HuTong — Restaurant in Melbourne

ORDERED: 🥟 Boiled pork dumplings (12 pieces) ($17.80) 🥟 Shao Long Bao $16.80 🥟 Wonton with hot chilli sauce (8 pieces) ($13.80) 🥟 Pan fried dumplings (8 pieces) ($19.80) 🌱  Spring onion pancake ($8.80)

🐔  Diced chicken with vegetables ($28.80) 🐟 Fish Fillets in hot chilli oil ($35.80) 🍚  Steam Rice ($3.80)

🥭 Mango Pudding ($9.80)

It was $36.60pp between 7 adults which includes card and weekend surcharge.

REVIEW: The dumplings are great at HuTong Dumpling bar! But as with many good food choices, too much of one thing (dumplings) can get a little overwhelming. 😥 💖  My favourite was the shao (xiao) long baos and the pan fried dumplings. The pan fried dumplings are filled with pork and the HuTong chefs do the cool ting where they pan fry it all at once, creating a plate in of itself.  🍽️ The sauce is pre-made with a combination of vinegar and soy sauce but definitely more on the tangy side.

💗 I would also recommend the fish fillets in hot chilli oil! The fish fillets they usually use is basa so it's incredibly soft but it still holds its shape in the soup. It's too savoury to have by itself, so you might want to consider having it with rice too.

❌  The weakest was the spring onion pancake. Since it's rolled up, it becomes a little dry. I prefer the threaded version where tit's in crispy little flakes 😰.

✔️  Service was very friendly and they were very accommodating of children. They offered to change up the cutlery, provided an extra plate and napkins... because well, kids. We left the pram downstairs, but unsure if there's an accessible elevator to use. Otherwise you may need to walk up some staircases with a kid in hand. Atmosphere...

[3.5] We came to this place as it was highly recommended for its authentic dumplings. We booked a table as we weren't sure how crowded the place would be on a weekend. To our surprise, it wasn't.

We were taken by very friendly staff to our table and assisted us with the menu.

We ordered the following:

Shao-long Bao (8 Pieces) - $12.80 Wantons with Hot Chilli Sauce (8 Pieces) - $10.80 Szechuan Bean Curd with Minced Pork - $15.80 Fish Fillet in Hot Chilli Oil - $28.80

The dumplings were amazing and were served at the right temperature, so you can tuck into them without worrying that you will burn your tongue. The tofu was amazing and was probably the star of the dishes we ordered.

The disappointment was when we got the fish filet. Not only did it take a long time to get, but the portion was HUGE, and it was honestly tasteless! They could see that we were only two people, and could have advised us about the size of the dish since the picture gave us the impression that it was a decent size portion good for two. The fish had zero taste and seemed like it was swimming in a chilli sauce without picking up any of the flavours.

Despite our experience with this dish (which I will never recommend to anyone unless you are used to this kind of food), we loved the rest of the food and the friendly service. They were very attentive and made sure that our Jasmine teacups were never empty.

We will come back again for more dumplings, and the...

The food was okay BUT we didn't have the greatest experience.

When we ordered, everyone's meals all came out very sporadically and at differing times. Some of us got our entire order before others which made for a very disjointed meal. We had to on two separate occasions when certain dishes were coming out.

The food itself was good. Nothing to write home about. Disappointingly they "sold out" of the pan fried pork dumplings, yet the steamed ones were available (?).

The unfortunate service also was extended to the drinks menu. I had ordered another beer but never received it, but when the final bill came out, i had been charged for it. Not the greatest, but there was no problem with the servers to remove it from the bill. Also, no apology.

I get that there are going to be nights when the service lacks, sure. We can't always be on our A game. But the part that really tipped me over the edge and made me write this review, was when the waitress' attitude took a complete and sudden dive after I declined leaving a tip when paying the bill. All of a sudden her demeanor completely changed and she practically ignored us thereafter, even when we said thank you and goodbye. It was almost insulting given that we had just spent over $300 and had had pretty average service, as well as a disjointed meal. No thank you.

It was a really unfortunate way to end our time at HuTong, and I don't think I...