Chinatown Downunder

Supper Inn, Melbourne, Australia

With the Chinese New Year only a week away, red lanterns and festive hype are building in the centre of Melbourne’s Chinatown. Much like London, Melbourne’s inner city also boasts a notable Chinese community with restaurants congregating into a packed Chinatown that is buzzing with clientele rummaging through city lane ways keen to sample authentic Chinese delicacies.

Hidden in one of the city’s treasured lane ways, the Supper Inn has a long-standing reputation that has been credited by many food guides as a no-frills, praiseworthy Cantonese/Chinese restaurant.

Upon entry you must climb up a set of stairs covered in tatty, faded old pink carpet. Once upstairs, the restaurants décor is not much of an improvement from my initial impression. The table settings, menus and fixtures are all dated and dressed in an obvious tacky oriental style. Although this ghastly environment borders on distracting, the staff are friendly and well versed on the menu, offering a knowledgeable insight and decoy to the décor – which I should mention, is being renovated this January.

The entrée menu is traditional. Dim Sum ($4.50 AUS) are served in a steaming bamboo basket. The pork tastes fresh, and succulent. However, my portion of four miniature dumplings is rather minute. San Choy Bow ($5 AUS) is a hot minced meat filling served within a crisp lettuce leaf. Tasting predominantly of Oyster sauce, this classic dish lacks the peanut crunch that San Choy Bow is renowned for. Quite disappointing.

To wash down our meal, a superb and reasonably priced wine list is available. We chose the 2008 Pinot Grigio from Victoria, and at $28 (AUS) a bottle, this was a fresh and light drop of wine with a delicate sweetness. Far more impressive than I had anticipated.

For our mains, offerings of fried duck tongues ($18 AUS) and chicken feet seemed morbidly repulsive. But I bit the bullet and tried a ducks tongue. Fried in a thick batter, I found this dish to be very oily and the batter only added to the natural oiliness of duck itself. One little tongue was enough for me. The fried calamari with chilli ($16 AUS) was light and crisp. Little strands of calamari left a residual spiced chilli taste post-consumption. Suckling pork with bean curd in a pot, ($18 AUS) was quite delicious with an unobtrusive hint of lemongrass. The bean curd was also perfectly tenderised and flavoursome.

Overall our meal was so-so. However, judging by the clientele, this restaurant is extremely popular as seats are all occupied from as early in the evening as 6pm. Bookings are essential.

Whilst I could not personally see the merit behind the hype of this establishment, there are many other restaurants worth trying that are scattered throughout Chinatown. My best advice is to ask the waiters what they would recommend you try, and heck, why not celebrate the New Year all over again? Happy Chinese New Year!

Review By: Jacklyn Swiecicki

Supper Inn
$80-90 (AUS) per couple.
15 Celestial Avenue, City Centre
Melbourne, Australia.
+61 39663 4579