Pearl Restaurant - Express Lunch

631 Church St
Richmond VIC 3121
Ph: (03) 9421 4599


As part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, a host of restaurants had Express Lunches on offer. This consisted of a glass of wine and two course. I took advantage of this and went to lunch at Pearl Restaurant.

Pearl has a very good reputation so I was expecting good things. I have to say that the parking situation already got me a bit aggrevated. Due to it's location on popular Church street, it's really hard to find a parking. When I finally did find a parking spot, it was only for an hour meaning I had to move the car halfway during lunch.

Upon arrival at the restaurant, I saw a light, cleanly decorated place, which I liked. We were seated at a table roughly in the middle of the room, and it was quite comfortable.


A waiter came round to give us the menu and explain how the express lunch worked. Another came to ask what wine we wanted. So far so good. Upon making up our minds, the waiter took our orders and we sat about chatting while waiting for our meals.

The girls decided to go for entrees and mains while I went the mains and dessert option. Irene go the Chestnut Soup while Ling got the Bocconcini Roll. The soup was hearty and tasty with a crispy piece of bacon inside. However, the bocconcini roll was not good at all. The cheese was so hard and all the flavours together with the cabbage, fig and fried cheese crisp didn't work.


For mains, we all chose the Seared Scallops with Crispy Skin Pork as the other dish was a vegetarian mains, and we're all carnivores. The dish was beautifully presented and my mouth was salivating. Once I started eating though, I was no longer salivating. The main components of the dish weren't good at all. The crispy skin pork belly had chewy skin, a layer of fat still unrendered under the skin and lacked any flavour. The scallops were pathetic anorexic things with the roe left on. I don't mind eating the roe but it doesn't really add to the flavour. Worse still, the scallops were cold. The sauce and accompaniment worked well with the dish, but could not save it.

My dessert of Rosewater Ice Cream with Turkish Delight and Persian Floss was also a massive disappointment. The flavours didn't work together for me at all. The floss tasted qutie bad actually, really malty.


The ambience in the restaurant is very good. I love the light airy feeling, and with the light streaming into the mostly white room, felt warm and relaxing. The service though, was in total contrast and cold. Our waiter was not only cold, he wasn't very efficient either. I waited and waited and waited for 30 minutes for water despite the waiter being at our table numerous times and seeing it was empty. Finally I had to ask and even then he took a while, once I could get the attention of all the wait staff standing around at the bar.

Overall, on the food that I tasted from this express lunch, I don't think I will be rushing back to Pearl to try more. The environment is comfortable, but the service and food let it down and don't justify the prices.

Tao's Restaurant

201 Bulleen Rd
Bulleen VIC 3105
Ph: (03) 9852 0777

My friend Kevin was telling me about how good Tao's Restaurant is, and combined with a discount from the Entertainment Book, it works out to good value as well. So Ling and I went there for dinner.

The restaurant is located all the way out in Bulleen, off a really tight turn on Bulleen Road. Surprisingly, to me anyway, the restaurant was very busy and packed out. I guess good things never stay a secret.


The only choice you have for the meal is a $50 banquet. You do get to pick your entree, mains and desserts. The meal starts off with an Appetiser, which consisted on this occasion of a piece of tomato, prawn tempura and a crisp with mash potato. For the entrees, Ling got the Sashimi while I got the Oysters in Japanese Flavours. I love the presentation of the dishes and both entrees were good.


A Chawa-Mushi follows the entree, which is smooth and tasty. Inside contained seafood, which is different to the norm and a bit of a surprise. A choice of soups also precedes the main course. The Ginseng Chicken Herbal soup I got was so comforting. Also before the main meal is a palate cleanser of a tomato consomme, served in this attractive iced bowl.


So by this stage, when you are actually feeling quite full already, out comes your mains choice. I chose the Hot Stone Sizzling Steak and Ling chooses the Confit Duck Leg with White Wine Sauce. My steak is spectacular, arriving all sizzling and flaming everywhere. It draws attention from other patrons. The confit duck arrives in a paper bag, which makes me wonder how "confit" it is. Both dishes are quite tasty, with the steak having a classic pepper steak flavour and the duck tasting more baked than confit. Mains are served with a cute bowl of fried rice as well, and it's surprisingly good.




And now that your full to the max, you have to find a bit more room for desserts. We choose the Creme Brulee and the Pannacotta. The Brulee was good, with all the bases ticked from crispy sugar top to smooth custard. The Lemon Pannacotta was way too sweet, and they put whipped cream on top of it too. The green tea slick, cause I'm always curious how all elements taste, was purely decorative as it was bitter as anything. They basically mixed green tea powder with water.


The restaurant is quite nicely decorated with flowing white semi-opaque curtains separating the space. However, my pet peev of low restaurant lighting bugged me a bit. The space also felt a bit sparsely strange in terms of how they laid the tables. It could be re-arranged a bit better I think to enhance the atmosphere. It felt a bit isolated.

The service was friendly and efficient, possibly too efficient. They were ready to clear away plates when we weren't finished and brought out dishes when we were still eating the previous thing. I'm not sure whether they want to turn around tables or if they are just so used to serving the food fast.

Overall, it's a good place to eat and works out to be good value. It sits somewhere between fine dining as the food, service, location don't quite hit the high highs but it's definitely above average dining.

Overall Rating: 14/20, Food is good in a nice surrounding.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Momotaro Rahmen

392 Bridge Road
Richmond VIC 3121
Ph: (03) 9421 1661

I've been loving ramen ever since Elegant Gourmand (aka Dan) from Tummy Rumbles started writing about it. His heavenly descriptions of the dish with all it's various components just drew me in to this Japanese favourite. When I read his review about Momotaro Rahmen, I knew where my next ramen adventure was to be.

Momotaro Rahmen is a small cafe style place which specialises in just a few different dishes, one of which being ramen. The decor is very minimal and the crowd in the room are all there for a quick feed.


Adrian and I shared a plate of gyoza and both tried the Char Shu Ramen. The gyoza is good, but I was eagerly awaiting the ramen. Dan had informed me that it wasn't the fatty type of ramen and more a cleaner flavour. He was spot on. The ramen is a much cleaner style, with the pork being leaner pork, and the broth being a clear base. It was good in its own way, but not for me. I definitely prefer the fatty pork broth style ramen such as can be found at Ramen-Ya.


I look forward to trying more ramen around Melbourne to hopefully find a variety of good ramen. If you have any suggestions for a place that serves good ramen, I'd love to hear about it.

Borsch, Vodka & Tears

173 Chapel St
Windsor VIC 3181
Ph: (03) 9530 2694


An email from Sarah about meeting up for a dinner at Borsch, Vodka & Tears got an immediate response of yes from me. I haven't eaten much Polish food before so was really excited at trying some.


Being on Chapel Street, the restaurants try to carry off a relaxed hip vibe. I'm not sure if they achieve that. The loud dance music pumping in the background is at odds with the old fashioned interior and the traditional food being served.

The service too has the problem of being a bit too relaxed. The waitress was friendly but her super slow movements and reactions to requests were a tad irritating. She did finally manage to give us suggestions on how many tapas to share.

Sarah and I shared three tapas of Bigos, Chicken Stroganoff and Kopytka. Sandra decided on the Chicken Schnitzel, which she was adamant she would not share. However, she did soften up on her stance and let us try some. I thought the schnitzel was ok but the cabbage was fantastic.

The three tapas that Sarah and I shared were more than enough as they were served with bread and were all tasty. The Bigos was both our favourite, with large chunks of smoky meat mixed together with some wonderful sauerkraut. The Chicken Stroganoff was initially good but got quite heavy after a while due to all the cream. The Kopytka was gnocchi type dumplings with wild mushrooms. The gnocchi was a bit heavy I thought but the flavours of the savuce and mushroom was excellent.



Clockwise from top: Kopytka, Chicken Stroganoff, Schnitzel and Bigos.

Despite being full, we all seemed to find a spare stomach for dessert. We shared some Russian Honey Cake, Pecan Pie and Flourless Chocolate Cake. The desserts all looked great, especially on those fantastic plates, but unfortunately the taste was not that great. The Honey Cake was overpowered by the honey, while the Pecan Pie was extremely heavy and sickly sweet. Even the Chocolate Cake tasted funny, with whatever substituting the flour giving a strange flavour.



The atmosphere, as I mentioned, was a bit disjointed. The extremely loud music meant we had to talk quite loudly, even though the restaurant was sparsely seated at the time. The service is a bit too relaxed for my liking. However, the food is good enough that I would go back to try more dishes, as there aren't too many Polish restaurants around in Melbourne.

Overall Rating: 13/20, Fairly good Polish food in Melbourne, which is not very common, so worth a try.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.

Petaling Street

111 Kingsway
Glen Waverley VIC
Ph: (03) 9561 1388

After reading the review on Tummy Rumbles, I just had to visit Petaling Street. I love Malaysian Hawker food and was able to taste some of the authentic stuff on the actual Petaling Street in Malaysia. I wondered how this restaurant's food would stack up.

Petaling Street is located in the extremely busy Kingsway stretch of restaurants. It's got the typical look of most Asian style cafe, with a long room divided up by booth seating on the sides and tables in the centre. Large mirrors dominate one side of the room, reflecting back a massive orange mural on the other wall of Petaling Street as it was back in the 1920s or some early era.


I've been to Petaling Street quite a few times and can say that the food is quite good. It's not as good as the hawker food on Petaling Street but it's not bad compared to other mild affair in Melbourne.

On one particular occasion, I shared dishes of Pork Belly with Taro, Fish Ball with Noodles and Beef Rendang with friends. The Pork Belly was as you would expect, soft, smooth and unctuous. It's extremely fatty so don't order it if you want something lite, but I love the gelatinous fattiness combined with the soft taro.


The Home Made Fish Balls with Noodles were ok. The fish balls were better than average and is a soothing dish.


The Beef Rendang with Roti is full on fire. They don't hold back on the chilli and it hits you right in the face. I liked the rendang but did find it a touch oily and also the beef a bit tough.


At other visits, I've tried the Char Kway Teow and Won Ton Noodle soup. The Char Kway Teow also packs a punch in terms of the chilli component but that's the way I like it. It definitely has a good "wok breathe" to it.

Service is acceptable, with the waiters going about their job routinely. The atmosphere is good, with a buzz in the room. I would recommend a visit to Petaling Street as the food is good honest food at very good prices.

Beachcomber

10-12 Jacka Bvd
St Kilda VIC 3182
Ph: (03) 9593 8233

It was Esther's birthday and she had organised a dinner at Beachcomber at the St Kilda Sea Baths. It didn't start well when they informed us that we could only order from an extremely limited menu due to the large number of people. Despite our claims that we didn't care if meals came out at different times, they still refused to let us order off the normal menu. Worse still, a special they had that consisted of two courses for a special was again denied to us due to the group size. I really don't understand this. Can someone in the industry please explain this second part to me. If we had gone as two groups, we could have got the special, but we can't because we went as one group. What is the difference?


What the restaurant has going for it is the wonderful location. The views are spectacular, and as the day grew into night with the sun setting, it is a stunning restaurant to dine in. However, due to numerous service and customer issues, I don't think any of us will be going back. More on that later.


Ross gave us an impression of Matt Preston while we waited for everyone to arrive. Jessie was running so late that we had to start without her. She eventually arrived when everyone finished eating, prompting her to vow to buy a GPS.


The food itself was the usual ecletic mix from these new age cafes that try to be all things to all people. Therefore you get things such as Soft Shell Crab, Sanganaki and Oysters Kilpatrick for entrees. I had the Oysters Kilpatrick and they tasted good. The entrees for everyone was probably the highlight.



The mains were again all over the shop, with Lobster Mornay, Fish and Chips, Duck Risotto and Seafood Marinara. I had the lobster and it was overpowered by the mornay. The mornay was extremely heavy and really flour-y.


Desserts were definitely forgettable. In fact, they were regrettable. The Tiramisu was awful, with heavy stodgy cream covering a generic sponge cake. My Chocolate Fondant was so dry, with no oozing chocolate in the centre at all.


Look how cute the little kids were. I love these two photos. On the left, Hien with Chi and Phi. And on the right, the triplets of Mark, Nathan and Lachlan, with a cameo from Rick with the bunny ears.


As I mentioned earlier, the strength of this place is it's fantastic view. It is indeed relaxing to stare out at the beach. However, it falls flat on all other factors that matter for a restaurant. The food ranged from ok to passable to terrible. The prices are way too high for the quality of food.

Despite their information that we could not order the full menu, they must have somehow forgot and we took advantage and ordered off the full menu. Their timing of the dishes was ridiculous. Entrees were served for some while others received their mains. Then some other entrees didn't come out till much later, when everyone had received their mains.

The service was also shocking. Despite the number of staff hanging around the bar talking, it was impossible to get any service. We had to request water at least half a dozen time throughout the night. They mixed up our orders as well.

The ambience in the actual restaurant is actually quite good, with the lighting giving a nice glow to the place and the floor to ceiling glass windows a treat.

I would not be going back despite the great views. I think for the money they charge, better food and service can be had in Melbourne.

Overall Rating: 11/20, Great views but disappointing food and service.

Scores: 1-9: Unacceptable, don't bother. 10-11: Just OK,some shortcomings. 12: Fair. 13: Getting there. 14: Recommended. 15: Good. 16: Really good. 17: Truly excellent. 18: An outstanding experience. 19-20:Approaching perfection, Victoria's best.