restaurants

Lilong by Taste of Shanghai

Lilong by Taste of Shanghai, a popular Chinese franchise originating from Sydney, is a nice getaway inside Melbourne Central for those seeking some traditional Chinese home-cooking, with simple dumpling dishes, ranging to a nicer splurge in the form of crab or barramundi dishes. Being the first day of the Chinese New Year 2019, the restaurant was quite busy so service was a bit rude at the beginning but otherwise, there were plenty of waitresses around keen to lend a hand. The good fat: The stir fry wagyu with mushrooms in the black pepper sauce was my top pick from the options we tried at Lilong. Tender and juicy pieces of steak were wok tossed in a gooey, peppery sauce – a classic problem is if the sauce is too thick and salty, making you reach for water over and over again but this wasn’t the problem with Lilong! Xiao Long Bao has been something of a staple that I order in Chinese restaurants now – and being a Shanghainese specialty, it seemed fitting to try it at Lilong. Whilst not the best Xiao Long in Melbourne I’ve had, what I enjoyed the most was the aromatic flavours of the soup within these small parcels of delight! The barramundi was steamed perfectly – not a second too much or too tender, with the small chunks of fresh fish falling away from the central bone and making it super easy to eat rather than a hassle. The sauce was also really light and not too salty. The bad fat: The Xiao Long Bao dumpling skin was a little on the gelatinous side, so gave it a bit of a stickier/thicker feeling compared to the best I’ve had at other Melbourne chinese restaurants. (Read: My Favourite Xiao Long!) The steamed barramundi was also quite simple and I would’ve liked a bit more complexity in the sauce underneath, rather than balancing it with a huge dollop of spring onion instead. FAT-O-METER: 4/5