The Best Chinese Restaurants in Melbourne

Delicious Cantonese cooking with a touch of luxury and a hint of Twin Peaks. Flower Drum is a Melbourne institution, celebrating its 50th birthday in just two years. Dining here is an experience, an almost surreal combination of opulence, well-prepared dishes, and tongue-in-cheek performance - their classic Peking duck is a prime example. Their legendary front-of-house team is composed of real characters, and the wine list is extensive. If you're unable to secure a table (which is not easy), you also have the option to dine in the bar. While you might miss out on some of the action, it's a fun option as well.

Victor is a genius when it comes to creating deceivingly simple dishes that have a complexity of flavour. Lee Ho Fook is definitely one of my go-to restaurants in Melbourne.

Legit one of the best Sichuan restaurants in Melbourne. By the Dainty crew. The marinated cold chicken and the off menu meatball and pickled chilli broth is outstanding.

I have to stop and remind myself occasionally that I live in the same city as the best la zi ji in Australia. I love you, Dainty; I love you, Chongqing chicken.

The best example of Dao xiao mian in Melbourne, if not Australia, might well be Dao Noodle.The fastest noodle in the world? It’s gotta be dao xiao mian, the knife-cut nood that is the pride of China’s Shanxi (one A) province. And the best example of it in Melbourne, if not Australia? It might well be Dao Noodle. Certainly the version I ate here, drenched in chicken gravy and dressed with wood-ear fungus and ham, makes a very strong case.

Smart, mostly homestyle Cantonese dishes cooked with rare skill.Aberfeldie? For Chinese food? It’s certainly a first for me, but when you hear that several members of the old Lau’s Family Kitchen team have opened a restaurant of their own on Buckley Street, you’ve gotta get out and see it for yourself.And Benyue Kitchen doesn’t disappoint. Its service is pleasant and attentive, its menu a concise edit of smart, mostly homestyle Cantonese dishes cooked with rare skill.There’s lots here you’ll want to eat. And that goes double for any Lau’s fans hankering for their old favourites. I loved the fluffy crab omelette, the lamb spring rolls are every bit as good as you remember them, the green vegetables are en pointe, and this is the juicy, glossy spring chicken of your dreams. Get some.

Delicious dumplings hidden down a Melbourne laneway. HuTong is my go to spot in Melbourne. Situated in Chinatown in the CBD, HuTong craft some of the best dumplings in the city. The shao long bao, spicy wontons and pan fried dumplings are seriously good, the mapo tofu ia also a go to dish.Take some friends and order up.