Reviews for Flower Drum
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Waiter
Review by Travis (31), left on 06-02-2007 at 09:16
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In all truthfulness - the Flower Drum is an amazing place.
Your night begins by walking down an old cobblestoned alley, about halfway down which is the entrance to the Flower Drum. An ornate and impressive door looks down over the street, but before you can reach for the handle it is pulled open and you are welcomed into a small foyer. From here, you are ushered into a small elevator. The door closes, you look at each other mystified, the elevator goes up. The elevator stops, the door opens, mystification quickly turns to delight.
The restaurant is spread out before you, a long spacious room complete with traditional chinese furnishings. No less than three people were waiting to greet us, and usher us to our table. Even though we were in the very centre of the room, it felt relatively private by virtue of the fact that there is plenty of space between tables. Most other similar-sized restaurants would seat twice as many people without a second thought. But not at the Flower Drum. Here - service is paramount.
We counted a total of 15 staff attending 17 tables. It was amazing. Every time a dish came out, anywhere from three to five waiters would converge on our table to plate up food, fold pancakes, distribute sauce, replace cutlery... It was as though every dish had its own individual choreographer. No attention to detail was spared. Cocktails were prepared quickly, and prepared well. Our friends decided to share a dessert between the two of them - what came out was two smaller replicas of the original dessert. Drop a napkin on the floor and it's swooped up before it even has time to land. Pour the last of your beer into your glass and the empty bottle vanishes from your hand within seconds. I have a firm suspicion that if you were to accidentally fart, every waiter in the room would simultaneously cough just to spare you the embarrassment. Wonderful service - never seen the likes of it before.
What waaaaaas a little disappointing was the food - such that this review was almost entitled "Dim Sum Ho Hum @ Flower Drum". With food prices at around $30 for an entree, $50 for a main - I was expecting to be blown away. And I wasn't. Don't get me wrong, the food wasn't bad - it was great. But it wasn't fantastic. You could eat most of the dishes on the main menu at many other places around Melbourne, at less than half that price, and be just as happy with your meal.
Admittedly, we didn't go for the banquet (a cruisy $150 a head) which did look pretty amazing. For me at least, one of the joys of eating out is the chance to appreciate new tastes, flavours and cooking styles. From memory it consisted of around ten different courses, most of which were determined by availability and weren't on the main menu. Many of these dishes were non-traditional ingredients but prepared Cantonese style, and in hindsight this might have been more rewarding choice for our meals.
Certainly not disapointed that we went (it was a great night!), and I will probably go again in the future. But I will be looking forward to the service, ambience and the company of good friends - not so much the food.
Can't wait!
Review by Travis (31), left on 13-01-2007 at 08:34
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I'm going here for dinner tonight - I'm so excited!
Four of us went on a local game show as a syndicate and ended up walking away with $500 bucks. Rather than just divvying it evenly we figured we'd splash out on somewhere really nice.
Flower Drum, here we come!
One of Melbourne's all time Classics
Review by TawNeet (18), left on 11-11-2006 at 13:01
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The Flower Drum has always been one of the fanciest restaurants in Melbourne, and probably one of the most famous as well. I've only been there a couple of times but both times I found it lives up to its reputation perfectly, with fantastic Chinese and Cantonese food served in an impeccably decorated dining area. It's like eating in China! Probably better! I like the Peking Duck, I know there's more exciting things on the menu but I like it anyway - melt in your mouth perfect. Service is fantastic too, understated but competent waiting staff make it a pleasure.
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Acceptable but boring.
Sorry, not my cup of tea.
