Auntie's Dumpling

68 Koornang Rd
Carnegie, VIC 3163

It’s as if my long-lost love has come back to life. Two years after the closing of Bob’s Kitchen, I still find myself wistfully thinking back to the good old days, when their dumplings were the best in town, when my family and I could just pack into the car and be tucking into a plate of hand-made noodles within 20 minutes. So you can imagine my delirious happiness when I found out that Bob’s Kitchen has a (supposedly even more delicious) sister restaurant, Auntie’s Dumpling, in Carnegie. And when I saw that the billboard outside used the exact same font as Bob’s Kitchen did, I swear a tear almost came to my eye.

Stepping inside, I found Auntie’s Dumpling to be more spacious, and cleaner, compared to its former brother, and it was nice to see wooden tables as opposed to sticky laminex. The chairs however are still obligatorily minimal and uncomfortable. But the dumplings are what we’re here for. 

Shanghai Fried Noodles ($8.3)

 

Before the dumplings however, I had to have a plate of my favourite Shanghai Fried Noodles ($8.3). Slivers of pork hid amongst knobbly hand-made noodles slathered with sesame oil and sweetened with soy sauce. We continued putting mouthful after mouthful of the slippery strands and crunchy vegetables into our mouths long after we were full.

Boiled Peking Pork Dumplings ($8 for 15)

 

Then came the pièce de résistance, the Boiled Peking Pork Dumplings ($8 for 15). I know most people would rather have these babies fried, but I’ve always preferred the lighter boiled version. These enormous meaty parcels housed a light gingery mince, and breaking with tradition, were encased in a skin that was neither too gluggy nor too thin. I ate these coated in the toasty chilli oil and doused with black vinegar, whilst Chris loved them just the way they are. The bottom line is, these huge juicy (As in, really juicy. Chris couldn’t stop commenting on how juicy they were) dumplings are delicious no matter how you choose to eat them.

Oh and what the heck. Here’s another picture of the Chris' omnipresent hairy arm delicious food.

If you come to Auntie’s dumplings, don’t expect gourmet cookery, because fine dining this ain’t. The food is heavy, and the staff could use a crash course in draining oil from the dishes. But you can’t deny the appeal of a delicious, diet-destroying feast of carbohydrates for just over 15 dollars.

It feels good to love again.  

Rating: 14.5/20 – best dumplings in melbourne