Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne: restaurant review
Here we go now, yeah. Flock of Seagulls. Smiths. Depeche Mode. ABC. I loved the ’80s. Or did I just love my 20s? Either way, when they finally get round to putting music on at Lee Ho Fook, they do it well.
You could say we wandered into the latest Melbourne laneway eatery with the glass fuller than usual. We know what to expect, because partner/chef Victor Liong has been plying his trade locally for a couple of years now, first in Collingwood at the original Lee Ho Fook, now in a repurposed ancient commercial building in the CBD.
We’re ready for some mod Cantonese/Szechuan after a steady Eurocentric diet that’s lasted … days. We’re ready for the kind of rollicking night you can have with delicious food, good wine and a hot new restaurant full of interesting people smack bang at the heart of this town’s food and wine heat-zone.
So why is the tempo change in the middle of Ultravox’s Vienna the highlight of the night? Yes, there are moments of great pleasure, but are there enough? Regardless of what it cost to create this two-level restaurant from scratch the result is, you know, pleasant.
A raw, old brick upstairs dining room with a pitched iron roof and exposed beams, nice pendants and wall lights, original timber windows framing views of neighbouring buildings. Lee Ho Fook could be a pasta bar. Or another bloody Mexican.
More to the point, the food is not consistently brilliant, and not always great value. For every outstanding dish such as the sashimi-like Hiramasa kingfish with poached leek slices, leek oil, burnt garlic and ginger, white soy cream and a garnish of radish wafers and cloud fungi, there’s something like a ho-hum version of sweet and sour pork that takes the retro classic … nowhere, really.
A version of white-cut chicken is right out there on the Szechuan flavour profile, too dominant to appreciate the meat and its texture. A piece of farmed (Cone Bay) barra, steamed and served in a dark soy-based ginger and shallot sauce … nice enough, if you like the texture of farmed barramundi. Or a plate of shelled, stir-fried king prawns in “Cantonese garlic butter”, but not enough of the advertised prawn floss to give the little suckers a bit of a salty/fermented edge against the rich, buttery texture of the sauce. Or the “Shandong style crispy skin spatchcock” which, when it’s said and done, is a seasoned bird, fried, jointed, served with a little sauce and some garnish of coriander and shredded daikon.
Where are the powerful, heady aromas, the flavour triumphs of, say, that kingfish? Where are the skyrockets in flight? You’ll get ’em with the eggplant: nobody will deny the brilliance of the fried “cigars” in a spiced red vinegar caramel that punches the buttons labelled “sweet”, “sour” and “delicious”. Batons of glossy “Peking” wagyu with fried carrot and raw purple carrot that form the filling of your DIY sang choi bau are wonderful too, and the “Fujian style” rice with crab and scallop, with homemade XO, is a dream provided you understand this dish is somewhere between risotto and trad fried rice, wet and fragrant. But the phrase “order carefully” comes to mind.
Our sommelier made wine ordering simple: “White, good value.” Done. The rest of the waiters are fine. But there’s potential here that hasn’t yet been tapped. It’s a long way to the top.
Address: 11-15 Duckboard Place, Melbourne
Phone: (03) 9077 6261 Web: leehofook.com.au
Hours: Lunch, dinner Tue-Sat
Typical prices: Starters $20; mains $36; desserts $7
Summary: No werewolves here
Like this? Try … Mr Wong, Sydney; Lau’s Kitchen, Melbourne
Stars (out of five): 3.5
Source: The Australian, John Lethlean, 10th October 2015
Originally published as: Lee Ho Fook, Melbourne: restaurant review
