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Reader Restaurant Recommendations - Australia |
Australia
Brisbane
Aloha Restaurant, 8 Duncan Street, Fortitude Valley, (07) 3252 - 4770
Superbowl Chinese Restaurant, 185 Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley,
Telephone: (07) 3257 - 2188
Both are situated almost around the corner
from one another in Fortitude Valley (aka the Valley, China Town). You
will find Aloha to be the cheapest and also has 10% student discount and
an unbelievably big vegetarian menu (try the Mapo Doufu, brought to your
table sizzling and searing hot). Superbowl are good for real Chinese food,
good and healthy, and always full of Chinese people! Aloha is big on
the Chinese student scene. Don't get Chinese food from any other place in
Brisbane (except Sunnybank, of course) and expect it to be real Chinese because
everywhere else is Australian Cantonese food.
Melbourne
Flower Drum Chinese Restaurant, 17 Market Lane,
Melbourne City, Victoria 3000, (612) 03 96623655
Reader Review: Known simply, to regulars and locals, as "The
Drum", it is no surprise to learn that many have made the pilgrimage from
afar to partake in the Drum experience, (being guilty of several myself!). From
humble beginnings back in Little Bourke Street in 1978, the Drum has rapidly
grown to be the institution in dining among Melbourne's many and varied top
restaurants. When one speaks of excellence in a restaurant, one refers not only
to the quality of food, but the entire 'package' known as the 'dining
experience'. From the very moment you are greeted at the top of the stairs by
the ever flamboyant Gilbert Lau, your passionate and endearing host, to the
moment you descend those stairs from heaven. This place transcends all others in
food freshness, range and quality, wine selection, authenticity, service,
attention to detail, atmosphere, and decor. In fact, 76 awards (and counting),
grace the walls of the reception area, and are indicative of Gilbert's pursuit
for the ultimate experience in (Asian) dining. Having grown up on a diet of
home-cooked Asian ( "mum's cooking will always the best"), I'd have to
say that The Flower Drum really does produce some of the finest and most
delicate Asian flavors I have ever tasted here.
Decades ago, Chinese restaurants in suburban Australia developed a reputation of
being the 'fat fix' of the week, made on the chefs' one night off. It was a
choice between MacDonald's, KFC, pizza, deep fried fish and chips, or Chinese,
all poor quality, fast food meals made as a treat and not for their nutritional
value (kid's love it!). And it is in these Chinese restaurants that menus and
cooking styles have been bastardized to suit the penchant of many Australians
for salty, greasy, or sugary foods. With a history like that, it's hard to make
a come-back and convince Aussies that Chinese cuisine really is divine. I guess
what I'm sharing with you is my overwhelming joy at the Drum's ability to
restore the faith in people of Chinese cuisine. The next time you're over,
you've got to "do the Drum!"
If you have a favorite restaurant you'd like to recommend, please write and tell me.
Ho ho sik! (Good eating!)
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Chopsticks image © 2000 by Rhonda Parkinson
