Saturday afternoons are usually our lazy days when it comes to meals, so on our way out to the footy, we decided to make a quite stop at HuTong Dumpling Bar in South Yarra, which has been on my list for far too long. We did have a late breakfast that morning, so weren’t after anything over the top, which was perfect to get our feet wet with a few dishes.
ATMOSPHERE & SERVICE
Located just on the corner of Commercial Rd. & Chapel St. this is the perfect location for a bit to eat after a long day of shopping. I was quite impressed by the interior of the space. Walking through the oversized brass door, you are welcomed by traditional Oriental decor including the authentic ‘shi’ (lion) door knob.
The space is also much larger than I anticipated it to be. There is a front dining room area (shown above), with dark wooden floors, oriental accents and featured textured walls. The decor continues into the back dining room, which is equally as large. The service was friendly and attentive throughout our quick lunch.
FOOD
HuTong specialise in Shanghainese & Szechuan cuisine, which they do very well. With two locations in Melbourne, getting a table can sometimes be a bit tricky. Everything from homemade Dim Sim to typical local dishes, to of course peking duck fill the menu. We arrived during their Yum Cha as well, where a lady would walk around with a trolley serving up additional dishes.
We started with the ‘Duck Spring Rolls’ served with a sweet sauce for dipping. They were quite large and jammed with flavour. Definitely worth trying!
Next up was the ‘Shao-long Bao’, which are homemade pork dim sim. You definitely need to be careful when eating these as they come out piping hot. The dim sim is full of a soupy liquid, which you do need to let cool down before trying to eat. The best way to eat them is to first make your own dipping sauce using their chili sauce, Chinese vinegar and soy sauce.
Our last dish for the day were the ‘Pan Fried Dumplings’ which I much rather prefer over the seamed ones. Frying them give’s the dumplings just an extra bit of flavouring!
Overall we had a great time at HuTong and can’t wait to head back and check out some more of their menu and indulge in their Peking Duck!