HuTong Dumpling Bar
Editorial
A HuTong is an old Chinese alley or laneway that stiches together the fabric of the city with cosy homes and hidden corners. Down one of Melbourne's own renowned laneways hides this excellent restaurant. It's the dumplings that people are queuing for, in particular the shao long bao that HuTong do so very well. These saggy-bottomed, soupy dumplings are so delicate they come complete with eating instructions.
Offering 'orthodox China flavour', this restaurant has been so busy since it opened that staff traverse its three levels with walkie talkies, in search of empty tables for a long line of waiting customers. Needless to say, bookings are essential to avoid disappointment. The best seats in the house are in front of the glassed-in kitchen on the ground floor where you can watch the nimble-fingered chefs preparing the specialty of the house. Walk upstairs to the exposed brick walls complemented by dark wooden features and warm splashes of colour, giving the restaurant a feeling of delicate, feng shui balance.
As well as its exotic variety of dim sum, HuTong also excels at regional Chinese dishes, particularly Szechuan and Shanghai styles. Follow the Chinese tradition of using soup as a tonic for healing by enjoying the scallop and eggplant hotpot that beholds a mixture of Szechuan chilli sauce. Shanghai fried noodles erupt steam from the frypan as the chefs elaborately throw together the ingredients in the glass-wall kitchen. Fragrant flavours are instilled within the crust of the duck meat while white and blue porcelain bowls hold clear broth of tangled noodles buttoned with green soybeans and woven with bean curd leaves. Sticky glutinous rice balls are served with a sweet, palate-cleansing wine and the fried pumpkin cake has such sunny characters that, like the last days of spring, make you yearn for seconds. HuTong serves authentic dishes instilled with tradition, and, like the hutongs themselves, the dishes sew together the Chinese culture.
Angela Costanzo, October 2010
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