Aunty’s Dumplings in Carlton review: Dainty dumplings handmade daily
There is ravioli, and there is your aunt’s. Squeeze into this family-run store for a dreamy experience where everything is made fresh that day.
My aunt’s meatballs
northern china$
I said I would not write about this restaurant. A friend of mine told me this in exchange for confidentiality late last year. My aunt’s gravity-defying dumplings—plump but light as chiffon—were sure to cause queues.
But then word spread anyway, and some days 1,600 meatballs were flying out the door. Now I can write about my Aunt’s Meatballs with peace of mind. Mostly open.
Some might think it’s unfair to draw more attention to a business run by three family members who hand-make each dumpling, visit fishmongers, butchers and produce stalls for the fillings up to four times a week. What if they get overwhelmed?!
But the flip side is more money to hire staff and maybe give the owners a day off. And eventually larger facilities with more seats. Putting aside the small business economy, I want more people to appreciate the Zhao family’s craft.
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There are dumplings on almost every street in Melbourne CBD, and then there are these. They may not look as complex as xiao long bao with their sinuous folds, but these humble Northern Chinese-style pouches are just as elegant. The wrapping papers, each opened that day by Joris and his mother, Guixia Li, will almost melt on your tongue. Nothing frozen should be cooked.
You can see it all—rolling, huge bunches of spinach, dumplings falling into boiling water—in the large open kitchen that takes up most of the restaurant. As someone who has spent hundreds of dollars on pottery classes and walked away with all kinds of misshapen pottery, I can’t tell you how impressed I am with this dexterity.
Each soft dumpling skin comes complete with eight delicately flavored fillings. A grassy note coats the sweet bits of pearl-coloured shrimp combined with shredded pork. A tender mixture of mackerel, pork and chives, Joris told me later, was a study in moderation, the sometimes fishy quality of the mackerel kept at bay by precise proportions.
The recipe comes from his family’s hometown of Jinzhou in northeastern China, where his retired parents lived until about two years ago. Now, after emigrating and starting this as a hobby, they hang around their bright little shop, serving guests and warning them not to burn their mouths while eating hot meatballs.
There are dumplings on almost every street in Melbourne CBD, and then there are these.
Watching a plate full of meatballs disappear gives me the same satisfaction as playing Snake on my Nokia 3210. But Auntie’s neat little curves, the ripples in her thin wrappings, are too good to be easily destroyed.
You’ll also miss out on all the extra touches that give these packages character. The vegetable patties, which are often disappointingly watery vegetables, are filled with wood ear and shiitake mushrooms, carrots, celery, noodles and more. The beef gotu, a “why not both” dumpling with a crispy side, is humming with what I assume is five spice (Joris neither confirms nor denies).
In the northeastern pork classic with northern Chinese sauerkraut, the pork is so smooth it’s more like a paste and has a pleasant oiliness, with the cabbage occasionally jerking off its axis.
The edges bring crispy or QQ (crisp) textures to the table. Matchsticks of crispy carrots, beets and cucumbers are flavored with chili oil and black vinegar, a harsh reset for your palate. Ultra-firm slices of tofu, sealed with a layer of pork and century egg jelly, have the Upper Deck look (yes, Cadbury’s chocolate) with so many fluffy bites they’ll practically bounce around your mouth, a texture you’ll either love (me) or hate (you’ve been warned).
You may have to wait for a table and you may not be able to find a seat in the kitchen to watch the Zhao family in their orange aprons. But even chairs facing the wall have their appeal. In front of you are small ceramic figurines with giant meatballs to rest the heads in meditation poses, some kneeling, some cross-legged. They dream of meatballs. When they’re this good, we all are.
Three more dumpling favorites to try
Hoppy Dumpling South Yarra
This freshly printed addition (brother one in CBD) has forged a path for himself by stocking craft beer from a popular bottle shop to pair with traditional dumplings (pork-shrimp siu mai) and riskier ones (pork, shrimp and corn). Cold noodles, fried chicken and vegetable sides add variety.
670 Chapel Street, South Yarra
Xu’s Restaurant
The focus here is on Shanghai’s many buns and dumplings (not to mention the noodles and soups). Crispy-bottomed sheng jian bao, xiao long bao with juicy pork, chicken and shrimp twisted dumplings: it’s a treat and it’s all available for breakfast, just like in China.
262 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 03 9034 4888
Maximum Dumplings
Just around the corner, staff at this (slightly larger) restaurant also open packages in the open kitchen and fill them with soft eggs and chives or northern-style pork and sauerkraut. Wontons are also a focal point in simple broths or tangy soups with sour, numbing or spicy notes.
70 Victoria Street, Carlton, 0420 566 188
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and independently paid. A restaurant cannot pay for a review or inclusion on a list. Good Food Guide.
Emma Breheny- Emma is Good Food’s Melbourne dining out and restaurant editor and editor of The Age Good Food Guide.
