First Taste — Restaurant in Melbourne

I use to go to First Taste in Footscray to satisfy my craving for claypot rice but in recent years, they have expanded the menu and quality has been somewhat on the decline. So when I saw that First Taste has opened up another branch in Carnegie and has the compact menu that they used to do so well, I decided to give them a try.

Two things must be ordered here - first the soups (both the sweet and ssboritu kind), and secondly the claypot rice. The former is much more superior than the latter. The herbal soups here are rich and flavourful, and the depth of flavour from the variety of Chinese herbs used is amazing. The sweet soups are just as impressive.

The claypot rice is reasonably decent but if you're like me and live for the burnt rice at the bottom of the claypot, you'll be disappointed. In saying that, it was a tasty dish, thanks in part to the intense smoky, savoury and sweet characteristics of the Chinese sausage.

The hot and sour seafood claypot was an explosion of flavours - sweet, sour and zesty. The seafood in the claypot was only average in freshness, which was sort of expected.

I'll definitely be back for the soups, which are definitely some of the...

The owner/chef were kind and friendly. The food was delicious👍. We started off with two soups (Hairy melon with lean pork 节瓜瑶柱炖瘦肉 and Coconut with clam meat 海底椰炖螺片) both tasted it warm and hearty, it reminds me of home. For main we had two claypot rice (Chicken and mushroom claypot rice and Preserved mustard cabbage and pork claypot rice) the rice had a nice rice crispy on the edges and the middle was soft and absorb all the sauces. The toppings were yummy too. I highly recommend to try their homemade chilli sauce, its packed with flavour and spice goes really well with the rice. For dessert we had a Sesame sweet soup (芝麻糊) this is a traditional Chinese dessert. It was authentic, had the right texture and perfect amount of sweet level to our taste. The decor of the restaurant did look a little old but don’t get fooled by that. The food were...

Amazingly delicious Claypot rice! The Best I’ve had in Melbourne! The outside of the restaurant may not catch your attention but it’s definitely a hidden gem in Carnegie. Small restaurant runs by a very friendly couple. Understand from them that there’s no MSG in their food including the homemade soy sauce. Place gets crowded at meal times and you could easily see that they are mostly regular customers. Definitely worth trying if you are a fan of Claypot rice! Check out their...