I had dinner in December at Lee Ho Fook, a restaurant located in a cool graffiti covered laneway in Melbourne’s CBD. Lee Ho Fook is run by chef Victor Liong and serves "new style Chinese” cuisine.
I was going to order a la carte since their website says their “banquet menu” is for 2 or more people, but it is in fact available for solo diners (for a lucky price of A$88). So that’s what I had.
Started with an egg custard that was covered with a kind of dashi flavored jelly and a little bit of caviar. Served chilled. No menu description here because I think it was different from the egg dish listed in the menu provided. Very nice cool savory bite.
Typhoon shelter baby corn
new season baby corn, white miso and crispy garlic crumb
This was basically a piece of baby corn covered with a umami packed seasoning mix similar to that used in typhoon shelter crab. I don’t think I’ve tried typhoon shelter crab so can’t speak to how similar it is to that, but it was good.
Smoked eel
silken tofu, pickled shimeji and century egg
This was great! Chilled silken tofu with a bit of smoked eel, century egg, and mushroom and little crunchy bits of fried shallot on top. Similar to the Chinese dish of tofu topped with century egg, with the addition of smoked eel.
Yunnan style raw beef
fragrant herbs, rice paper and cured beef
I’ve never had the traditional version of this dish so can’t compare. This was good. Marbled beef in strips with shredded makrut lime(?). It was served with some paper thin rice crackers, ham and cucumbers. I made little tostadas with them.
Crispy eggplant, spiced red vinegar
Great! One of their signature dishes. Kind of like the Sichuan dish of fish fragrant eggplant but where the eggplant is coated before being deep fried. Very crispy. Delicious.
Steamed Cone Bay barramundi
ginger and spring onion sauce
This was so good. Similar to a Cantonese style steamed fish, dressed simply with ginger, scallion, soy sauce, and oil, which in this case had and interesting green color. Perfectly cooked fish.
New seasons Chinese vegetables
An assortment of green vegetables served with the fish.
Lee Ho Fook fried rice
Also served with the fish. I spooned some of the sauce from the fish on it.
Crispy master stock pork hock
black vinegar, white cabbage, black cabbage, white vinegar
The last savory dish was a dish made from pork hock. I believe the pork hock was cooked and removed from the bone and then formed into cubes and then deep fried and glazed with a sauce. I’m guessing the “master stock” was used to perhaps braise the hock in. Bit of a sweet and sour flavor to the glaze. I may be shortchanging this dish but this kind of reminded me of the Cantonese dish of “Peking pork chops.” Delicious! Crunchy outside with a gelatinous porky inside. This was served with cabbage, which was pickled and had a horseradish-like heat to it, and topped with crispy fried kale leaves.
Lemon sorbet, aiyu jelly, honey and osmanthus
Jasmine tea custard, burnt caramel
Chocolate mignardise, miso, cherry
Three desserts on one plate. The jasmine tea custard was my favorite of the three. It tasted a bit like a flan or crème brûlée, with tannic tea flavor in the custard and a burnt caramel topping.
I really enjoyed this meal and liked the plays on “classic” Chinese dishes. Highly recommended.
More pictures:
Bonus pictures of AC/DC Lane which is nearby:
.
