14-16 Market Lane, Melbourne
Phone 03 9650 8128
“Bygones have already gone and age has left its traces. HuTong witnesses the historical evolution of China from the ancient time till today. In addition, the dishes for ordinary people occured in HuTong, have become the delicious foods which the contemporary people are desperate for. You don’t need to go overseas. In our building, you can try these orthodox home-style dishes which enjoy great popularity, and you can also experience the change of HuTong, this carrier of China’s traditional flavour. With a cup of tea, a few dishes and some friends, let us start the trip of cate and culture.” – HuTong Menu (Introduction)
I spotted HuTong from the corner of my eye as I wandered down Bourke Street a week or so ago. It lives in the lane that is also home to Flowerdrum (in fact, it’s just opposite), Shoya and Hofbrauhaus, and has only been open a few short weeks.
The fit-out is quite contemporary, though it still pays homage to tradition. Downstairs offers a more casual dining option, which gives a great view of the kitchen, and all the Chef’s busy at work. Upstairs is a larger dining area with booths and tables suitable for bigger family gatherings.
From the downstairs dining area you can catch a glimpse of this Dumpling Chef hard at work, making the most perfectly formed Shao-long bao with deft movements and great intent. As you can see in the next picture, the tops are gathered into the finest of folds. I counted at least 18 folds on some of them!
This is a close-up of what he was making – Shao-long bao (8 pieces, $8.50). Ooooooooh…all I can say is these are some of THE tastiest dumplings in town!
This style of dumpling is traditionally filled with meat and soup (hence their saggy bottoms). The soup inside is created by wrapping solid meat gelatin (that is, from creating a rich stock) inside the dumpling skin with the meat filling. When they go into the basket for a steam, the heat melts the gelatin and creates the soup. Genius.
One does have to be rather gentle in picking them up, and one needs to go in lightly with chopsticks and spoon. Delicately peel the dumpling away from the paper by tilting it to the side, and pop it onto the spoon. Make sure you have some of the saggy bottom just hanging over the lip of the spoon so you can gently nibble a small hole. Then it’s a matter of putting your lips to the hole and sipping on all the delicious meaty juices. I find it tastes better if you make a slurping sound too 
Once you have sucked it dry, it is time for a dunk in some black vinegar. Then pop the whole lot into your mouth and bite down on the light, juicy, meaty, orthodox flavours *ahem*. Small slivers of ginger are served in a bowl to the side, cleansing the palate and helping to cut through the richness between each sip/slurp/chomp.
We also tried their pan fried dumplings (6 pieces, $4.50), which were also a winner. I was well impressed with their plating technique, and I tried to ask the waitress how this very thin pancakey halo was made (it tasted a little sweet). Unfortunatey her English wasn’t so great, so I remain none the wiser. Oooh…looking at these photo’s now, I just want them all over again!
Dan also tried some Spicy Beef Noodles in Broth (Sichuan style), which I figure are what are commonly known as Dan Dan Noodles. The noodles were thinner than the ones usually served up in this town, but were firm and perfectly cooked to the tooth. The soup too was very flavoursome with a good balance of heat, despite the anaesthetising effect of the sichuan peppercorns in the firey topping.
I chose the gentler rice with mixed sauteed vegetables and beancurd. I was impressed with the light, flavoursome sauce – perhaps just a thickened chicken stock?
I’m mixing the dishes all around here (note these were eaten over two visits), but we also ordered the sauted fresh soy beans with bean curd leaves and Shanghai pickles ($13.80). It sounded unique when we read it on the menu, and we were surprised by what turned up. Basically the bean curd leaves are like noodles, but made out of yuba (bean curd skin). I’ve not come across it before, and was delighted with how weird they felt in the mouth; not at all chewy or soft, rather like eating paper. They were mixed with plump green soy beans and a generous mixture of preserved veg, all in a superior light chicken stock.
All in all, I’m loving HuTong for it’s quick, cheap and excellent fare.
Sounds bloody marvellous, mellie! I can always rely on you to sniff out hidden gems like this…
I just need to get around to blogging them
You’ll love it.
ahhh finally a xiao long bao joint in melbourne, been dying for these ever since shanghai! great review!
Mr T, I enjoyed it very much. Very authentic. Found the service very awkward and seemed to be trying to answer questions we didn’t ask. Probably a function of newness. The XLBs were perfect. Enjoyed being able to watch them being made, as we sat right at the window.
Sorry Mel, I thought Mr T wrote it! Very good review you’ve done.
You had me at Xiao Long Bao Mellie. I just love those dumplings and have been searching far and wide in Melbourne to try and find some as good as I had in China.
Now I must make a trip out to the city just to taste these amazing xiao long baos. I’m salivating just thinking about it. Good work alerting us to it.
The picture of the noodle soup is making me drool! The xiao long bao look great, I looooooove those dumplings too.
Hi mellie,
Checked this place out today (on your recommendation of course).
We sat upstairs and immediately noticed the noise level. With a concrete wall on one side, glass windows on the other and hardwood underneath conversation reverberates around the room like an acoustic cyclone.
Happily this didn’t affect the taste of the food. The shao-long bao, pan fried dumplings, wontons in soup, chinese broccoli in oyster sauce and sliced rice cake were all excellent. Like you, we had trouble figuring out what the thin papery layer under the dumplings was. I suspect it might be some sort of stock boiled dry but I could be way off.
I’ll be going back to pick over the menu again. There’s a few thigns I missed out on that I really want to try. I think I’ll steer clear of things like the pork intestines and beef offal though.
Hi Mellie,
I also checked out this place today – it must have been a tummyrumbles day because there were a couple of readers at the table next to mine. The xiao long bao were as good as the ones at decent restaurants in Shanghai, and the shanghai fried noodles weren’t bad either, though next time I’ll have to drag a friend along to share some of the exciting big bowls of stuff like those bean curd noodley things.
Thanks for the awesome review, I’m gonna go check out the place on friday. Hope you get more time to blog, I’ve been visiting your page every day to check for updates!
Mellie, my friend told me that the thin brown layer is actually water + flour that comes out form the dumpling when it’s cooking(so dumpling remains?)
Hi Aaron – thanks for your comment! Have you managed to sample them yet?
Hey there Ric – yeah, I think they are still finding their feet (I think they only opened a few days after Christmas!). We’ve been back a number of times now ourselves, and the XLB’s have always been spot on.
Hi Thanh – perhaps we can meet you there for some late night snacking? Let us know!
G’day Agnes – you can’t beat a good bowl of noodles, and these ones, by Dan’s reckoning, were pretty good! I bit too much on the hot side for my delicate palate though
Hiya Trav – glad you enjoyed it! We’ve had a few dishes (other than the dumplings), and have had a few hits and a miss. I must admit I wasn’t a fan of their Shanghai fried noodles (sorry Flozza!) – I found them a little too sweet/oily. But I’ve loved just about everything else. There was also another intersting dish named “Couples dish”, which had ox tongue. Hmm..I’m intrigued!
Hey there Flozza – ha…that is so funny! I wonder if that was Trav at the table next to you? I’ve noticed that it has been getting busier and busier (word must be getting around). A few days ago we saw Cheong Liew and his family tucking into some dumplings too!
Hi V – thanks for your lovely comment. Ahh..I wish I had more time to blog too! Work unfortunately gets in the way sometimes
But have you managed to make it there yet? What were your thoughts? And thanks re: the thin brown pancakey layer. That’s what I sort of figured…perhaps just all the floury juices. Either way, it tastes good!
aww.. that’s sad to hear.. i thought dec-jan was meant to be the lazy months where people are on annual leave or coming back from annual leave.
I took my bf last Friday and had the first 3 dishes on your blog (except we got 12 fried dumplings) and it was fantastic~! loved it! although the spicy beef dish really take it out of me. I had a spoonful turned to my bf “hey.. this is really *cough cough cough*… water… water… ahh… it’s really yummy… *gulps down some more water*.. but a lil spicy”. The funny thing is that my bf was just about to respond, when HE started choking from the chilli. It’s a very amusing dish. LOL
Hope work eases up on you soon!
The thin crispy thing at the bottom is done by pouring a mixture of flour and water to the pan when the pan stickers are almost ready. For a more dramatic look, check out this photo: http://flickr.com/photos/flickrized/447946299/
This photo was taken at the Made in China restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Beijing.
Hi V – err, I wish Dec-Jan were my quiet months! Alas, they’re probably the busiest! Haha…yes, that spicy beef dish is rather amusing. Poor Dan certainly suffered the next day
Hi Amanda – thanks for the flickr link! Wow…now that is what I call pot stickers!
Went back on Tuesday and along with the usual we also tried the eggplant hotpot. Just incredible.
I went there too after reading your blog Mellie. And I can concur that the Xiao Long Baos were fantastic. The dumplings were also really good, way better than any other dumpling place in Melbourne I’ve tried (and that’s a lot).
I also had the eggplant like Trav and they were great too. To round it off, I had the pepper beef, again, another winner. The price was good and service quite attentive.
I must blog it soon, just so hot that I can’t be bothered yet.
Keep digging up the gems for us Mellie and Dan.
Hi Trav – Dan has had the eggplant hotpot and thought it was good also. We’ve been back a number of times now
Hey Thanh – glad you like it! The XLB’s really are something special – I think probably the best in Melbourne. Look forward to your blog post!
The prices seem to have gone up already! Not happy…
Have they? Damn!
I must admit I went today, but I didn’t even look at the prices. I’ll have to check it out next time I go.
They still make damn tasty XLB’s though
Thank you Mellie!! I have been craving dumplings for a while now and have not found a decent one in Melbourne yet!! Will def try out this little hidden gem you discovered!!
this is the best dumplings ever
Hey HH – well, I think you’ll love these ones. Take yourself there quick smart!
Hey Rjb – yeah, they’re non-too-shabby, huh?
Well I went recently.
I have to say I was incredibly disappointed.
I don’t remember the varieties we ordered, but every different type of dumpling tasted exactly the same.
The Lobster San Choi Bao was ordinary at best.
The Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce was pretty much steamed broccoli with a tiny dollop of oyster sauce. The oyster sauce was clearly not part of the cooking process.
The meat dish we ordered (sorry can’t remember the name), was really good though.
Having spent around $40 each, we were still really hungry afterwards. Wasn’t expecting a massive feed, but expected to at least be satisfied by it.
To add to it, my partner was trying to order a drink from the bar. They served him the first time . Then they informed him that because the bar is on the lower level, they didn’t have time to bring drinks up for him. I thought that was ridiculous. For a restaurant like this I think that lack of service completely unreasonable.
I really wouldn’t recommend it.
Hi Steve – thanks for your comment. I like to hear about others experiences, which I think adds to the balance of my view. So keep them up!
In regards to the dumplings – they really only do two different flavours at HuTong; pork and prawn. Those come in different guises though – the Shao-long Baos (a steamed pastry pouch filled with pork and soup), boiled pork dumpling, pan-fried pork dumplings. The wantons too are pork-filled, although the pastry skin is different. So while the filling is the same, it’s the pastry/prepartion/presentation which is the difference. So your assumption is correct – they are all the same filling. But they are meant to be
I’ve been a number of times now, and I must admit I have never spent over $20 a head, and always come away stuffed.I can highly recommend trying their fried rice (special or vegetarian), which is lauded even by native Chinese. And if you have the Chinese broccoli, you must go the one with garlic. It is spectacular – they really don’t skimp on the garlic or the sauce (had this a number of times). Also, the chilli chicken wings are a winner as well.
Each time we go back, we *always* have the Shao-long bao (or XLB’s) – that is their speciality, and sometimes the panfried for crunchy difference. But we ordinarly wouldn’t order more than two different types.
regarding the broccoli in oyster sauce, this is how it’s done in many chinese cuisines. when you go to yum cha, you can see the waiters blanching the broccoli in hot water, then drizzle oyster sauce over it. if you want stir fried broccoli, the one with garlic is the go, as Mellie has said
it is strange that they would refuse to bring your partner a drink; definitely worthy of complaining to management. personally, I’ve never experienced this, however, I also think that they have improved a lot in their service. I remember waiting ages for food to come when they first opened :p
i have never been to this place before and I always hear gd and bad things about the service especially their ‘hygeine’ but they are well known for the dumplings. I am turned off that they are charging a big gathering for $30 per head . i do believe its ridiculous how the hell can we each person eat $30 of dumplings. I don’t believe this place is ‘rad’ or great anymore.
Hello e – Hmm….let me get this straight. You have never been to HuTong before, yet you pass judgement and comment?! From what I can see from looking into their very open kitchen (which you can see when you walk into the restaurant), their hygiene and food handling seems to be very good. Yes, they do also have set menus for groups, but it doesn’t just consist of dumplings. It includes many other dishes, such as crab, pork etc.
I suggest in future you at least visit a venue and try it yourself before passing such harsh judgement.
Went back on Saturday. XLBs were better than last visit and enjoyed the prawn wontons in some sort of spicy sauce – but significant other didn’t!
Service still the slow horse running. Didn’t open the restaurant till 15 minutes after advertised, and left us in the rain. Other groups walked off. Staff avoiding eye contact, and saying facile things rather than acknowledge the issues.
Wait staff need to realise that this behaviour costs the owner money – dishes not ordered (give up) customers walking away and failing to understand what dishes are which.
The industry is too dependent on uni students – end of rant for today!
But will still go back for the XLBs.
Took the whole family last night after reading about it here and in Epicure. We had a short wait, perhaps ten minutes, for our booked table. Despite being really busy, as one table vacated it was immediately filled, the wait staff were working hard under pressure. There were hygiene issues for sure, we were served two dirty teapots and our table top suffered from not having enough time to be cleaned properly. Oh, but the food! None of us had ever had XLBs before and were so struck with them we simply ordered them again. The main courses were complemented by all, but we did have to wait a long time, so it was handy knowing beforehand that this might happen. My main was pork intestines with tofu swimming in an oily (intentional, I believe) chilli flavoured broth, a dish that was well executed with great textures. Pity that two dishes were completely forgotten, including the steamed rice! The other one, pan fried dumplings was later brought to our table completely cold. The food worked out to $30/head and I for one was full at the end, in fact all of us were and we left some food on the table. Sure, there are some issues with this place, but I would definitely go again.
Hi Ric and Neil – I concur with you both. I’ve been a number of times now, and just adore the food (if it arrives!), especially the XLB’s. I usually go for lunch, and I find if you get there on the knocker of 12 noon, you’ll generally get both good service and good, quick food. The troubles seem to start when it gets busy.
But those XLB’s…so worth suffering the poor service.
I went there last month after reading about it here. The XLBs were awesome – I can’t stop raving about them to anyone who’d listen! The service wasn’t great (yes, they avoided eye contact when we got there and we were left standing at the entrance for 10 minutes), but I didn’t have a problem with the hygiene. I loved being able to see the dumpling chef at work. Not a fan of the strange triangle top stools though!
We had the turnip pastries as well, which were delicious, but could do with more turnip. They actually sold out of the pan friend dumplings when we got there at 1:15, so will definitely have to return to sample those. I found the food to be pretty good value, given the quality. We only spent $10 a head for lunch.
I would recommend HuTong to anyone who love ordinary food and terrible service. Otherwise, try supper inn down the road.
I went for lunch yesterday again, and I must admit, I was kind of dissapointed. The only good thing was we got to sit on the third floor, which is a wonderful space. Other than that, the food WAS kinda ordinary. My main complaints – the XLB’s were smaller than normal. They’d sold out of the pan fried dumplings, so we went the steamed. The skin was soooo thick, they were full of water, and not very tasty at all. The vegetarian fried rice, which has always been awesome, was bland and not very flavoursome. The salt and pepper white bait was mostly batter (with nary a fish), and cold. The chicken wings though, were fab.
The place was absolutely packed, and this was at 12 noon on a Saturday. I’m thinking their recent popularity is hurting their quality.
I went to Hutong on Saturday and was absolutely delighted!!! I word of warning though, do get there before 12:30pm because a lot of the dumplings had already sold out. We also had a delicious egg plant dish and various others, and they rocked! Its seriously yummy food at a very reasonable price for its quality. I’ll be back for sure.
just went there on my own to try the dumplings and was not dissapointed service was very good and nice setting my only problem was for tall people the chairs and tables are small and the seats are triangle shaped and no room to stretch out legs, but i soon got over that once the dumplings arrived, i had dumplings in china and these were as good as any i have tried over sea, highly recomend it and the complimentry tea went well to.
Are you open on Saturday night and what time do you open. Do we need to make a booking?
Hi DorenandPhil – Yes, HuTong are open on Saturday night, and I think they open about 6pm. I would *highly* recommend making a booking. Their number is at the top of this post.
Hey Mellie,
I finally visited Hu Tong with my colleagues on a Wednesday night! I’m pretty happy with their Xiao Long Bao, they definitely satisfy my XLB cravings and they are probably one of the best ones I’ve had in Melbourne. The service is a different story though lol. The waiters looked very unenthusiastic and when we asked them about our last dish that hasn’t after 30 min from when all the other dishes were served, the waiter just said ‘wait 5-10 more min’ and walk away without rechecking the orders. The dish did arrive in the end though. Other than their slow service, I’m pretty happy with Hu Tong
heading off to the city for dumplings @hutong dumpling bar – yummo http://bit.ly/9oL5b
Hey HH – yeah, I’ve had a bit of hit and miss service from them as well (..and yes, forgotten dishes!). But I must confess, the XLB’s have always been great!
@RippingYan That’s a cute looking website and I think I may have to try Hutong dumplings after looking at the post from http://bit.ly/3Jopc
Hi Mellie,
Tried Hu Tong on Saturday – sad to say, it was not spectacular
Had the XLB – skin was amazingly thin, filling was turned to mush inside because too much soup but soup was nice. Have you tried Dumplings Plus on Swanston? That, the skin is not as good as HT’s but the flavouring’s pretty good!
Also had the duck – nothing special. Had the fried ricecake – no flavour whatsoever and very oily! Had the stirfried fish slices with ginger – nothing exceptional. Had stirfried green beans also (Sung’s Kitchen’s version is way better) – was just ok.
Will still return to try the other items you tried – hopefully it’ll be a better experience!
Hi there iphigenie – no, I haven’t tried Dumplings Plus yet (I went when it was previously known as Ye Shanghai). I must try.
Sorry to hear your dining experience wasn’t so great. Out of the half a dozen or so times I’ve had the XLB’s, there has only been once when I wasn’t happy (the skin was too thick). But other than that, they have been perfect every time.
I hope your next visit is better.
Nice post. But you’re eating the shao-long bao wrong. Let it cool a bit when it arrives.. pick up the whole piece without breaking it, dip in black vinegar, eat whole. You aren’t supposed to suck out the soup first!
Hi deefa – thanks for your comment, but I beg to differ. When I dined at Din Tai Fung in Singapore, the chopstick wrapper actually provides instruction. And you can read some more insteresting technique discussion at Chowhound. Neither of us is wrong, we just eat them different. At the end of the day, they still go down the one hole
Deefa, I have the pamphlet straight from the restaurant which offers instructions on how to eat the shao-long Bao and it and it does say to suck out the soup to enjoy the broth.
XLP is the best I ve tried so far but when come to service—-Disappointed.Lately I did tried the fried dumpling as well… wuh wah yummy…. tasty. I love that.eat it with some wines. U ll never forget…
The XLB and steamed pork dumplings are definitely much, much better in comparison with what the other dumpling places have to offer around Melbourne CBD. However, I’ve been to HuTong many, many times since its opening and I have to say the service has just gone from merely ‘okay’ to horrendous. The host guy who takes bookings and line-ups is okay, but the wait staff are the most unenthusiastic bunch I’ve ever seen and have often received deathly stares and impatient sighs when I ask for anything (order, ask for a pair of chopsticks, water). The dumplings are quite spectacular, but if the service continues on like this, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be a revisiting patron.
[...] it seems that the next place to stop over is at Hu Tong. I read rave reviews here, here and here, thus was interested to find out more about the Xiao Long Baos. What seemed to do the trick was [...]