Chopstick Delight, Mulgrave

I am so glad for all the old style Chinese restaurants around the world. You know, the ones that make you feel like you've stepped back in time upon the first few steps into the place. Dusty Chinois decorations that serves no purpose and do not blend into the surroundings (perhaps purchased in bulk from a $2 shop), well trodden carpets and well sat in chairs, white tablecloth overlaid with white paper to save on laundry fees and a waving cat at the cashier counter. 

I am glad for these old style Chinese restaurants because they transport me to a familiar past and where good food and tasty, traditional dishes abound. 

For example, this steamed house made tofu with minced chicken and chopped olive leaves ($28.80). I have not seen this dish anywhere else, and olive leaves? I did not even know they were edible. Perhaps olive as in the colour? Either way, it is tasty, but the overall taste is a tad sweet for me. I would have preferred it to be soy salty, but that would have been a normal dish and is not what I came for. 

The restaurant is known for its Pipa Duck ($80) but it would have been too much food for us so we ordered another dish from the menu. This is deep fried minced fish and taro cake ($32.80). Tossing the sauce aside, the fish and taro cakes were bouncy and delicious. It reminded me of pipa tofu. I would not be surprised if there was some tofu in the mix. The taro imparted a great fragrance and the fish was delicious. Like the tofu with olive leaves, this is an interesting dish because I had not come across a dish where fish is mixed with taro, but it works. 

 Half of the menu are plastered on the walls in Chinese characters which unfortunately neither us or Google Translate could read properly. The restaurant was very small with only a few tables so it was easy to look around and point to what others were eating. The table beside us had a beef hotpot dish where the beef slices were splayed like a skirt on a Barbie doll (sans the doll), Pipa duck, a stir fried fish fillet dish plus a few other dishes. Many of the other tables ordered celebratory dishes like lobster and duck. 

The service is customarily the Chinese hospitality - cursory to no welcome, very down to business and straight to the point. When I went to pay by cash, the cashier short changed me by about $10 and was not even apologetic about it. If anything, she might have been a bit annoyed that I picked up on the error. If you do venture into the restaurant, be prepared for the higher than usual prices, cramped and awkward seating, count your change before you pay and enjoy the good food.