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Food

David's Restaurant 20th Anniversary Dinner

Written by David Hagger on .

David's Restaurant is an icon in Melbourne and we were invited to attend  the Two Decades of Decadence event - a feast for the ages.  The World Loves Melbourne indulged with a nine-course set menu complete with matched drinks - a greatest hits menu from the last two decades. For David's Restaurant to dominate the culinary landscape in Melbourne for so long is a huge achievement and they are to be congratulated. It's a great story. 

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Celebrate two thriving decades of Shanghainese hospitality with a special degustation honouring David's famous dishes from the past and present, as well as an opportunity to taste new dishes from the upcoming menu.

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Huge congrats to David Zhou and his team! Pictured here with journalist Paul Best. Two decades of decadence celebrated with a special event.

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Adam is an engaging host, with David Zhou being his uncle.

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Original double boiled duck tonic soup with dates and wolfberries from when David’s first opened was a revelation. Broth to die for.

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Crab and asparagus rice noodle roll with light ginger soy and coriander peanut pesto was my personal favourite of the evening. Delicious crab in a noodle roll with crunch of asparagus and a compelling pesto.

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Top notch service has been a hallmark of David's, along with a superb atmosphere and signature dishes.

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Long Jing green tea sautéed prawns matched with 2016 Serra da Estrela Albarino, Rias Baixas SPAIN was another menu highlight. Juicy plump tea infused prawns to salivate over.

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Making its culinary debut was a Steamed sea perch fillet in a native spinach broth. Steamed white flesh fish on a bed of silken tofu in a Shanghainese native spinach broth was a match made in heaven. Imbibed this dish with a spoon.

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Chinese wombok in superior stock featured steamed wombok, in a tasty stock with dried shrimp and scallops matched with 2017 Chateau de L’escarelle ‘Cuvee Chateau Rose’, Provence FRANCE. David's displays dexterity in terms of meat and vegetarian dishes. I peeled off the delicately cooked pieces of wombok which were melt in your mouth, and again the broth was a standout.

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Another claim for dish of the night was the Iron Buddha Beef, which is a flash-fried tea-infused beef tossed in garlic, chillies and spring onion, then served on a bed of crisped iron buddha tea leaves – a true menu staple, ordered daily and loved by locals. 

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Also featured was the Shanghai sticky pork belly, braised for twelve hours then served with baby chat potatoes, a signature dish which has become a current menu must-have. This is melt in your mouth pork belly in a city that craves top notch pork belly. So much flavour, sticky bliss!

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We were also served another debutant dish, a classic Chinese dish, Gu Lao Rou chicken, known for its plum and pineapple notes. Sweet and savoury coming perfectly together.

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We enjoyed the final course of 8 treasure duck sticky rice – sticky rice wrapped duck steamed in lotus leaf. Soy flavour, slightly sweet matched with 2015 Rock of Wisdom Grenache, Barossa Valley SA. A dish that has been hugely popular in the history of David's.

Guests enjoyed hand-picked matched wines that enhanced the aromas and flavours of the night. Drops from France, Spain’s Rias Baixas, New Zealand’s Waipara region and the Barossa Valley made the list.

This was an awesome greatest hits menu and we had an epic evening celebrating two decades of decadence! May there be 20 more!

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