Gong dè Lin Asian Restaurant

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Posted 2013-04-27 by Aloo ⇒ follow

I have been to Gong De Lin twice. The first time, I found it difficult to find but once you know it is there, and what awaits you, it's quite a delightful experience. You enter the noodle kingdom downstairs, and then take the lift up to the third floor. Once the doors open you will be seated.

Gong De Lin is another vegetarian/vegan Asian style restaurant (with the mock meats) and to be honest I did think - not another one! Melbourne has quite a few in this style, such as Enlightened Cuisine, White Lotus, Madame K's , Chan House and so on. But they each have their unique style and menu.

The music is calming and soulful, with quite a bit of seating some of it near the window where you can look down to Swanson street. The menu is quite comprehensive and diverse- from soups (such as sweetcorn) and snacks (such as dumplings), to mains (for example curry or noodles) and desserts (deep fried ice-cream!). They have a special lunch menu where you can enjoy a dish with rice and free (either) soft drink or soup of the day for about $11.00.

The service was efficient, although not particularly friendly. I felt rushed as I was still talking when she took the menu out of my hands and didn't catch that I asked for tea as she was already busy walking away.

Potato and mock beef curry was what I ordered the first time. It came out in a reasonable amount of time, from the lunch specials menu, and was served with rice. It was tasty and the sauce creamy.

Who doesn't like dumplings? These ones are lovely and fresh with lots of green veggies. I noticed on the menu that have two types, these are the 'northern' dumplings. It is not clear what the difference by the menu descriptions, perhaps next time I will compare.

The other item I have tried was the sweet and sour 'pork'. Admittedly I am not a big fan of this dish most of the time, I find it too sweet. But this was good with lots of fresh pineapple and not overly sweet. The 'pork' was crispy in batter.

Gong De Lin is in a great location on Swanson Street and has a wide choice of dishes in the regular menu and also in the lunch menu. We were able to have dumplings and sweet and sour 'pork' with tea (yes, I did get that in the end) for $21.00 for two people. It is value for money, satisfying in the size of the dishes and the delightful flavours. With so much more to try on the menu, I will be back.