Flower Drum - Melbourne - review

Name: Flower Drum
 
Address: 17 Market La
Melbourne 3000 VIC
(03) 9662 3655

Food: Chinese, Cantonese
Average price: Entree: $11-$25, Mains: $12-$160, Dessert: $13.50-$135, Degustation menu: 6 courses, $165,  Set menu: 4 courses $99, Four-course luncheon $65 per person, Six-course Dinner $165 per person

Complimentary: Nothing.


We ordered:

Wok Fried Red Emperor Fillet
Fresh fillet of red emperor lightly battered then wok fried and
accompanied by spring onions and seasoned soy sauce.

Tofu egg roll?

I can't quite remember the name of this dish, but it was nice.

Quail Sang Choi Bao
Minced quail meat cooked together with Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and spring onion, served in a lettuce leaf.

Mr M enjoyed his quail version whilst my veggie version was my favourite dish of the night. The cool lettuce helps to soften the saltiness of the rice.

Supreme shark fin soup

Mr M enjoyed this.


Dumplings?

Simple but lovely.

Mains: Peking Duck
Tender pieces of roast duck wrapped within a pancake accompanied by spring onion, cucumber & a touch of plum sauce.

Mr M liked this but wish there it had been a slightly bigger serve.

Veggie pancake

The filling tasted remarkably like my vegetarian Sang Choi Bao, so whilst it was lovely, it was much of the same.

Grain Fed Eye Fillet w/ Black Pepper Sauce
Black Angus Eye fillet beef cooked medium rare or to your liking & dressed in a Cantonese sauce. Served w/seasonal vegetables.

Assorted mushrooms

This was my least favourite dish of the night, the texture of some of the mushrooms were a touch too slimy or spongy for me.

Special Fried Rice

Standard fried rice.

Mango crepe with passionfruit sorbet

This was ok. The pancake was a touch rubbery but otherwise it was fine.

toffee apple with vanilla icecream

We enjoyed watching the waiters serve this up for us but unfortunately, the apple was undercooked inside the batter. The ice cream also tasted like it was out of a blue ribbon tub.

Fresh hand-made almond cookies
Chinese Tea

Cost: $330 for two 6 course degustations as well as a supplementary cost for the shark fin soup.

Service: Great. The staff were friendly and very accommodating to my vegetarian needs. The food

Atmosphere: Typical Chinese restaurant. The colour scheme was dark reds with black and gold and accented with wooden furniture. The tables are spaced far apart and therefore, despite a moderate noise level, you cannot hear other conversations.

Parking: Ok - some street parking nearby but there are plenty of paid underground parking lots.

Website: www.flower-drum.com

Hours: Mon-Sat noon-3pm, 6pm-11pm
Sun 6pm-10.30pm

Would I return: Yes.