On our first afternoon in Melbourne we arrived at 4pm, hungry and desperate for something quick and tasty. Around the corner from our apartment we found Dumpling Sisters, with a menu full of old favourites like xiao long bao and Zhajiang mian (Shanghai style noodles with pork mince and cucumber). Tables ready with chilli oil and black vinegar were a welcome sight!
First we tried a new dish we’d seen in other Northern-style places such as New Shanghai in Ashfield – shredded potato in hot sauce.
Shredded potato in hot sauce
Amazing! Crunchy, hot potato shreds tossed with delicious spicy sauce. We’ll get that again! Dumpling Sisters also offered ‘appetisers’, small side dishes such as green beans for as little as $3 per plate – great idea!
Side of green beans (substituted with snow
peas on this particular day!)
Mr Black chose dumplings in hot and spicy soup. They were great dumplings,
gingery and delicate. The soup was interesting and slightly aniseed
flavoured. I couldn’t quite decide if I liked it or not…
Dumplings in hot and spicy soup
Then my Northern-style vegetarian buns came – three of them, with a promise of the last one to follow. (?) Which it did. Again, these were
interesting, fresh, and enjoyable but not something I’d rush to have again.
Steamed Northern-style vegetarian buns
(usually 4 per serve)
We couldn’t finish our meal and at $12pp, we felt satisfied and fortunate to have stumbled upon such a nice local dumpling joint!
I’m not sure about the name Dumpling Sisters but the shredded potatoes look rather yummy ….
Apparently it’s run by two Chinese sisters… I think it’s kind of cute! On my next trip to Ashfield I’ll be trying the shredded potato and will post comparison photos