Man Tong Kitchen for Good Food Month
The World Loves Melbourne was invited to Man Tong Kitchen to sample the Let's Do Lunch for Good Food Month. We were highly impressed with the ambience and cuisine of this Crown restaurant. Enter through a charming entrance then into a world of gold and red and large lanterns. Staff were highly professional and explained the courses to me. Let's Do Lunch at Man Tong Kitchen is excellent value and we recommend you visit for Good Food Month. Also please check out our Best Soups in Melbourne.
Man Tong means "full house" in Chinese and this is a place to gather with friends and family. It was certainly popular on this weekday lunchtime with many tables full.
Let's Do Lunch at Man Tong Kitchen started with this flavoursome Hot and Sour Soup with Shredded Duck. The broth was thick and had spice and sour in volumes. What also impressed was the amount of other ingredients through the dish including mushroom and a good amount of shredded duck. With a glass of wine this was almost worth the price of the meal already. Also to mention, you would probably savour your wine after this course, given its heat. The matching wine is quality, not cheap plonk.
The Peking Duck was a highlight, with a generous amount of Peking Duck inside pancakes. This meal is for 2, so you each get a Peking Duck pancake. I savoured every morsel.
From one highlight to another, we were then presented with the Xiao Long Bao. These dumplings are a specialty at Man Tong Kitchen and other sister restaurants. As always, when you put one of these beauties in your mouth the tasty soup explodes across the palate. The casing is delicate and the filling quality.
Chilli Wontons also hit the mark, with large wontons and spice nuance.
This is such a great Chinese affordable degustation. The Stir Fried King Prawn with Sliced Mango was another excellent dish featuring large King Prawns plump and juicy flavoured with a sauce, nestled on a bed of mango and salad.
Towards the end of the meal, this was refreshing.
Man Tong Kitchen is presented by Crown as casual dining but it has the air of fine dining with upmarket well appointed fit out and a menu that caters for the high roller.
We were delighted to see duck re-emerge, this time with a Deep Fried Fragrant Duck with Fluffy Taro. This was purely indulgent. Golden and delicate on the outside and juicy and rewarding inside. The World Loves Melbourne is more than partial to duck and the advent of 2 duck offerings on Let's Do Lunch was sensational.
Let's Do Lunch finished with this Crusted Milk Custard with Puff Pastry, which we found to be fun. Chipping away to break the crust we found a rich but smooth milk custard underneath.
Man Tong Kitchen delivers on this Let's Do Lunch for Good Food Week. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't one of the best offerings in the whole of Good Food Month for a value lunch packed with highlights. Highly recommended.
