Wang Wang Dumpling

October 19, 2014

We spent Sunday afternoon at Coburg's Post Office Hotel at a terrific gig. Though we'd snuck in a few shoestring fries, we were ready to escape the pub chaos and grab dinner elsewhere after the encore. Wang Wang Dumpling was only a short walk away - the Elegant Gourmand at tummy rumbles blogged about it yonks ago and it was exactly what we wanted.

Wang Wang Dumpling is large and reasonably spacious, with the easy-to-wipe-down surfaces and hand-written specials of a family restaurant. I noticed that they were running a steady takeaway trade up by the counter.

The menu is a huge plastic binder with veg dishes scattered throughout - it's a bit of work to establish what the options are and prioritise, but there's plenty to choose from.

The staff started us off with some complimentary hot tea, and we ordered additional big botttles of falsely-fruity iced tea ($3.50 each) as we mixed up dipping bowls of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil.

The spring onion pancake ($4.50) was a crispy-golden monument to deep-frying with only the smallest flecks of green.

Fried tofu with salt and pepper ($14) is new to the menu. While the batter and garnishing chilli-capsicum dice are great, this batch was woefully underseasoned; we found ourselves dredging the odd piece through our chilli-soy bowls.

The fried vegetable dumplings ($10.00) were more satisfying. Biting one in half, I could discern finely minced mushroom and green vegetables inside.

We weren't in the mood for noodles, but apparently Wang Wang make their own. One of the hand-written signs promised deep-fried icecream, too, but good sense and a stomach full of fried dough won out over my screaming nostalgia. I'd like to return to try more and luckily we're only a #19 tram ride away. With reserved but friendly service and a quick turnaround on orders, this is a nice venue for comforting and unfussy meals.

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Wang Wang has also received positive write-ups on Consider the Sauce and The Quince Poacher.

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Wang Wang Dumpling
3/51 Waterfield St, Coburg
9354 0294
menu: drinks, entrees, dumpling & soup, chicken & duck, claypot, beef & pork, more beef & pork, seafood, vegetable & omelette

Accessibility: There was one step up on entry and reasonably spacious tables inside. We ordered at our table and paid at a medium-high counter. We didn't visit the toilets and suspect they might be located outside of the restaurant.