As we were pondering what to cook last night, my friend Kenny rang to tell me he was in Melbourne, and asked us out to dinner. Problem solved! I decided we’d take Kenny to Ye Shanghai, but this time we would sample a nice selection from the main menu.

We got ready, and headed into the city. After driving around in circles for a while looking for a park, (Damn busy for a Sunday night!?) we finally found one. Then we made our way to Ye Shanghai, where Kenny was waiting outside.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Chinese, Ethnicity, Funky, Pricing | 6 Comments »

Nestled in the heart of Footscray, the recently refurbished Hao Phong does a brisk trade.

For many Vietnamese, Sunday lunch means one thing: Phở (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup).

To give you an idea of its popularity, there are at least 5 or 6 other restaurants within close proximity that just serve this one dish. If Yum-Cha (Dim-Sum) could be classed as an unofficial Chinese pastime, Pho would be the Vietnamese equivalent.

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Ambience, Asian, Cheap, Ethnicity, Family, Funky, Pricing, Vietnamese | Add a Comment »

Post-Mao Cafe is a quaint, brightly painted restaurant situated toward the top end of Melbourne’s Chinatown. Normally, we stay clear of places that have someone out the front trying to coax people inside - as I figure if they need that, they can’t be very good.

But a few groups of people seemed to be heading in without needing any persuasion, so we decided to give it a go as well.

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Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Medium, Pricing | 4 Comments »

Minh Tan II is a Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. I had never actually been inside, but i’d walked past this restaurant many times on my way to my regular haunt, about half a block further down Victoria St.

Two friends if ours, John & Robert, asked us out to dinner. We decided that we would visit Minh Tan II, after Robert mentioned the food he’d eaten on previous occasions was fantastic.

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Affordable, Ambience, Asian, Casual, Chinese, Ethnicity, Family, Pricing, Vietnamese | 1 Comment »

For our first review, we wanted to pick somewhere we hadn’t been before, and I remembered this place.

Ye Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant in the heart of the city in busy Swanston St, has been open about a year or more, but we just hadn’t gotten around to visiting. So today was the day.

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Ambience, Asian, Cheap, Chinese, Ethnicity, Funky, Pricing | 1 Comment »