Flower Drum

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17 Market Lane, Melbourne, 9662 3655

My score: 4.5/5

The duck won tons weren’t the first thing I loved about my recent visit to Flower Drum but it was those silky dumplings that cemented the romance. Two warm welcomes – at the street entrance then at the first-floor dining room after a stocking-adjusting, butterfly-bellied lift ride – were a good start. Adding to the sense of occasion was a long, escorted parade to my table through the proudly conservative rose-hued dining room with its timber screens and origami napkins. The solicitous discussion of menu was heart-warming, as though the bow-tied veteran waiters really cared whether we had a good dinner. And indeed we did. The pace, the presentation, the silver service and the food! oh, the food! were nigh on perfect.

All dishes were exemplars of the Cantonese approach to cooking: good produce and careful cooking that underplays its artistry with apparent simplicity. So, those won tons: the pastry was thin and slippery, the filling succulent, the translucent reduction both lip-stickingly rich and astonishingly clean. Garfish fillets came in a gossamer batter, attended by sugar snap peas and mushroom sauce. The dish was served on very hot plates so the batter stayed light and crunchy to last bite. A complex, subtle slow-braised soup of wallaby tail, yam and red bean was a wintry tonic of untold depth – it was my dish of the night. Poussin was braised in a masterstock that must be among Melbourne’s most precious heirlooms. Honeyed pork ribs came with vinegary sauce and slow-cooked onions plus finger bowls and towels because there’s no way you wouldn’t suck those babies clean. For dessert, there’s nothing wrong with deep-fried icecream but I prefer the red bean soup with pudgy sesame dumplings.

Many people think Flower Drum isn’t for them, that it’s too expensive and clubby. Well, it is easy to spend a fortune here but it’s also possible to eat extremely well and to drink modestly for around $100 a head (steer clear of shellfish and avoid the hero end of the wine list). There’s also a notion that occasional diners don’t get the great service or secret dishes reserved for VIPs. I disagree about the service: I think everyone is fêted as a special visitor. On the question of secret dishes, don’t sweat it, because whatever you end up eating, it will be memorably marvellous.

See their website.

More Chinese:

ShanDong MaMa, 7/200 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 9650 3818
Seafood dishes, north-eastern style, are the specialty at this sweet and homely noodle and dumpling house. Try the mackerel dumplings.

Happy Palace, 87 Bourke Street, Melbourne, 9972 3699
A couple of Melbourne barflies have resuscitated a 1980s Chinese restaurant, serving classic Aussie-Chinese with a dash of dude food. Think cocktails washed with duck fat and kung-fu watermelon smashing on Friday lunchtimes.

K.Ho, 195A Middleborough Road, Box Hill, 9898 6009
There’s a contemporary angle to the pan-Chinese food here. Wintry braises include beef and tofu, and chicken hotpot.

First published in The Age, May 26, 2013