I thought of Supper Inn just as I was reading Lainie’s latest post on Shanghai Dumpling, both are bargain basement old fashion Chinese restaurants (as in oversea Chinese restaurant) in Chinatown at Melbourne CBD.
As I am heading to Melbourne again in some two weeks time, I suppose it is wise to post the remaining food entries from the city before my second trip. The Melbourne food map is slowly shaping up. *beams*
Supper Inn is located at a dodgy alley by the name of Celestial Ave
Supper Inn is located right in the middle of Chinatown, a little alley by the name of Celestial Avenue (can’t get a more Chinese name than that) just off Little Burke Street. The restaurant operates from 5:30pm till 2:30am daily, hence it is one of the only places to eat in CBD after midnight.
The dining area is located on first floor, with really old school interior deco and even older waiters. The place is, however, air conditioned and generally quite clean. Business seemed to be brisk even though it was past midnight in midweek when Pinky, Mellissa and I went there last April.
Chinese tea, yau char kuai, century egg congee
The menu at Supper Inn isn’t exactly very extensive for a Chinese restaurant, but you do get to choose from over a dozen types of soup and porridge, a few appetizers, and entrees. From duck and mushroom soup, sharks fin soup, the venerable hot and sour soup, and more exotic items like duck’s tongue, abalone porridge, and coagulated pork’s blood porridge, they do have most of the essentials.
coagulated pork blood porridge, minced chicken with sweet corn soup
I knew what I had to order the moment I looked at the menu, the coagulated pork blood porridge ($6.50)! Mell had the minced chicken with sweet corn soup ($6.00) while Pinky ordered the century egg porridge ($6.50). We also shared a pretty large serving of yau char kuai ($6.00) to share.
KY, Mell, and Pinky at Supper Inn
The porridge were very good, cooked to the point where individual grain is indistinguishable like how Cantonese porridge should be. And of course, coagulated pork blood never disappoint, it is something that is not easy to find even in KL (I usually get my fix from lorong seratus 100, ss2), and I wouldn’t have thought I’d get them in Melbourne, bliss!
Sweet corn soup was pretty good too, but the yau char kuai (some might call it Chinese donut..) was a bit of a let down by being soft and slightly oily though still edible. However, Pinky said that this is an exception rather than rule, they are usually crispy and tasty, I guess I’ll just have to take her words for it.
Supper Inn is located right in the middle of Chinatown
Bill came to about $25 for the three of us. Chinese tea, as with ice/warm water in other restaurants, are usually free in Melbourne. So if you are craving for some chewing optional supper in Melbourne, this is the place to go.
Address:
Supper Inn Chinese Restaurant
15 Celestial Ave,
Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
GPS: -37.811873, 144.968091
Tel: +603 9663 4759‎
Since when was Pinky that short! Uneven flooring! :X
Actually in Melbourne you can find a lot more of those dodgier Chinese food compared to here, hee hee.
may i know what type of camera are you using?
wah!! i miss this shop alot!
used to go there after club session~
Mellissa,
dodgier than this? we have to go! lol
onefourever,
Canon 400D with Tamron 17-50 F/2.8 😀
taufulou,
Hahhaa most everyone who stayed in Melbourne would be familiar with this place.
Coagulated pig’s blood, haven’t been eating it for a long time. Sigh, high cholestrol and gout ler, don’t think can try those kinda stuffs anymore.
I used to frequent this place in the late 80s. Back then Supper Inn is considered a luxury for us ‘poor’ student. It was also the first time that I came to know the word ‘Congee’ instead of porridge. And Pinky was right too, their ‘yau tiu’ or ‘yau char kuai’ was very good.
If I remembered correctly, not far from Supper Inn perhaps in the same alley or the next, there used to be an illegal chinese casino. To gain entrance, you need to stick your ‘chinese’ face into the CCTV camera, then they’ll buzz you in. The casino inside is just like in a Hong Kong movie, dudes with tattoos that looks like gangster and the usual games like pai kow, dice and so on. Many students lost their tuition fees there. Of course there was no Crown Casino back then.
JD,
Well once in a long while wouldn’t hurt. 😛
ronin,
Wah that’s way dodgier than nowadays. Very very old school indeed.
Nice. even at the dodgy area, the utensils are way better than some of our restaurants here!
eiling,
unfortunately, yah. The shop’s been in existence more than 20 years, so I guess they have to use good utensils that last!
Not too bad a place for an overseas chinese restaurant. Its always nice to have a nice bowl of chinese soup to warm to soul when travelling 🙂
why you like melby so much bro? how long you gonna be here? can take you to restaurant lazzat 😉
Why am I so short? :(:(
I found more late night food! Come and we go together gether haha
woah i see the prices have not budged much since the 80’s!!! i just didnt know the place was still around and looking EXACTLY the same haha goes to show some things never change
Hey Ky. Long time reader, first time commenter. If you’re going to Melbourne again be sure to check out Anthony Bourdain’s most recent episode of No Reservations – Melbourne! It’s full of interesting stuff that you may want to check out.
A few places to try in Melbourne:
i) Movida or Movida next door – great tapas
ii) Hu Tong Dumpling Bar – try the xiao long baos
iii) Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder – their famous cheesy toast is great!
iv) Yu-U – $15 lunch bentos, half the fun is finding the place. bookings recommended.
KY,
If you will come to Melb soon, you will see the Old Kopitiam which is basically Malaysian food but very pricey.
I would check out a chinese restaurant ala carte at Phillip Arcade (opposite Flinders Station). The price is cheap and food is huge & nice!
-J
Ah, I actually used to work in a Chinese restaurant in Melbourne. A very small step to financial independence. Hehe!
It looks clean but the going-ons in the kitchen…fu yoh. It was one of the better Chinese restaurants in Melb too.
Ahhh..i just had a lovely bowl of congee this morning too in Box Hill. I love coagulated pig’s blood too and they can find it as one of the yum cha dishes here too.
Shanghai dumpling is the pits unfortunately. The dumplings are persistently undercooked but i guess the price is unbeatable. there are lots of new dumpling places (Hu Tong, Dumpling Plus, North East China Family)that sprung up in the past year that really deserves a mention for their speciality dumpling dishes.
Since you’re coming to melbourne soon, let me know if you wanna meet up. It would always good to meet up with a fellow food blogger. 🙂
congee…
perfect for brekkie! 😀
Lianne,
yah, especially winter! :X
Adrian,
Hahah but that’s Malaysian food!
pinky,
Cos you’re not very tall 😛
beccs,
Very comforting right? 😀
Steven,
Thanks for the tips!
n,
Thanks! 😀
Jason,
Best! Will try.
Huai Bin,
Wah ahha not bad! I did too when I was in the states.
Precious Pea,
Stop calling it “yum cha” dishes! Hahahhaa
Cruxie Faye,
Cool, we shall see! 😀
annant,
Except they’re not open for breakfast. :X
Fine. You’re so anti malaysian. *rolls eyes* how about Indonesian food? jomla… then you can bring along *cough cough* your zehan friend too. 😉
i nvr knew that yau char kuay is chinese donuts! hahaha~
surprise that they have coagulated pork blood there.
$6 for yao char koay?!?!!!!
Adrian,
Hahaha I’m traveling to Melbourne, not staying there, I want to have something not found in Malaysia 😀
Tey Cindy,
Hahaha me neither until I looked it up.
Myhorng,
best right? 😀
ashleighhhh,
It’s Australia, just have to deal with it. lol
how long you gona be in melby?
Hi Ky,
A few more MUST TRYs for Melbourne.
1) Shira Nui – Glen Waverley – Set lunch offers the best value. Chiraishi rice or the udon (best textured udon). Famous for sushi. Head Chef has a bit of attitude.
2) Andrews Burger – Albert Park – Best burger with the lot in town!
3) Kimchi Grandma – Carnegie – Very Popular Korean restaurant
Good luck trying them!
Adrian,
For a week+ 😀
Aaron,
Thanks for the tips Aaron!
oh man i miss melbourne!!!
wayangtimes,
Tickets aren’t expensive now! 😀
Dude, let’s meet up when you’ve arrived in melby. 😉 email me or something ya.. then we can go makan2.. ok? 😉
I heard the food in supper inn sucks ..
Adrian,
Hehehe we’ll see!
Ayumi,
I had the food in supper inn and it didn’t suck.