David’s is one of my favourite Chinese restaurants. It’s the kind of restaurant that evolves with the times while staying true to traditional Shanghai flavours. Recently they revamped their décor and menu and the changes make it even more wonderful than it was before. The service is exceptional and the food is exciting so we’ll definitely be going back again and again.
We always get a pot of tea because they have lots of different blends that are unique to the restaurant.
The drunken oyster had shaoxing ‘drunken’ granita and pickled goji berry on top. The granita brought out the freshness of the oyster and resembled the concept of the traditional drunken chicken dish.
The Shanghai crisps were awesome. They were deep fried wonton wrappers and taro crisps served with edamame hummus and spicy bean curd dip. The dips were great and the crisps were clever.
I love that David’s incorporates tea in some of the dishes because they originated as a tea shop and I feel the tea inspired dishes show where they come from and add a personal touch. The tea smoked king ora salmon was coated in a tea ash and toped with wood ear fungus, celery, tofu and cashew crème. The flavours and textures were complimentary and made this dish a winner. I felt like the celery looked like little love hearts which made me love this dish even more.
The juicy steamed pork xiao long baos are a must we get them every time. With a little bit of black vinegar they are fabulous.
David’s know how to do dumplings so we had the pan fried wagyu beef dumplings too. They came with a house made chilli sauce and they were amazing. Full of flavour with those crisp pan-fried edges.
The beggar’s rainbow trout is a spin on the traditional beggar’s chicken where the whole fish is deboned, stuffed with vegetables and potatoes, wrapped in lotus leaf, placed in a loaf of bread and then baked. The presentation was great it came out in the loaf it was cooked in. The fish was soft and easily flaked apart and it came with sesame sauce and lemon to squeeze on top. Perfect with a bowl of rice.
The Shanghai special fried rice is the best. It’s colourful with lots of bits of veggies and slices of lup cheong (Chinese sausage). So good.
The pear tart had beautifully poached pear slices on top of a hazelnut frangipane pastry crust. The edges were caramelised and reminded me almost of a tarte tatin. The goji ice cream was awesome it had a slight bitterness similar to matcha and it went well with the pear.
I heart David’s!
Olives x
David’s
Address: 4 Cecil Pl, Prahran VIC 3181
Website: http://davidsrestaurant.com.au
Phone: (03) 9529 5199
Trading Hours: Wed-Thu: 12pm-3pm, 6pm-10pm, Fri: 12pm-3pm, 6pm-11pm, Sat: 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-11pm. Sun: 11.30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm.
