Where does Melbourne’s Chinese community go for authentic home-style Chinese cuisine? Sophie Loras discovers some of the city’s secret haunts.

The State of Victoria has a long association with China starting with the state’s gold rush of the 1850s and ‘60s. By 1861, the Chinese community made up nearly 7 percent of the Victorian population and Melbourne’s Little Bourke Street was already well established as a centre for Chinese cultural and business activity.

Not much has changed in 150 years – Little Bourke Street is still one of the best places for good staple Chinese food. Shark Fin House - a Melbourne institution - was established in the heart of Melbourne’s Chinatown in 1981 by James “Jimmy” Siu – and was one of the first restaurants to bring authentic Cantonese dim sum and yum cha culture to the city when it employed three Chinese chefs direct from the kitchens of Hong Kong.

Its sister restaurant, Shark Fin Inn, down the road, remains one of Melbourne’s best yum chas in the CBD. 

Mr Siu says a lot has changed since he opened his first Shark Fin venture in the ‘80s. Back then, Chinese food for Australians consisted of sweet and sour pork, lemon chicken, fried rice and “Chop Suey” – a dish made from whatever was left over in the kitchen.

Siu’s restaurant also had two menus – one for the “gwai los” (foreign devils) and a smaller menu catering for the restaurant’s Hong Kong and Singaporean clientele. A third “supper” menu, served late at night for other Chinese chefs, specialised in traditional hawker food that Mr Siu says is characterised by its slightly burnt taste.

"If we had served hawker food to the wider community back then, people would have asked us why they were being served burnt food.”

Today, hawker style food is a staple of just about every Chinese restaurant in Melbourne.
Mr Siu’s favourite dish is his Lobster San Choi Bao with Soft Shell Crab – “Chinese souvlaki with a difference,” made out of lettuce instead of bread and which he occasionally substitutes with Peking Duck. His other “favourite, favourite” dish is Beggar’s Chicken – a dish for several people that just “melts in your mouth.”


Tingting Liu, the owner of L&J Language Services in Melbourne, says North East China Family is the place to go for great, home-made dumplings. Ms Liu, who is originally from Nanjing, says the food at North East China Family reflects the authentic flavours of north eastern Chinese dishes and the restaurant is always packed at lunch time. She strongly recommends the leek dumplings.

Her other favourite restaurant is Gold Leaf on top of the Springvale on top of the Springvale shopping centre.

"Gold Leaf is a well-known traditional Guangzhou restaurant and I am always hugely impressed by their fresh and sensational food in combination with very considerate service.” Ms Liu recommends the restaurant’s famous Guangdong style BBQ meats.

Editor's Pick

Australia China Connections recommends the Hutong Dumpling Bar in Market Lane. It didn’t take long for this three-level haunt to catch on when it opened less than a year ago. Service can be slow but for mid-range prices the food is first rate – especially the xioalongbao –some of the best we’ve had outside of Shanghai. Other recommended dishes include the drunken chicken, mapo tofu and stir-fried pea shoots. The Spicy Fish is an absolute must – as is a reservation!

Dessert House on Swanston Street is the place to go for the food – not the service. The service is pretty average, but for great, authentic Chinese food, this is the place! Special recommendation is the house special pork chop. ■

More Information:

HUTONG DUMPLING BAR
16 Market Lane, Melbourne
T: +61 3 9650 8128

DESSERT HOUSE
313 Swanston Street, Melbourne
T: +61 3 9663 2284

SHARK FIN HOUSE (THE ORIGINAL!)
131 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
T: +61 3 9663 1555

SHARK FIN INN
50 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
T: + 61 3 9662 2681

THE FLOWER DRUM
17 Market Lane, Melbourne
T: 61 3 9662 3655

ASIANA
181 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park
T: +61 3 9696 6688

NORTH EAST CHINA FAMILY
302 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
T: +61 3 9629 9968

GOLD LEAF
Springvale Shopping Centre, 1F, 46-58
Buckingham Avenue, Springvale
T: +61 3 9540 3933