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.

Follow Hashtag On Social Media:

Tweets by @hashtagblogau

Stranded on the west side of Flinders Street with a ravenous appetite and burdensome shopping bags in tow, we decided we weren't going to move much for a lunch. So upon reaching the second joint along the street we pushed expectations aside and straddled into the most appealing and clean place we could find.  The name 'Four Seasons House' was not very indicative of what particular cuisine this outlet specialised in but we soon found out they focused on Malaysian dishes with Asians staples thrown in to bolster the menu. The lunch crowd was mainly office goers and a small space but it was obvious that value for money was the biggest drawcard here.   Indeed the Mongolian beef that we opted for, clocked in at only $9 complete with orange slices and spring rolls (the frozen party food variety).  It would be fair to say that the taste was satisfying for the price and decently presented.  Nevertheless, a good place for a quick and cheap Asian meal.  Follow Hashtag On Social Media: Tweets by @hashtagblogau

Amidst the platoon of eateries along Crown's Southbank dining precinct, there is a corner on the St Kilda road end that is home to the most awarded collection of restaurants within the casino. Given this, we made a beeline to this cluster of Qantas touting Australian celebrity chef Neil Perry's Melbourne establishments. The iconic Rockpool Bar and Grill (modern Australian steakhouse), Rosetta (traditional Italian fare) and Spice Temple (contemporary Chinese) had all bagged two stars apiece in the latest iteration of The Age's Good Food Guide. Given our tendency for Asian cuisine, we opted for Spice Temple which is headed up by young and rising Benjamin Pollard.

Bottling high expectations, we entered and we were  promptly escorted to a table for two. The premises is split into two levels with the ground floor much more aesthetically pleasing compared to the painfully dark lower level (good for ambience not reading menus).

Service was great with waiters attentive, dishing warm greetings and enthusiastic to explain the menu.

The menu itself is inspired by different regional provinces with each showcased their individual flare. Admittedly this is not the economical meal you will find in Chinatown and some of the dishes are quite pricey for average portion sizes. Nevertheless, we were looking at the "hot and numbing wagyu beef" accompanied by steamed rice and vegetarian noodles but upon our waiter's recommendation of something less dry, we went for the "House fried rice-house made lap cheong, peas and salted chilli" ($18) and some "Handmade vegetarian noodles with tofu, sesame and Handmade vegetarian noodles with tofu, sesame and Sichuan sauce" ($12).

House fried rice-house made lap cheong, peas and salted chilli ($18)

Handmade vegetarian noodles with tofu, sesame and Handmade vegetarian noodles with tofu, sesame and Sichuan sauce ($12)

We were a bit disappointed at the wait time for the food but the balance of flavours of was very well done. Now. The name 'Spice Temple' adorns the entrance for a reason and boy is the food HOT. We didn't even go for the extra spicy dishes marked in red on the menu but we needed a extended breather halfway through the meal. Some would label this kind of spice overpowering but as spice lovers, we quite enjoyed it. However this level of spice should be an occasional venture.

To cool down, we went for a "Lychee granita with poached gooseberries and elderflower" ($16) (unfortunately we couldn't get a photo) and it was another quite good dish that rounded off the meal nicely.

Having had a chance to sample Spice Temple and one of Neil Perry's restaurants, we will definitely be returning to have more extensive taste of the menu and popping into Rockpool sometime soon as well.

Follow Hashtag On Social Media: