Mahjong for Dim Sum

Inspired by Urbanspoon reviews of Tasty Dim Sum joints in the City, I was craving little steaming dumplings of goodness. However, I wasn't prepared to travel all the way into the CBD from St. Kilda during rush hour to wait in line at the apparently popular HuTong Dumpling place that everyone is raving about. So that place remains on my wishlist. But to satisfy my craving in the short term we attempted the well-reviewed Mahjong Dim Sum Restaurant close by on Fitzroy Street. Only since coming to Australia did I come to understand the Dim Sum concept, though I am sure this simple idea of serving steamed/fried dumplings and wanton pockets filled with delightfully light Asian flavors is popular in the States as well and am surprised I haven't found good places there yet. Its on my To-Do List. I was pleased to find the Dim Sum subcategory in the Urbanspoon search options to easily filter through the masses of eateries in this city.

Once there, we dived into one of the preselected banquets which include steamed dumplings, peking duck, fillet steak, etc (The menu appears below) along with a few extra tastes. Let me just say that I love dumplings!, the way the secret steaming contents explode in your mouth with their subtle brothy flavors, though at this restaurant I found that I could not differentiate the fillings from one kind of dumpling to another and they soon became monotonous. I have a feeling that the dumplings and wantons are all filled with the same unexciting pork mixture. The fillet steak that followed was awesome and I am a big fan of the peking duck, lots of flavor and I wanted more. My biggest complaint however for Mahjong, was the slow service which, by the end of the meal, slowed down to non-existent. I think they forgot about us and we had to fetch our own bill to get the hell out of there. Rated fairly high, I was anticipating yummy goodness at this Dim Sum Restaurant, unfortunately I think my expectations were a little too high. Though I definitely won't give up on Dim Sum and look forward to my HuTong experience which I predict will come very soon.