West Lake 西湖酒家 @ Melbourne

West Lake Restaurant serves authentic Cantonese cuisine and yum cha for dinner and supper, and is my regular eating place when I am in Melbourne. This is just another family dinner when I was based in Melbourne.

West Lake Restaurant is another long-standing Chinese favourite, super-popular with families. It is a large restaurant, with food served over two levels – and it can get very busy, which makes for a fun atmosphere. The great thing about them  is that one can order without the menu. If they can cook the dish, they will take the order.

1/ Daily double-boiled soup 每日炖汤

I strongly recommend this to start the meal. A different soup is served everyday, and they are all good. You can order for one person or for the whole table – both are not very make different in price.

2/ Steamed abalone 清蒸活鲍鱼

West Lake has live seafood tanks and they are doing an offer for live Australia farmed abalone. These are technically not abalone but a clam belonging to the same family. Nevertheless, beautifully done.

3/ Chengyuen steamed chicken 白斩清远鸡

The chicken is free range and very lean. Not as tender and moist as a normal farmed chicken. If you like a strong chicken taste and some bite to the flesh, then this is alright.

4/ Broccoli with shrimps 清炒明虾花椰菜

The cheapest place in the world to eat broccoli is Australia and they are delicious.

5/ Steamed live barramundi 清蒸游水鲈鱼

Another item from the live tanks, a live barramundi steamed Cantonese-style. Nothing beats fresh fish, and no one does fresh fish than Chinese.

I am a bit biased here because West Lake is my regular Chinese restaurant in Melbourne. I have been there every time I am back in the city, with colleagues, with family, alone. One thing I did notice was that the food gets slightly adjusted if I have Caucasian friends dining together versus when the table is Chinese only. I guess we do have different taste buds.

This restaurant is spacious and renowned for serving up excellent yum cha off the trolley until 5pm (you have to order off the menu at other times). West Lake is a great, authentic yum cha experience. It’s open seven days a week and open until really, really late.

West Lake Restaurant 西湖酒家
189 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Tel： +61 3 9662 2048

Date Visited : Dec 2014