Hu Tong Dumpling Bar — Restaurant in Melbourne

It is not often that I write a mainly negative review (please refer to my previous reviews for clarification on that if needed, especially in today's climate where supporting local/small business is important), but I always want to be honest, and I don't think I can review this honestly if I make it glowing.

I've always wanted to come here, but up until last night, have never been. Walking in, I was impressed by the lovely decor and spaciousness of the place. We had to come at an early time, as they were in for a busy night. So initially the even was relatively quite, but as they filled up, it's obvious that the acoustics there aren't great as it got ultra noisy.

The first problem I had, was the descriptions - or lack thereof - in the menu. I had to ask a waiter what the "smoked salmon" was. Was it a soup (it was in the Soup and Appetizer section, and could have been anything). He said to me that it was an appetizer but couldn't describe the dish (this is something that will crop up again at the end of the meal; stay tuned). Due to lack of description, and wanting to be sure there was no other seafood involved, I decided to try the Duck Spring Rolls. I thought they were beautiful. Really delicious and good portion size. When I finished those, and others in my group were still eating their appetizers, they cleared my plate away. I don't like that, but I guess that's just personal opinion (though not considered polite by many). I ordered the Chicken Fried Rice for the main, and when it came out it was dark and bits in it were quite chewy. The flavour was average, but it was edible. This time around, they took forever to clear off the dishes and would continuously walk past the table without any attempt to clear away. When we eventually asked someone to clear the dishes off and to show us a dessert menu, the guy actually literally waved us off as if to say "I can't be bothered with this. I'll be back later." I have never seen that before in my life, and we sat there stunned. When we DID get the menu, the plates were still on the table, and he gave us one menu amongst four of us, to pass around with nowhere to balance it as the table was full.

Onto dessert ... eventually. I ordered the Deep Fried Chocolate Ball (singluar) which again in the menu had no description, but I honestly thought it seemed to speak for itself and how could I possibly go wrong with something called that? I swear, when it came out, it totally threw me off. It was actually THREE little hard balls coated in sesame seeds (and this is something that MUST be mentioned on the menu as that is a valid allergy these days) and inside was this horrific goey/pasty flavourless thing that had a little Nutella in with it. It was shocking. Awful. I took that small bite, and pushed the plate away, because it was just terrible. I wasn't going to say anything, but one of my friends did, and they took it away and removed it from the bill (for which I was grateful to them for), yet there was no "Would you like to order something else?".

Again, I don't write negative reviews unless they are truly warranted. There were other tables around us complaining to each other that things they'd ordered hadn't come and this and that. When you take bookings, you know how busy you'll be, and you organise staff accordingly. It was a right old mess.

MAYBE if I were ever to try it there again, I'd go during the week where they might be less busy. They obviously have good things going for them as they're extremely popular, but I'm sorry, I just couldn't work out what the hype is all...

Oh, Hutong what has happened to you :( It has been 3 years since I last dined here and there is only one word to describe some of the dumplings: bad.

Xiaolongbao: 3/5. Their signature dish. Once upon a time the skins were delicate, thin, and the filling bursting with dangerously hot soup. Now the skins were thicker, doughy, and it seemed undercooked because the filling wasn't dangerously scalding hot like before. Once, these were the best Xiaolongbao's I had ever tasted. Now they are at the level of a no-frills dumpling restaurant. Chilli Wontons: 4/5. Nothing wrong with these, except that the chilli sauce was too sweet and lacked chilli. At least it's not oily like some other dumpling places, and with the skins there is some of the refinement of the old Hutong. Panfried pork dumplings: 1/5. Bad. Pastry too thick and doughy. We couldn't finish these. Cucumber and chilli salad: 5/5. The highlight of the day. The cucumbers were a bit dry on the surface (indicating it was cut and refrigerated for some hours), but the sauce was amazing. My guest and I are both experienced cooks and we know how to make this dish, but neither of us could figure out the magic ingredient they used in the sauce. It was perfect - refreshing, zingy, savoury. Lor Mai Gai (chicken and glutinous rice in lotus leaf): 5/5. Perfectly cooked, beautiful flavours, extremely refined.

Hutong is a beautiful restaurant. Service is discreet and impeccable. The restaurant is still unusually clean and elegant for a Chinese restaurant. The food USED to be the epitome of refinement in dumplings - delicate and subtle. There are still traces of the old Hutong brilliance but I fear their success has caused them to drop...

We stumbled upon Hu Tong when trying to find SOMEwhere open in Prahran on a Monday night!

It was, in the end, a regular Chinese restaurant, but MORE delicious at every step. I now know that there are degrees of delicious; this restaurant is superlative.

eg, there were prawn crackers, like at many Chinese restaurants, but these were somehow superior to regular prawn crackers (who knew such a thing existed as an even more delicious prawn cracker!).

eg, there were dim sums, like at many Chinese restaurants, but these were DELICIOUS!

We didn't have a huge variety of food as there were only 2 of us so I can't compare much. The staff were prompt, attentive and efficient, the restaurant was pleasantly outfitted, the price was slightly higher than the Chinese restaurants I'm familiar with, but the quality of food was higher than the the price charged for it. Even as the restaurant filled up we did not feel cramped or too close to any other diners which is relevant in 2022-Covid-times.

Thanks for a great dinner in a pleasant...