This is my favourite dumpling place. I have been dining here for years and have never had a bad experience. The staff are attentive, the service flawless and the food is fresh and of the highest quality.
Approximate cost: $25
Really nice comfortable restaurant with a good quality and well executed menu focused on dumplings and accompanying dishes.
Nothing spectacular apart from the reliable food quality and execution, which you do expect given the elevated prices.
We had lunch at Hu Tong. The service was good, abrupt at times, but we were served quickly. Good selection of dumplings including some (not many) vegetarian options. Bookings essential as they get really busy and full!
It is very difficult to get a booking, however well worth it. There are two sittings and the staff stick to the time very strictly. It is not a restaurant you can sit at for hours, you must stick to the schedule! The food is great, excellent quality chinese and prompt and efficient service.
Approximate cost: $17
This is your standard Melbourne CBD laneway restaurant in size only.
The food is very good and comes out quickly but not so quickly that you have to juggle table space.
Service is very attentive and the empty bowls were taken away promptly and replaced with the next dish.
When we finished there was no hurry up and the bill was presented only when we asked for it.
Two visits here have both been pleasant
Approximate cost: $6
My husband and I had lunch here the other day. We did a search for "best dumplings in Melbourne" on Google and they came up first, so we thought we'd try them out.
The service was fast and we managed to get a table without booking, but I can imagine that they get full quite quickly so it's probably best to book beforehand if you want to go there during busier periods. The waitress who served us was friendly enough and explained the sauces and things so that we knew what we were doing.
We ordered the Xiao Long Bao and the Szechuan-style spicy wontons because they've been recommended by so many people. Both of these dishes were quite delicious! The Xiao Long Bao are dumplings with soup inside. I'm terrible with chopsticks so it took me a while to work out how to drink the soup before eating the dumpling. It was a fun (albeit messy) process to work through. The spicy wontons were delicious; not too spicy for my tastes. My husband and I had to fight over the last one.
We also ordered a serve of prawn and vegetable dumplings. They tasted OK; a little bland, but firm and quite a good amount of prawn inside. We probably would have been happy with just the first two dishes, though.
I don't have a lot of experience with dumplings, so I don't know whether they really are the 'best' in Melbourne, but they were quite tasty and the prices are pretty good (a little over $30 for the three dishes plus drinks) and we left feeling full and satisfied so that has got to be a good sign!
Best dumplings in the city. The shao-long bao and the wantons with hot chilli sauce are to die for!
However, this place is always crowded. The best thing to do is to book before going. My tip : ask for a table at the top level. Looks nicer, less tables, less busy, less noisy, so the service is a bit better ;)
Quite expensive (specially the drinks), but it's worth it!
Approximate cost: $20/25 per person
By far one of the best dumplings in Melbourne! Like many of the reviews here i would definitely recommend the xiao long bao. I always get this just as an entree and as soon as i start digging into them i regret not just having this as my entire meal and i am often tempted to order more! Although having said that the rest of the menu is also too good to resist sampling.
Definitely recommend booking in advance (even for week nights) as walk-ins usually have to either wait a long time or get turned away.
The dumplings are AMAZING!!! The service you receive is good once you are seated but you often have to wait a long time to get a seat. You can book in advance but advance means at least a week unless you happen to be going at a less popular time of day. It's worth making the effort for though, they really are the best dumplings I have eaten in Melbourne so far!
Approximate cost: $15-$25
Great place for Xiao Long Bao and Chili Dumplings (sauce is so well balanced). The staff are rushed and can come across rude. I wanted to ask for another bowl and as soon as I looked like I needed help with something, one of the staff members did a u-turn. ??? strange... when I finally got assistance, they gave me a dirty bowl. If their dumplings were not that good, I would not consider going back... I will be back one day!
This place is famous for it's dumpling and always jam packed with customers. As others have said, this place serves the best xiao long bao in Melbourne.
Thanks for the info, I'll check it out!
I've been looking for a place to eat in Box Hill. Cheers.
LOVE this place! It gets really busy and books out quickly so you really need to book and plan ahead when you want to come here. The dumplings are amazing! If you are a dumpling fan, you really need to try this place out, you will not be disappointed
Approximate cost: $15
My brother took me to this restaurant for the first time.. it is a very busy restaurant .. me and my brother have to wait for 20 mins.. but it is worth it! I had xiao long bao.. and it was so GOOD! Highly recommended!
So far, the best xiao long bao i have ever tried in Melbourne.
Their other foods are nice but not exceptional.
Approximate cost: $25
We had dumplings for lunch and it has to be my 2nd fav place in the CBD. Very busy atmosphere and the dumplings were quite nice indeed! fried is exceptionally delicious though!!
Approximate cost: $10-$20
so far it is the best Shao long bao i had. Thin pastry, generous amount of soup, juicy and tasty, however, i ordered a stir fried vegie, it has worm in it...
Approximate cost: $15-20
Love Hu Tongs for a quick lunch or dinner. The dumplings are great and a step above other similar resturants around the city
Approximate cost: $20
Best dumplings in Melbourne! Great value and great service. Will be back time and time again. A visitis not complete without the xiao long bao. The bean curd with pork mince is fantastic also. Hint: Look for the Hutong Signature Dishes marked with a red chinese symbol next to the item on the menu.
Approximate cost: $10
Stumbled on this one with some work colleagues. This is the best dumpling experience I have had since my trip to China. The Xiao Long Baos are amazing, a definate highlight and a must-order. You sometimes have to wait for a table, and the service to some may seem a little rushed, unfriendly but is just what it is - anyone who has been to China will find it familiar that the service is this way! Great for a group dinner!!!!!
Really nice food. I went for the first time with colleagues and since then when I think of where to eat in the CBD this always pops in my mind. Nice taste and flavours.
I love the Xiao Long Baos here, they are fresh and juicy. Everything is really fresh and tasty especially the chilli wonton, dan dan noodles and XLB! Not too pricy and service is fast!
Approximate cost: $15
Whilst I do love the shao long bao dumlings here, the service is a bit hit and miss. One day service will be attentive and friendly, the next, you are wondering if the waiters/managers want you dining there. The food always comes out quickly and is of good quality. I have found, however, changes to the menu are not easily catered for and will often get you a blank stare or two.
Approximate cost: $20
This places makes exceptional Xiao Long Bao, dumplings and fish head white soup. I guess it has made a name for itself alrealdy, hence the new restaurant in Prahan was no exception, if not better.
The only disappointment was that staff always seemed very busy and was not very attentive.
Approximate cost: $20
This place is so popular that you have to book a couple of days in advance. My favourite dish is the Xiao Long Bao. It is really good even though it is a bit more expensive than other China restaurants. The decor is Chinese oriented and I like it.
Approximate cost: $12
Went there today as it was a very popular place which is famous for their dumplings. The service was good as we were there earlier though the price was a little pricey but it serves very good food.
Approximate cost: $10
Ok, so Melbourne lacks a Din Tai Fung Xiao Loong Bao Taiwanese Restaurant, however here's the next best thing. Hu Tong's chef originally hails from the master Xiao Loong Bao temple of Din Tai Fung in Sydney and he's put his own twist on dishes. They're not quite the same standard but still very very good. The Xiao Loong Bao is made fresh upon placing an order and is very close to Din Tai Fung in Sydney, and the Pot sticker dumplings are also very good too. Chinese noodles (Jia Jiang Mian) - a Chinese Version of Spaghetti Bolognese is also very well done and very tasty. Service is a bit abrupt and many waiters don't speak Cantonese (mostly Mandarin) and some have a bit of trouble understanding English, but we overlooked these because the food is of a good standard. Unfortunately they don't have the crab meat Xiao Loong Bao - maybe that will come if enough people ask! Decor is a blend of old and new Chinese on the top floor and on the ground floor it's like a small cafe with stools and simple tables. Be aware that when they say that the dishes contain chillies and are hot they actually are! Hotness ranges from just above mild to scorching. (A very chilli happy chef and they don't temper the dishes just because you can't take the heat!)
Approximate cost: $15
My husband and I absolutely love this place. They serve a superb range of noodles and dumplings. The flavors are delicate, the noodles cooked perfectly and the variety is quite different to what other Chinese dumpling houses offer. Ambience nice too.
I adore dumplings but have been really disappointed with most of the student-oriented dumpling joints around the city, so decided to try hop in to Hu Tong for lunch on a recommendation from a friend. Can I just say - the signature soup filled dumplings are EXCELLENT, definitely a cut above any other place I've tried so far.
My one quibble would be service - we ordered the soup dumplings and a plate of fried ones, the soup ones arrived really quickly. We were then kept waiting 30 minutes for the fried ones. I asked the waitress to check on the order, and she told me they were on their way. 15 minutes later, they arrived, obviously hastily cooked as they weren't brown and crispy on the bottom as they should've been.
I would've really much preferred if she had admitted that the kitchen had forgotten the order and apologised, then checked to see if we still wanted them. By then, we were sick of waiting and my partner had to run out to top up the parking meter.
Additionally, we were served our soup dumplings without ginger (not a hanging offence, but silly when they suggest that you try your soup dumplings with ginger on the placards on every table). When I asked for some, we were delivered two of the most miserly portions of ginger I've ever seen. Each portion was literally 6 tiny shreds of ginger, I'm lucky that my partner doesn't like ginger with his.
The staff are what you'd expect of a middle of the road Chinese restaurant, but I didn't like that they all conversed with each other loudly in Cantonese throughout the upper level dining room where we were seated. I think that it's unprofessional, and that private conversations should be kept to the staff areas. I also suspect that they felt so comfortable in doing so as they thought that no one would understand what they were saying. Don't get me wrong, the conversations were perfectly harmless and I'm not expecting silver service, but what I do expect is a certain level of professionalism that was lacking here.
All in all, it's a nice place to eat, and I know I'll be going back and trying more from the menu. I just wish that the floor staff would remember that the dining room is NOT their social club.
Edited to add: I went back a week after this experience and was seated in the downstairs dining room this time. We were taken care of by a nice young man, and the service was much better this time around. Definitely my new dumpling joint of choice!
Approximate cost: $10-15
Booked a group of 10 for our regular family dinner out, but ended up we have 11 people, they are happy to accommodate us. We got a table up at Level 2, it was a great deco! The whole dinner experience was great, food is lovely! It was my best experience with a dumpling restaurant EVER!!! Well done Eric! (I hope next time you will serve us again!)
Great decor - looks like something straight out of mainland China with lots of dark wood and pictures of Chinese streetscape. Central location too with about 3 floors so lots of tables available (but you do need to book!). Lastly, fantastic dumplings. However, the two lunchtimes I've been, pan friend dumplings weren't available..go figure. Great value too.
Approximate cost: $15