If you venture inside Swanston Street's Noodle Kingdom, stop short of the host and turn left to the lift, you can check out one of Melbourne's newest vegetarian restaurants, Gong De Lin. It's another Chinese mock-meat venue, and you could be forgiven for wondering if Melbourne really needs more of those, but a flick through the menu shows that it's not just trotting out the same stuff as the nearby Enlightened Cuisine and White Lotus.
Most striking is the range of cold dishes, such as mock meats, bean jelly, mushrooms, eggplant and other vegetables. Hot dishes boast lots of 'seafood' - abalone, fish, squid, crab and shrimp - and mushroom varieties that are new to me, like hedgehog and mountain. Sweets and tea also receive careful attention: there are rice balls and buns, pancakes and durian shortbread as well as the more common icecream and fritters; hot and cold herbal teas and homemade soy milk. Unfortunately vegan and gluten-free items are not clearly marked; we suspect there's much more of the former than the latter.
We filled up on veges first, with the diced hedgehog mushrooms and macadamia nuts ($18.80). These were agreeable but not remarkable, in a gentle salty braise.
After ordering the deep-fried silver thread bun ($5), we learned why it was listed on a snack menu towards the back - it doesn't really complement the main dishes! The sweet white doughiness was fun, though we would have liked a condiment with it.
The pick of the night was certainly the sizzling pepper beef (~$20). It didn't pull off the red meat guise, but it was tender and saucy with the promised peppery warmth.
Gong De Lin is simply furnished and brightly lit; it had a calm atmosphere even as it filled up. The booths by the window look like a particularly pleasant spot to pass an evening. I reckon we'll be vying for those tables and exploring the menu further - we've both got our eye on the Shanghai-style cold noodles with seven sauces for next time.
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Gong De Lin has already been thoroughly reviewed and complimented by other VegMellers - check out vegan about town, The Simple Eater, The Good Hearted and Brianna. Omnivorous blogger grazing panda is a fan too.
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Gong De Lin
Level 3, 264 Swanston St Melbourne
9663 7878
veg dishes $9.80-48.00 (most mains ~$15-20)
facebook page
Accessibility: There's a ramp from the street level, then a lift up to the restaurant. Floors are almost all flat (window-side booths require a step up). Tables are packed fairly densely but passages are clear (see photo above). We received full table service. Steph reports that the toilets are accessible.
Your instincts are spot on re: deep fried silver thread bun - the ones I've had in China are usually served with condensed milk, which of course makes it absolutely delicious :)
ReplyDeleteHi thesimpleeater! Michael was wishing for dumpling vinegar but condensed milk is a way better idea - I can just imagine it clinging deliciously to nooks and crannies created by the threads.
DeleteI wasn't overly impressed with the food when I went there. Anyway, the waitress told us that everything on the menu except the desserts were vegan.
ReplyDeleteMe neither tahn. Too expensive. Nothing too remarkable. I cant even remeber what i ate there.
DeleteHi Tahn and Carla - thanks for adding your honest opinions! I'm going to try a few more things before deciding one way or the other. It's a convenient location for us so worth finding out if there are dishes we love.
DeleteYou guys certainly get around!
ReplyDeleteHi HBM! I guess we do, albeit mostly in a couple of inner-north suburbs. ;-)
Delete$20 for mushrooms is seriously taking the piss. The variety of dishes are definitely interesting but for the price tag wld prefer to go to almost fine dining!!!
ReplyDeleteHey Carla - I tend to agree about the price, this is really pushing my limits for a spontaneous weeknight meal. That said, I think Enlightened Cuisine and White Lotus charge about that much too.
DeleteHad a perfectly good plate of (something like) "pan-fried noodles with cabbage and mock pork" for lunch there last Friday, which was a big serve and cost about $12. But as a first-time visitor to GDL, I was shocked at how high the prices were. Looks like more of a lunchy option unless you are prepared to spend $25-$30 a head.
ReplyDeleteHi Fred! Thanks for the tip, maybe we'll give them that second go at lunchtime rather than dinner.
DeleteOh wow. You had such a different experience to what I did. I loved it. I've mainly had noodles and spicy dishes though, no cold ones. I've since heard that the mock fish is not nice too.
ReplyDeleteHi Elisa - I'll definitely try more of the noodle dishes!
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