Mr. Huang Jin

Dumplings.

Just whispering the name is enough to bring a smile to my dial. Fried, steamed, boiled, dunked in chilli, soy vinegar – let me count the ways.

Mr. Huang Jin is the newest restaurant throwing its hat into Melbourne’s crowded dumpling ring, serving Taiwanese-style dumplings and noodle soups to the business end of town for the better part of a month.

Located on the plaza level of Rialto Towers, Mr. Huang Jin boasts a schmick interior design and isn’t the sort of place where you’ll get a dozen dumplings and all-you-can-drink tea for six bucks.

The menu covers all the usual bases for dumplings with pork, prawn and beef fillings in various combinations served fried, boiled or steamed. Same deal with the noodle soup. More unusual offerings include House Hawaii fried rice (special pork, pineapple, egg and spring onion tossed with shredded pork floss, $14).

My pal and I tried the pork chilli dumplings (5 pieces for $11) and prawn dumplings (5 for $11). Plus some Buddha’s Belly beer for good karma.

The pork chilli dumplings had a tender, silky skin containing a super hot burst of chilli that exploded when bitten into. Yes, I made a meal out of mine. My dining companion (I thought unfairly) referred to them as ball sacks. Tasty ball sacks.

Turns out the prawn dumplings were similarly booby trapped, and collapsed as I tried prizing them from their bamboo home into my belly. Through a careful combination of chopsticks, spoons and dumb luck I was eventually able to extract them mainly intact. These were my favourite, especially when jazzed up with some chilli oil.

The only thing that’s a bloody mystery is why Mr. Jin insists on serving his snacks in odd numbers. It’s always going to result in a chopstick fight for the last dumpling.

While at this price point Mr. Huang Jin’s not at the HuTong level, but offers something finer that the stuff in Tattersalls Lane.

Worth a peek for dumpling lovers. Just watch out for booby traps.

MR. HUANG JIN
Plaza Level, Rialto Towers
525 Collins Street, Melbourne 3000
9077 7937
Mon – Fri 11am – 9pm
facebook.com/pages/Mr-Huang-Jin