David's Restaurant Yum Cha
David's Restaurant in Prahran is a Melbourne institution for modern Chinese cuisine and offers top notch Yum Cha on weekends. The World Loves Melbourne was invited to visit David's for a meal but also to help celebrate their 20th birthday. In this super competitive foodie environment David's should be congratulated for 20 epic years of service and contribution to the Melbourne culinary scene. I've visited several times over the years and have always enjoyed my visits to David's Restaurant.
We turned the affair into a family experience and have to report that David's is a family friendly restaurant. It's a recommended Sunday experience to visit David's with family and friends and relax while they come to your table with a great selection of modern yum cha. We agreed service was top notch with staff attentive and engaging.
With a line up out the door and along the street you know the yum cha at David's is popular. We came for the 1.30pm sitting on a Sunday (need to book). As soon as you walk in you are shown to your table and the service is quick. You notice the awesome fit out of hanging plants, chic lighting, plus natural light and high ceilings and elegant bar - unlike most yum cha places I've been to.
We love the vibe at David's including their retro soundtrack while we were enjoying yum cha. The wait staff were excellent and friendly the whole time. The food kept coming over 1 1/2 hours to our table.
Shallot pancakes were warm, fresh and delicious and the perfect start. We enjoyed the fact that David's combines traditional Shanghai dishes with contemporary flavours. No traditional trollies but rather staff coming to your table with large trays of delicious yum cha.
Vegetarian San Choi Bao is a wonderful dish with smokey Chinese BBQ sauce and wrapped in lettuce leaves.
Prawn spring rolls were first class; a decent size and tasty filling. Crispy on the outside of course!
BBQ Pork buns were also a highlight. A top notch filling and large!
Duck pancakes were a touch of class.
Prawn rolls were my favourite dish of the yum cha. David's use quality large prawns in their dishes.
The tender beef was melt in your mouth.
Wontons in noodle soup was another highlight of the yum cha. Slurp slurp.
Then we were served a variety of delicious dumplings such as these Chili pork dumplings. Bring on the heat!
Ice tea was a welcome beverage with the option of infusing the tea with gin!
Dumplings and more dumplings! A favourite was the Prawn hargow dumplings.
Eggplant was a surprisingly delicious dish. Served with fried rice.
Fried chicken was another crowd pleaser. This was modern yum cha at its best.
The feature of the dumplings for me was the Siu Mai, along with Wontons with ginger.
Crispy calamari! So good.
Already feeling quite full we embarked on dessert with the highlight of dessert dumplings. Molten white chocolate dumplings were exquisite and tasty.
Nutella sesame dumplings were a hit.
Custard dumplings also hit the mark.
This was a modern first class yum cha experience and an example of the quality that pervades David's Restaurant in everything it does.
Owner and founder David Zhou brings excellent Shanghai hospitality to Melbourne and one of the secrets of David's is not just the food but the high quality of service and the appealing setting.
“David's was inspired by family; our wholesome fare combines traditional dishes with contemporary tastes. Our food shares my journey from Shanghai to Melbourne, it's my family’s story and recipes passed down from generations, dishes my mother and grandmother cooked for us - at David's, we want you to feel at home.” Owner and founder David Zhou
Congrats to David's on 20 epic years! Highly recommended.