Jade Village 潮宴 — Restaurant in Melbourne

I am in Melbourne visiting a friend, took him here last night for a meal. We together have been trying different Chinese restaurants and cuisines for years. I have mixed feelings about Jade Village, whilst the service was faultless, I have to say that after having spent $459.80 for two people, I was a bit overwhelmed. I am not saying the food was not delicious, but we had Mud Crab served in Foie Gras sauce, and quite frankly I wondered where the crab meat was. The only meat could be found in the claws. I was shown the Crab before cooking, but was not told the cost per weight. Only that it would be over $250. Not good enough. We ordered 1 bottle of wine, 2 soups and 3 serves of dumplings and and another dish of crispy pork. I read in the a review that you get free desert, but non was offered to us. It may have been a review for previous business. I was impressed to see Asians eating here, as this is always a good sign. However, is this also a testament that what they get and what we get could be different? I would hate to think so. All in all, I was not impressed with the Crab serving, the fried rice with Sea Urchin was indeed special. One other thing, because of the time and difficulty with finding and extracting the small amount of meat found in the Crab, our other dishes got cold, so in the end, we were eating cold crispy fried pork and cold fried rice. Please accept this as way to fix small problems, reviews are important, without them the only other result would be people not returning again. I wish Jade Village success, as this was only...

Jade Village Diced beef fillets with black pepper sauce $36.8 Luffa dried shrimp and angled gourd omelette $28.8 Peppery chicken soup with ginkgo and hog maw $48.8 Braised spare ribs with fermented bean curd sauce $28.8 Chaozhou marinated duck

I rarely write negative reviews but this was one of the worst dining experiences I have had. The omelette was the most disappointing dish as it was bland, extremely oily and greasy. I could barely taste the preserved vegetables or dried shrimp. The braised spare ribs arrived as a fried dish with no sauce and were overwhelmingly salty. The marinated duck was dry with visible hair which was off-putting and marinade did not taste authentic.

The chicken soup was edible but lacked depth and was not peppery enough. The chicken itself had no flavour and was chopped very roughly. The diced beef was tender but clearly had been heavily tenderised. All of the dishes were heavily seasoned and left me extremely thirsty after the meal.

The service was great with friendly staff. I genuinely hope the restaurant can improve its food quality as the hospitality deserves much...

Came here for dinner as recommended by Chinese friends.

Stone pot baked quail (9/10) - Nicely cooked and tasted excellent, different to salt and pepper style.

Chaozhou marinated tofu and eggs (7/10) - Tasted OK, nothing special.

Chaozhou steamed parrot fish (9/10) - Fish was very fresh and cooked the right amount of time.

Chaozhou mud crab congee (10/10) - Best dish in my opinion.

Peppery chicken soup with ginkgo and hog maw (7/10) - Tasted OK as lack flavours. Different from my preferred Cantonese style pepper soup.

Chaozhou-style marinated blue crab (6/10) - Crabs lacked the flavour.

Red bean paste pancake with ice cream (9/10) and Chaozhou moji (8/10)- Both freshly made and still hot when served.

Service (10/10) - Staffs were friendly, attentive and courteous. Plates were changed multiple times without asking. The one female waitress should receive an excellence award.

Ambience (9/10) - Comfy seats, not crowded or noisy. Private dining rooms available too.

Price (8/10) - A bit on the higher side for some dishes.

Will definitely be back again to try the...