On our first full day back in Melbourne, the three of us spent the afternoon wandering around Melbourne’s central business district (CBD), looking at all the fun and summery Christmas decor, and viewing the Christmas windows at Myer, which this year are Irwin Zoo themed, and luckily for us, had no queues for us to deal with. So we were able to see each of the window displays with ease. We also walked through Melbourne CBD’s Chinatown, and made an obligatory stop at Shandong Mama, my favorite Shandong-style dumpling shop I’ve been going to since 2013, when I first discovered them. When I first started going there, it was a relatively under the radar, small hole-in-the-wall in the Mid-City Arcade in Chinatown. Since then, I have read that local magazines and newspapers have written that Shandong Mama is all the rage with Melbourne (and Australia’s) top chefs, and it’s literally been featured on every single “Best Dumplings of Melbourne” list. The menu has expanded, as well as the prices…

We made a quick pit stop here for Shandong Mama’s famous Spanish mackerel and chive dumplings, which were just as pillowy, fluffy, moussey, and well seasoned with ginger and other spices as I can always remember. Every year we come back, and I am thrilled to see that their quality has not changed at all despite their increasing demand and success. And how exciting: they posted this huge sign of Shandong Mama, a retired former accountant from Shandong, posing at the World Gourmet Awards 2023, having won the 2023 Lifestyle Dining Award! I felt so happy for their success, as well as my undying loyalty to their deliciousness.

The regional cuisine of China is becoming more and more well known. People are recognizing how nuanced and different the flavors of China can be. And I’m happy I’ve been lucky to have been eating these dumplings for the last 11 years and supporting one of the eight regional Chinese cuisines that Melbourne is known for!