Shandong Mama (CBD)
Midcity Arcade, Shop 7, 200 Bourke Street, Melbourne
03 9650 3818
Chinese, Dumplings
$
Food
- Fried Pork Dumplings
- Seafood Soy Bean Noodles
The Good
Nothing.
The Mediocre
The Seafood Soy Bean Noodles were served in a mighty huge bowl loaded with a range of ingredients. Despite the size, none of it was particularly flavourful. Mixing in the minced pork with sauce helped a little. Unfortunately, the prawns weren't the freshest nor did they have much flavour. After dumping in a generous amount of chilli oil within, this bowl of noodles slowly but surely became more enjoyable.
The Fried Pork Dumplings were presented in the most sloppy manner. Fortunately some good did come out of it. The skin was beautifully made, thin and fried to a nice crisp. It was all downhill from there though, as the meat within was far from fresh. The whole dish also erred on the side of too oily, with some dumplings absolutely swimming in oil.
The Bad
Nothing.
The Verdict
It was overall a half decent Chinese restaurant that became famous for their unique rendition of traditional dumplings. However their attempt can only be described as unspectacular at best.
The immediate area around Chinatown and CBD do provide much more appetising options at a more realistic price.
Would Penguin Eat Again?
With the dumpling game this strong just in the Melbourne CBD, it's pretty hard to warrant a revisit.
I certainly won't be returning.