Talami — Restaurant in Melbourne

Tanami Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant Visited on 28/10/2021

COVID lockdown is not completely lifted. My wife and I take the opportunity to dine in because the number of diners within the restaurant is very limited.

It does not have a large dining area, but good enough to round up a few friends for a small gathering.

The service is very good; which is very important for the hospitality industry and retention of customers.

Due to present restriction, a numbers of dishes are not available. However, we are able to try out our comfort food - Chow Kuai Teow (CKT) and Fried Dark Hokkien Mee.

I have to admit that I am very pedantic. Besides taste, I judge my food by its "appearance" and the overall presentation.

The plates are oval, not round. Its size is can comfortably hold the amount of noodles. Small plates make the food presentation look untidy.

There are generous amount of prawns, fish cake slices, squid pieces and Chinese sausage for the dishes. I ask for more pork bits and added sambal in the CKT, and they oblige.

The Hokkien Mee HKM needs to be braised a bit longer to make the noodles softer. It lacks some thickened gravy as what HKM should have.

We also try the Mango Salad. My wife enjoys more than I do, as I am more of a meat eater. However, the salad does have tender and well seasoned pieces of pork, which I give a thumbs-up. The salad has tangy taste.

I suggest to the Chef and the owner to adjust the amount of sauces used, which give the intensity of colouration, and reduce the salt when sambal is aded.

Both the owner and Chef appear receptive and welcome our honest and constructive feedback. I shall return to check...

Updated : went back end July 2025 - still a 4 generation business, still as good, serves a little smaller though.

Previous - Located in Blackburn, Melbourne. Went there and had Chinese New Year dinner, a feast !! Had the banquet, very good food, service also good. Easy street car parking, and free parking too 😀 .... .. update Jan 2023 - went there for dinner and had the Yingyang spicy quail & shaking beef , braised pork knuckles, fried Flounder w Thai lemon grass on mango salad, sambal kangkong. It was very good and the serving sizes not small. The quail and shaking beef is one of their signature dishes but I found it was good but I would not rave about it. The braised pork knuckle, on the other hand, is definitely worth raving about. The meat is tender, the juices succulent and the skin not chewy but has enough body to enjoy. The fried Flounder was huge with mango salad under it, making a nice contrast to the fried fish. For dessert we had the Vietnamese 3 colour dessert and the winter melon jelly, both good. The place was busy and tables turned quickly when we were there. The service is good and quick, prices very reasonable. It is byo. It is a small restaurant and the outside is not flashy but looks deceive. The place is run by a husband and wife (Ashley) team with hubby the chef and Ashley outside managing staff and serving as well. Overall, a great restaurant, great food and I will...

My wife and I were eager for some Vietnamese cuisine and, after conducting thorough research via Google reviews, we chose this restaurant. We opted for the spicy chicken ribs, Sichuan beef stir-fry, and shaking beef. I must note that the prices here lean towards the higher side of the spectrum.

Unfortunately, the chicken ribs were disappointingly salty and excessively oily. They lacked the expected crunchiness in the coating, and in some instances, I even noticed traces of undercooked meat, which was off-putting.

The Sichuan beef, I must say, left us utterly appalled. Instead of the expected spicy kick, it delivered an overwhelmingly cloying sweetness that resembled a dessert, and any trace of authentic Sichuan flavors was completely absent. To make matters worse, black bean paste seemed to have taken over the dish, drowning out any subtleties. The excessively oily sauce was genuinely revolting and made it nearly impossible to savor any redeeming qualities the dish might have had.

Similarly, the shaking beef dish suffered from an excessive sweetness. The meat, supposed to have a steak-like quality, was unfortunately overcooked, and the excessively dark color was not visually appealing.

Overall, our experience was less than satisfactory. I haven't had the opportunity to try their Pho, which appeared visually appealing and may be worth a try, but, regrettably, I don't foresee a return...