Flower Drum | Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
I first discovered Flower Drum from an issue of the Conde Nast Traveller magazine. A photo of thinly sliced, glossy crispy duck skin enveloped in a pancake with shallot and cucumber took up the entire page and it looked as tempting as ever. Immediately Flower Drum was added to my list of places to eat.
Flower Drum was the first stop on our recent trip to Melbourne a few weeks ago. Located only a few minutes walk away from our hotel, we followed the GPS and found ourselves in a narrow laneway in Chinatown. The entrance was discreet, nothing like what I was expecting for a restaurant with two chef’s hats and currently sitting at 29 in the Top 100 restaurant list.
Upon entering, we were greeted by two people at reception who then showed us to the elevator. When the elevator doors opened we were transported to a space filled with old world charm - think thick carpet, dark wood decor, linen-dressed tables, Chinese paintings and waitstaff dressed smartly in black and white. Our table was next to a beautiful, gold coloured Chinese carving art, which I had a hard time taking my eyes off.
Often dubbed as the BEST Chinese restaurant in Australia, I had very high expectations of Flower Drum, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We opted for the 3-course lunch banquet ($60 per person) and started off with their famous Peking duck (of course) and some steamed dim dum. I was salivating the whole time while the duck was prepared in front of us - it was just like the photo I saw in the magazine, but this time, I could taste it and it was absolutely delicious, as were those steamed dim sum, which I have to say are the best I’ve had in Australia.
Much to my surprise, the restaurant was very kid friendly. We ordered the pork with crispy egg noodles ($26) for Minibun George and our waiter straight away suggested a softer variety of the noodles. George’s food came out promptly and it looked delicious - soft noodles served with shredded pork, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts and snow peas. George smashed two bowls -little champion. Our mains took a little while to come out but were worth the wait as both the Black Angus eye fillet with black pepper sauce and the wok fried wild barramundi fillet were superb.
You need to make room for dessert. Seriously. The other travel bunnie had the Peking toffee apple with cinnamon ice cream which was prepared in front of us as well and the other travel bunnie couldn’t stop raving about it. I’m usually a deep fried ice cream kinda girl but oh my, the baked chestnut pudding tasted incredible. The custard pudding was baked with chestnuts and sago, wasn’t overly sweet which I preferred, and the vanilla ice cream on the side was just creamy and simply delicious.
We left feeling so satisfied and happy. The service was impeccable. With over 40 years in the business, Flower Drum is no doubt a culinary institution and a must if you are visiting Melbourne.
Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $146
Time of Visit: August 2017
Time of Visit: August 2017
