Pancake Dessert House Eatery

Mid-City Arcade 18/200 Bourke St
Melbourne, VIC 3000

Nothing beats a good fried chicken, but the last place you would expect to find one is somewhere called Pancake Dessert House Eatery. It serves no pancakes and minimal dessert, but it does serve an ample selection of Hokkien cafe dishes, including some of the lesser known ones, such as baked rice with Portugal sauce. It’s very popular with the Asian students – so popular in fact that they opened up a second branch on Swanston Street.   

Oh and I forgot my camera again; this time I actually managed to get to uni before I realised, so back to quick iPhone snaps today. 

Chicken Mince and Salty Fish with Bean Curd on Rice ($9.3)

I knew exactly what I wanted. I sat down and flipped right to the stir-fry round bean with mince chicken on rice, only to be told it wasn’t available. It took me a while to un-shatter myself and choose something else to eat, but in the end I settled for the Chicken Mince and Salty Fish with Bean Curd on Rice ($9.3), a favourite comfort food of mine. It came out steaming from the wok, piled haphazardly onto enough rice for three. It’s a bit stingy on the chicken, but there was enough salted fish to give the dish that unique briny flavour, and plenty of slippery oyster mushrooms. It’s not the most elegant of meals, nor the best rendition of it I’ve had, but it’s a huge serve, sloppy and comforting, just begging to be mixed in with rice and cuddled in front of the TV.

Spicy Chicken on Rice ($9.8)

I had lured Chris away from previous decided upon dumplings with the promise of fried chicken ribs. The Spicy Chicken on Rice ($9.8) is a signature dish of Dessert House, as it should be. Coated in a deliciously moreish spice mix, the five ribs were hot and crispy, with meat so tender the juices practically dripped down our fingers. Next to the chicken, the rice and the flash-fried onions seem almost like an afterthought. It’s junk food at its best, and it’s impossible to say no.

Pancake Dessert House Eatery is out of the way and hard to find unless if you know what you’re looking for. But if you head to Chinatown at lunch time and follow the trail of international students heading into a less-than-glamorous arcade strip, you’ll be rewarded with some damn fine chicks mouth-wateringly good fried chicken.

Rating: 13.5/20 – HKFC.