Welcome to Melbourne Foodie. The blogspace of a 21 year old foodie with a passion for fine dining and quality food and produce.
Melbourne Foodie is my way of expressing and recording some of the experiences I have had for others to enjoy. I always welcome any feedback,
comments or restaurant suggestions you may have and would love to hear from you soon.
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Happy eating,
Jon!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Ling Wah (Hampton Park) 2
This evening myself, along with Robert and Kat again visited the wonderful Ling Wah Chinese restaurant in Hampton Park.
We decided tonight to dine on the "Banquet A" menu which again represented excellent value at $28 per head for a feast including: soup, entrees, three set main courses, fried rice and a choice of dessert plus tea and coffee. The good news is that we took a real camera with us as well so we can post some decent quality pictures of the food.
As I have mentioned in a previous entry the quality of service at Ling Wah is exceptionally good:- friendly, prompt and proffessional, with waiters appearing to have a genuine interest in their jobs, and the success of the restaurant in general. This is something which is often not apparent in many of todays establishments.
The food at Ling Wah though is ultimately the reason one returns: simple, well executed, delicious dishes which represent great value for money.
Here is a summary of the courses we enjoyed in tonights banquet:
Chicken and sweet corn soup: traditional Chinese starter. A good version, with chunks of fresh chicken in a thick, flavoursome broth.
Entrees: Chicken wings and homemade spring rolls with a sweet sauce: Both were very good:- the wings cooked perfeclty with a nice flavour throughout, as were the spring rolls which were accompanied perfectly by a light smothering of sauce. I particularly enjoyed these.
Mixed seafood and vegetables in birds nest: A wonderful dish which looked amazing and tasted great: You get a pretty basket made of julienne potato housing a combination of: fish, crab meat, prawns and scallops along with fresh seasonal vegetables in a clear sauce. A succesful dish.
Blackbean beef: An excellent version of a classic dish. The beef is so soft and tender and just melts in the mouth - the way good beef should be. Pictured is one divided portion.
Honey Chicken (we substitued lemon chicken for this, an extra $1 per head): This is probably Robert's favourite dish and he says it is the best honey chicken he has ever eaten. I am personally not such a fan of really sweet dishes, but this was excellent and I would have to agree with Robert - it is amazing for honey chicken. Perfectly crunchy, tender pieces of chicken finished with a good drizzling of warm honey, cashews and sesame seeds. A simple but really good dish.
The fried rice was also excellent again, as you can see in this photo.
Desserts: The offerings available here are all the classics, done very well. We go for fried ice-cream and banana fritters. The fried ice-cream is served beutifully with a little sugar cube on top served alight. Unfortunately this cannot be seen in the photos. Both were done fairly well, but nothing particularly exciting.
To finish we each order coffee or hot chocolate which is fairly good, and also recieve the usual offerings of small glasses of port and dinner mints. A lovely (complimentary) way to end an evening of good food.
Ling Wah is located on the corner of Hallam and Fordholm Roads, Hampton Park. The friendly staff have also advised us that restaurant will be re-decorated from 1st November, with a huge range of Christmas decorations going up, coming in directly from China. We are told that we can expect a range of decorations never before seen in this country - just another good reason to return soon!
Ling Wah receives an exceptional score of: 15/20. For a more detailed analysis please refer to my previous Ling Wah post.
============
20/03/08 - I should mention that we have returned to Ling Wah at least 5 or 6 times since this review, including a special Chinese new Year banquet which was excellent. The food and service remain of a very high quality, though some dishes are clearly better than others.
We decided tonight to dine on the "Banquet A" menu which again represented excellent value at $28 per head for a feast including: soup, entrees, three set main courses, fried rice and a choice of dessert plus tea and coffee. The good news is that we took a real camera with us as well so we can post some decent quality pictures of the food.
As I have mentioned in a previous entry the quality of service at Ling Wah is exceptionally good:- friendly, prompt and proffessional, with waiters appearing to have a genuine interest in their jobs, and the success of the restaurant in general. This is something which is often not apparent in many of todays establishments.
The food at Ling Wah though is ultimately the reason one returns: simple, well executed, delicious dishes which represent great value for money.
Here is a summary of the courses we enjoyed in tonights banquet:
Chicken and sweet corn soup: traditional Chinese starter. A good version, with chunks of fresh chicken in a thick, flavoursome broth.
Entrees: Chicken wings and homemade spring rolls with a sweet sauce: Both were very good:- the wings cooked perfeclty with a nice flavour throughout, as were the spring rolls which were accompanied perfectly by a light smothering of sauce. I particularly enjoyed these.
Mixed seafood and vegetables in birds nest: A wonderful dish which looked amazing and tasted great: You get a pretty basket made of julienne potato housing a combination of: fish, crab meat, prawns and scallops along with fresh seasonal vegetables in a clear sauce. A succesful dish.
Blackbean beef: An excellent version of a classic dish. The beef is so soft and tender and just melts in the mouth - the way good beef should be. Pictured is one divided portion.
Honey Chicken (we substitued lemon chicken for this, an extra $1 per head): This is probably Robert's favourite dish and he says it is the best honey chicken he has ever eaten. I am personally not such a fan of really sweet dishes, but this was excellent and I would have to agree with Robert - it is amazing for honey chicken. Perfectly crunchy, tender pieces of chicken finished with a good drizzling of warm honey, cashews and sesame seeds. A simple but really good dish.
The fried rice was also excellent again, as you can see in this photo.
Desserts: The offerings available here are all the classics, done very well. We go for fried ice-cream and banana fritters. The fried ice-cream is served beutifully with a little sugar cube on top served alight. Unfortunately this cannot be seen in the photos. Both were done fairly well, but nothing particularly exciting.
To finish we each order coffee or hot chocolate which is fairly good, and also recieve the usual offerings of small glasses of port and dinner mints. A lovely (complimentary) way to end an evening of good food.
Ling Wah is located on the corner of Hallam and Fordholm Roads, Hampton Park. The friendly staff have also advised us that restaurant will be re-decorated from 1st November, with a huge range of Christmas decorations going up, coming in directly from China. We are told that we can expect a range of decorations never before seen in this country - just another good reason to return soon!
Ling Wah receives an exceptional score of: 15/20. For a more detailed analysis please refer to my previous Ling Wah post.
============
20/03/08 - I should mention that we have returned to Ling Wah at least 5 or 6 times since this review, including a special Chinese new Year banquet which was excellent. The food and service remain of a very high quality, though some dishes are clearly better than others.
Labels: Ling Wah, REVIEWS: Casual Dining
Monday, October 8, 2007
Ling Wah Restaurant (Hampton Park)
Tonight myself, along with a group of friends had the pleasure of having dinner at Ling Wah Chinese Restaurant in Hampton Park. Having never eaten here before, but hearing good things from my friends I was unsure what to expect. Lets just say that I was not dissapointed. It was a fantastic dining experience and exceptionally good value for money. This is a restaurant where you are getting city quality food and service at local restaurant prices. The five of us ate until we could eat no more for under $25 a head, and their BYO policy for a mere $1.50 per person is excellent - you can bring along anything to drink, not just wine, and will have it served to you properly. They will even put your wine bottles in an ice bucket, and chill your drinks until necessary.
Service is also excellent, with warm greetings on arrival and attention throughout your meal. Everything you expect in a good restaurant. Staff are only to happy to assist, serving food for you and making sure you are enjoying the experience. They would put many much better known establishments to shame, although service is generally strong at most Chinese retaurants. Another plus is the complimentary extras you receive such as pickled vegetables and prawn crackers before your meal and chocolate dinner mints and glasses of port afterwards. How sweet.
And the food: excellent quality, beautifully presented servings of delicious Chinese cuisine. You will find all your favourites along with a great range of more interesting dishes, and most are under $20 - really tasty food, generous servings and excellent value. And they make excellent special fried rice as well. I seriously believe the food quality of most of the dishes we tried are as good as, if not better than many big name city places. I will definately be going back soon - this food is to good to pass by. Now to summarise the dishes we ate - all dishes were shared which is always good in Chinese restaurants.
Westlake Duck: Tender pieces of battered duckling, sliced and served with a sweet and sour style sauce. A good dish.
Mango Chicken: Another simple, excellent dish. Presented like lemon chicken you get tender sliced chicken breast pieces with a sweet, but not outrageously so, refreshing mango sauce topped with slices of fresh mango cheek.
Szechuan Chicken: A classic Sichuan province dish which was done particuarly well here. Tender pieces of chicken, with seasonal vegetables and cashews are presented in a balanced, but firey sauce with plenty of little chillies. Probably not a good idea to show off and eat to many of these little chillies as your mouth may begin to punish you for this.
Mongolian Beef: Sizzling hot plate. Excellent dish - succulent beef pieces with a light sauce and fresh vegetables.
Sweet Chilli Prawns: Another sizzling hot plate. A generous plate of tender sizzling prawns in a sweet, chilli scented sauce with seasonal vegetables.
Special fried rice - An excellent version.
With these five dishes and rice between us we left completely stuffed, unable to finish some of the latter courses. The food is top class, something you don't generally find in this area.
Dining on a Monday night the restaurant was fairly quiet as well, but the ambience was still there and the service was probably even better as there was no pressure as there is on Saturday nights when this place is always completely full.
Taking into account the great value for money I am pleased to give Ling Wah a score of: 15/20
Food: 7/10 - Delicious, well presented classics.
Service: 4/5 - Polite and proffesional but not intrusive.
Ambience: 4/5 - soft music, nice lighting, nice surroundings, proper nappery, hot towels at the end of your meal - everything you expect in good Chinese restaurants.
And if its your birthday they go all out, turning the laser lights on, along with happy birthday music and a dish of ice-cream with a fire sprinkler for the birthday guest.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Far exceeds all the other Chinese restaurants in the area.
Service is also excellent, with warm greetings on arrival and attention throughout your meal. Everything you expect in a good restaurant. Staff are only to happy to assist, serving food for you and making sure you are enjoying the experience. They would put many much better known establishments to shame, although service is generally strong at most Chinese retaurants. Another plus is the complimentary extras you receive such as pickled vegetables and prawn crackers before your meal and chocolate dinner mints and glasses of port afterwards. How sweet.
And the food: excellent quality, beautifully presented servings of delicious Chinese cuisine. You will find all your favourites along with a great range of more interesting dishes, and most are under $20 - really tasty food, generous servings and excellent value. And they make excellent special fried rice as well. I seriously believe the food quality of most of the dishes we tried are as good as, if not better than many big name city places. I will definately be going back soon - this food is to good to pass by. Now to summarise the dishes we ate - all dishes were shared which is always good in Chinese restaurants.
Westlake Duck: Tender pieces of battered duckling, sliced and served with a sweet and sour style sauce. A good dish.
Mango Chicken: Another simple, excellent dish. Presented like lemon chicken you get tender sliced chicken breast pieces with a sweet, but not outrageously so, refreshing mango sauce topped with slices of fresh mango cheek.
Szechuan Chicken: A classic Sichuan province dish which was done particuarly well here. Tender pieces of chicken, with seasonal vegetables and cashews are presented in a balanced, but firey sauce with plenty of little chillies. Probably not a good idea to show off and eat to many of these little chillies as your mouth may begin to punish you for this.
Mongolian Beef: Sizzling hot plate. Excellent dish - succulent beef pieces with a light sauce and fresh vegetables.
Sweet Chilli Prawns: Another sizzling hot plate. A generous plate of tender sizzling prawns in a sweet, chilli scented sauce with seasonal vegetables.
Special fried rice - An excellent version.
With these five dishes and rice between us we left completely stuffed, unable to finish some of the latter courses. The food is top class, something you don't generally find in this area.
Dining on a Monday night the restaurant was fairly quiet as well, but the ambience was still there and the service was probably even better as there was no pressure as there is on Saturday nights when this place is always completely full.
Taking into account the great value for money I am pleased to give Ling Wah a score of: 15/20
Food: 7/10 - Delicious, well presented classics.
Service: 4/5 - Polite and proffesional but not intrusive.
Ambience: 4/5 - soft music, nice lighting, nice surroundings, proper nappery, hot towels at the end of your meal - everything you expect in good Chinese restaurants.
And if its your birthday they go all out, turning the laser lights on, along with happy birthday music and a dish of ice-cream with a fire sprinkler for the birthday guest.
VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - Far exceeds all the other Chinese restaurants in the area.
Labels: Ling Wah, REVIEWS: Casual Dining
