An Authentic Sichuan Hot Pot Restaurant in Melbourne
They’re so good the truffle versions with a sliver of the good stuff are almost redundant. This “little” sibling of hotpot institution Dainty Sichuan uses the same rich broths and variety of ingredients, but specialises in malatang style – or hotpot for one. Elastic, chewy noodles; baby bok choy; and a chicken and chilli broth with an incredible depth of flavour and spice – both numbing and burning. This Uyghur restaurant serves springy hand-pulled spicy noodles, beef dumplings, and flaky pastries filled with lamb and cumin. Little Sichuan, Dainty’s new brand, opened in Melbourne’s CBD QV shopping center in January 2017. Specialized in Mao cai, Steamed pork belly, Steamed Pork Bun and other traditional famous snacks.Dainty’s chef team is devoted to bring the most authentic hometown flavor to comfort the homesickness of people.
You can pick your favourites from the a la carte menu, or embrace the excess of Sichuan-style hot pot. I say ‘excess’ as the range best restaurant box hill of ingredients on offer is quite mind-blowing. Here you can slurp your contented way through huge bowls of noodle-laidened soup.
This casual diner – by the Dainty Sichuan crew – is dedicated to Chongqing-style noodle soup. Make sure to get here nice and early, because it gets busy fast. Shanghainese food from eastern China, where dishes are small and designed for sharing. Visit for great drunken chicken and the classic xiao long bao.
With its neon lights and polished fit-out, this all-you-can-eat hotpot joint in the heart of Chinatown is straight out of a Wong Kar Wai film. This stall in Box Hill has got cooked meat, entrees and vegetable dishes pre-packaged in takeaway containers, ready for you to grab and take to work or reheat at home. Cantonese chefs with more than three decades of experience serve up suckling roast duck. You can’t walk past the live seafood tank – one of the largest in the city – without doing a double-take. Seafood is the specialty, but the menu has got a bit of everything.
If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David! Chef David opened its first restaurant under the name David’s Hotpot, with the goal of sharing Sichuan flavours with the people of Melbourne. Now they are firing up the barbecue and tempting the tastebuds of the CBD with a brand new Sichuan Barbecue grill menu.
It's a little slicker than some of the other restaurants on the Dixon Street strip, but the flavour is still there. Cool down with smashed cucumber and cold noodles doused in peanut sauce after hitting the brisket hotpot. Tan reckons Westerners have developed a taste for strong flavours. "Hot food is more accessible to all of us. Big, bold flavours are easily relatable."
Unwavering attention to detail has ensured this high-end Cantonese restaurant has stood the test of time. Traditional Cantonese food is meticulously prepared and wheeled to the table on trolleys. Peking duck is prepared at the table with a few quick manoeuvres by expert waiters.
But if you’re after the gold standard for Cantonese cuisine in the city, look no further. The interior design might be a bit dated, but the cooking is very authentic. If you can’t tolerate a decent hit of spice, this probably isn’t the best Chinese restaurant for you to try. It’s also worth noting that House of Delight, apart from being one of the best Sichuan restaurants in Melbourne, also offers Cantonese and Shanghaiese dishes. Dainty Sichuan Food isn’t one restaurant, but a whole stable of eateries dedicated to the wonders of Sichuan cuisine.
Part of the beauty of enjoying the hot pot buffet at this restaurant is that each diner has their own hot pot. This means that individual tastes for soup bases, proteins and those all important spices can be perfectly accommodated. This is fabulous if you are a heat-addict, but your partner breaks out in a sweat at the mere thought of a chilli. If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David Li. Chef David has been experimenting with Sichuan flavours since he was 14 years old. Now the executive chef at his titular restaurant, he creates recipes and trains the talented chefs in the kitchen.
Whether you’re looking for a hearty Middle-Eastern-inflected stew (commonly served in China’s far-west), a fiery Sichuan hotpot or a basket of the best xiao long bao in town, there’s a place in this guide for you. It’s actually uncommon to group the food of the country’s regions together. Despite Australia’s long history of Chinese immigration (which started in the mid-19th century), it’s only in the past few years that we’ve seen dishes from some of China’s lesser-known cuisines make appearances in Melbourne. And they’re still mostly bound to Chinese-community enclaves such as Springvale or Box Hill. There is, for example, her essay Dick Soup, published in a 2014 edition of former food quarterly Lucky Peach, where she set about cooking with buck penises. The Western world's most influential writer on regional Chinese dining wants everyone to eat more Sichuan food.
As the name suggests, this is Sichuan fire and heat tailored for the shopping mall food court where speed and convenience are the law. Not surprisingly, noodles are the draw here, though there are a few other offerings. Our choice is the signature Chilli Chicken soups which pack just enough punch to set you up for your next round of retail therapy.
From its original restaurant in Collingwood, the Dainty Sichuan brand has opened a range of dining spaces across the city and beyond. Many ingredients are imported, to ensure their authenticity. The team of chefs also maintain strong links with professionals back in Sichuan and Chongqing. Sichuan food might be a cuisine with roughly 5000 dishes but for the average human, it's really defined by one central tenet. "Chillies are at the heart of Sichuan cooking," Dunlop writes in her book The Food of Sichuan. And it's the different uses of chilli that give Sichuan food its defining taste.
You can pick your favourites from the a la carte menu, or embrace the excess of Sichuan-style hot pot. I say ‘excess’ as the range best restaurant box hill of ingredients on offer is quite mind-blowing. Here you can slurp your contented way through huge bowls of noodle-laidened soup.
This casual diner – by the Dainty Sichuan crew – is dedicated to Chongqing-style noodle soup. Make sure to get here nice and early, because it gets busy fast. Shanghainese food from eastern China, where dishes are small and designed for sharing. Visit for great drunken chicken and the classic xiao long bao.
With its neon lights and polished fit-out, this all-you-can-eat hotpot joint in the heart of Chinatown is straight out of a Wong Kar Wai film. This stall in Box Hill has got cooked meat, entrees and vegetable dishes pre-packaged in takeaway containers, ready for you to grab and take to work or reheat at home. Cantonese chefs with more than three decades of experience serve up suckling roast duck. You can’t walk past the live seafood tank – one of the largest in the city – without doing a double-take. Seafood is the specialty, but the menu has got a bit of everything.
If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David! Chef David opened its first restaurant under the name David’s Hotpot, with the goal of sharing Sichuan flavours with the people of Melbourne. Now they are firing up the barbecue and tempting the tastebuds of the CBD with a brand new Sichuan Barbecue grill menu.
It's a little slicker than some of the other restaurants on the Dixon Street strip, but the flavour is still there. Cool down with smashed cucumber and cold noodles doused in peanut sauce after hitting the brisket hotpot. Tan reckons Westerners have developed a taste for strong flavours. "Hot food is more accessible to all of us. Big, bold flavours are easily relatable."
Unwavering attention to detail has ensured this high-end Cantonese restaurant has stood the test of time. Traditional Cantonese food is meticulously prepared and wheeled to the table on trolleys. Peking duck is prepared at the table with a few quick manoeuvres by expert waiters.
But if you’re after the gold standard for Cantonese cuisine in the city, look no further. The interior design might be a bit dated, but the cooking is very authentic. If you can’t tolerate a decent hit of spice, this probably isn’t the best Chinese restaurant for you to try. It’s also worth noting that House of Delight, apart from being one of the best Sichuan restaurants in Melbourne, also offers Cantonese and Shanghaiese dishes. Dainty Sichuan Food isn’t one restaurant, but a whole stable of eateries dedicated to the wonders of Sichuan cuisine.
Part of the beauty of enjoying the hot pot buffet at this restaurant is that each diner has their own hot pot. This means that individual tastes for soup bases, proteins and those all important spices can be perfectly accommodated. This is fabulous if you are a heat-addict, but your partner breaks out in a sweat at the mere thought of a chilli. If anyone knows authentic Sichuan cuisine, it’s Chef David Li. Chef David has been experimenting with Sichuan flavours since he was 14 years old. Now the executive chef at his titular restaurant, he creates recipes and trains the talented chefs in the kitchen.
Whether you’re looking for a hearty Middle-Eastern-inflected stew (commonly served in China’s far-west), a fiery Sichuan hotpot or a basket of the best xiao long bao in town, there’s a place in this guide for you. It’s actually uncommon to group the food of the country’s regions together. Despite Australia’s long history of Chinese immigration (which started in the mid-19th century), it’s only in the past few years that we’ve seen dishes from some of China’s lesser-known cuisines make appearances in Melbourne. And they’re still mostly bound to Chinese-community enclaves such as Springvale or Box Hill. There is, for example, her essay Dick Soup, published in a 2014 edition of former food quarterly Lucky Peach, where she set about cooking with buck penises. The Western world's most influential writer on regional Chinese dining wants everyone to eat more Sichuan food.
As the name suggests, this is Sichuan fire and heat tailored for the shopping mall food court where speed and convenience are the law. Not surprisingly, noodles are the draw here, though there are a few other offerings. Our choice is the signature Chilli Chicken soups which pack just enough punch to set you up for your next round of retail therapy.
From its original restaurant in Collingwood, the Dainty Sichuan brand has opened a range of dining spaces across the city and beyond. Many ingredients are imported, to ensure their authenticity. The team of chefs also maintain strong links with professionals back in Sichuan and Chongqing. Sichuan food might be a cuisine with roughly 5000 dishes but for the average human, it's really defined by one central tenet. "Chillies are at the heart of Sichuan cooking," Dunlop writes in her book The Food of Sichuan. And it's the different uses of chilli that give Sichuan food its defining taste.
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