The shopping frenzy that is Christmas is fast approaching and if you're like most Melbournians, you would have left it to the last minute and that means much frantic pacing around the air conditioned meccas of Chadstone and other outer suburban shopping super centres. As a result of these hasty pursuits, food can often be overlooked but it need not be, especially at Chadstone where they're hoisting in food trucks just to spice up the food offering (a clever use of free space we might add).


On the fringe of the MYER carpark, the latest outpost of David Zhou's teahouse empire (after outlets in South Yarra and the CBD) resides snugly beside similar casual dining competitors in PapaRich and Dessert Story.

Teas are of course centre stage here but we were primarily concerned in obtaining a fulfilling meal. However, we did have a pot of Long Jing green tea ($4 per person) to complement our meal and it had a hearty taste and worked well, as expected, with the Chinese cuisine.


Prior to the mains, we ordered the Chili Pork Dumpling ($8.80 for 6 pieces) which were fairly impressive and quite nice with the accompanying bed of sauce.


The success of the dumplings did not extend to the main event however with the Mixed Asian Veggies ($14.80) being the standard stir-fried fair while the Szechuan Pepper Chicken ($13.80) was overwhelmingly salty which dampened the shine of its deep fried goodness.


Unfortunately, Oriental Teahouse was a bit and hit and miss which leaves it to pale in comparison to its sister restaurant in Prahran, David's. The group menu does appear to have some promise so we may return if we need a big refuel after some lengthy shopping.

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