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Oriental Tea House is home to happy dumplings

Dani Valent
Dani Valent

The menu features 22 different dumpling options.
The menu features 22 different dumpling options.Pam Morris

Chinese$$

Some dumplings make me happy and some dumplings make me glum. The upsetting ones are pedestrian parcels filled with who-knows-what, careless production-line bundles of stodge and sadness. The joyous ones are jewel boxes, precise, poised and perfectly crafted. Oriental Teahouse trades in the latter: it's happy dumplings all the way.

Of the 19 different varieties (plus three sweet), you may recognise barbecued pork in fluffy white casings, minced prawn with chives in glossy steamed skins and a good rendition of the Shanghai hero, xiao long bao, for equal parts soup slurping and pork chomping.

But there are many original combinations too. Mushroom dumplings are scattered with tiny pumpkin cubes. Roast duck dumplings come with Peking duck-style sauce. Chicken dumplings are paired with a quinoa and daikon salad. It's dishes like these that attest to the thoughtful, questing and creative approach of owner David Zhou.

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Inside the renovated original Oriental Tea House.
Inside the renovated original Oriental Tea House.Pam Morris

Zhou, a one-time Chinese medical practitioner with an ongoing passion for tea, has been on this site since 2004. A recent renovation is just one example of his ongoing efforts to refine and express his own Melbourne version of the Chinese teahouse experience: social but serene, a daily encounter that can also be special, an inexpensive sip and sup that's infused with care and commitment. 

Gleaming and modern but also bustling and utilitarian, there's a dogged attention to detail that may not be noticed at first glance. Enjoyment builds in the minutiae: a lovely tea cup, a garnish placed just so, house-made sauces that differ for each dish, an intricately folded dumpling.

The expansion of dumpling from standalone snack to complete dish is expressed beautifully in the flame-thrower pulled pork dumplings. The filling is slow cooked, shredded rather than minced, and redolent with layered spicing. The dumpling skins are folded into pretty pleats and steamed to suppleness, then the dumpling trio is interspersed with slices of pork belly which are glossy, sticky and judiciously juicy.

Vegetable stir-fry with black rice.
Vegetable stir-fry with black rice.Pam Morris
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Beyond dumplings, there is a good selection of vegetarian dishes, including a simple but symphonic stir-fry of beans, carrots, goji berries and barley scattered with roasted black rice for crunch and depth. There's nothing – and everything – to it: good vegetables chosen with an eye for colour, cut and cooked carefully, lightly seasoned and served in a healthy tumble. Tofu is made here (no easy task) and served with mushrooms in a silky, spicy Sichuan-style jumble – it's excellent.

Tea is highlighted. It's served at the table, sold to take home, used in the food and also in the cocktails served in Zhou Zhou's bar upstairs.

Roast chicken on the bone is smoked over oolong tea, then served with a raspberry tea mayonnaise. The bird is beautiful, the curious and clever flavours bringing both depth and lift. Does a yin-yang yearning also permit a little indulgence? That's how I justify the fried peanut butter and chocolate walnut wontons.

Dessert wontons with ice-cream.
Dessert wontons with ice-cream.Pam Morris

It would be easy to dismiss this place as just another Chinese restaurant, especially as it's a small chain, with branches in Little Collins Street and Chadstone. Not all staff have a deep engagement with what's on offer, which doesn't help.

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But Oriental Teahouse is a stayer with much to offer. Come for dumplings and a pot of tea, stay for hot dishes and cocktails, and make the teahouse your house for a lovely little while.

Rating: Three and a half stars (out of five)

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Dani ValentDani Valent is a food writer and restaurant reviewer.

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